
Before it all started, in the early summer of 1950, there was a persistent promise of prosperity in Wytheville, Virginia. As farmland mushroomed into split-level ranch houses and kitchens sprouted automatic toasters, the town, population 5,500, revolved around a brick-lined main street with just one soda fountain. It was, John Johnson told PBS' American Experience, “more or less a lazy type, laid-back” kind of place. Wytheville only had two ambulances that summer when children started to get sick. At first, there were just a handful of cases, mostly young boys. Then doctors named the ... Read More




