"The fund raising efforts in North Carolina originated the idea of poster children as donation motivators; and the first North Carolina poster child was this boy who was photographed at the Hickory hospital . ""In 1946 the [National Foundation's fund raising] March of Dimes introduced its first 'official' polio poster child. The idea was controversial…. How did one portray a polio victim? As cheerful and optimistic or frightened and sad? … Guided by the 'Miracle of Hickory' campaign, the foundation chose option No.1…."" (From David Oshinsky's 2005 ""Polio: an American Story.)"
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