Polio, or more properly poliomyelitis, was one of the most feared diseases of the twentieth century. This exhibit explains the causes, history, mysteries, and effects of the dreaded disease and the large, metal contraption that was used to keep its victims alive--the "iron lung," or respirator. The evolution of the iron lung is presented in drawings and illustrations from an 1864 design by Alfred F. Jones, to the modern respirator of J. H. Emerson, an example of which is on display in the gallery. An educational video on the development of the polio vaccine accompanies the exhibit, as well as a time-line that traces the history of the disease from its earliest evidence in ancient Egypt to its eradication from the Western hemisphere in the late 1970s.