Al Jolson in Baltimore September 1949

|His Works|Radio|Sept 1949 Baltimore Polio Broadcast

Before Dr. Jonas Salk developed the first effective vaccine for polio, the joy of summer was often tempered with the tragedy of children cut down by the disease known as "infantile paralysis." At this time of year, let's remember those days, as we hear a special broadcast featuring Al Jolson.

Al Jolson returned to one of the cities of his youth, Baltimore, Maryland, in September, 1949, to participate in a broadcast congratulating radio station WFBR on its success in a drive to raise funds to fight polio.

Jolie reminisces a bit about his sojourn in Baltimore, making a crack about being a Rabbi's son educated in a Catholic school. He also detailed how he felt about this dread disease, particularly that he now had two young children.

After being asked to sing, how could he refuse, Harry Akst accompanied Al Jolson in two of his classic songs, "April Showers" and "My Mammy."

The program concludes with the presentation of a plaque to the station in honor of its efforts. I should note that WFBR is no longer in operation, and efforts to locate this plaque in Baltimore have failed to date, but the search goes on!

Listen to this radio program and watch a Video Podcast with an excerpt of the show illustrated with photos of the stars.

Click this link to listen to this week's program
		This is an excerpt of the September, 1949, polio drive program in Baltimore, Maryland, featuring Al Jolson, illustrated with some scenes of Al Jolson and the era described in this broadcast In this edited segment, Jolson recalled his boyhood in Charm City, and sang "April Showers," accompanied by Harry Akst.

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Updated 16 Aug 26