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256:, who was running for Vice President on the Democratic ticket. O'Connor became his legal advisor. In 1924 the two men associated in their own law firm which existed until Roosevelt's first Presidential inauguration in 1933. Beginning in 1934 O'Connor was senior partner in the law firm of O'Connor & Farber. He was also executive manager of a number of companies, among them the New England Fuel Oil Corporation in the 1920s, and the American Reserve Insurance Corporation and the West Indies Sugar Corporation in the 1940s.
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276:. FDR later sought therapy at a resort in Warm Springs, Georgia. After visiting Roosevelt there O'Connor characterized the place as "a miserable mess", and he decided to promote public support for the rehabilitation of those with polio. In 1927, he and Roosevelt and a group of friends created the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, in which O'Connor served first as treasurer and later as president.
178:. O'Connor grew up poor but scrappy — an "Irishman one generation removed from servitude", as he described himself. He became a newsboy at age 10, and organized a monopoly of the city's newspaper routes. He earned money for college by playing the fiddle in a dance orchestra. When he arrived in New York he dropped his first name after seeing the long list of D. O'Connors in the phone book.
288:, and in time it became the foundation's official name. The notable fundraising campaign appealed to Americans to "send your dime to President Roosevelt at the White House" for the fight against polio. The 1938 campaign was a smashing success and revolutionized fundraising in America, with over $ 1,800,000 raised.
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O'Connor declined payment for his leadership of the Red Cross. "For 20 years I have gladly given over a large part of my time to charitable work, particularly to the fight against infantile paralysis sponsored by
President Roosevelt," O'Connor said. "I have never accepted or received any compensation
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More than $ 1 million was raised for the
Georgia Warm Springs Foundation by the first nationwide President's Birthday Ball on January 30, 1934. The foundation was reconstituted as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, founded by Roosevelt on January 3, 1938. The nationwide President's
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After his activities for the Red Cross O'Connor devoted much of his time to the work in the two foundations which he presided over until his death. His efforts in fundraising were much more successful than those of other foundations. For example, the
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
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credited O'Connor with a "unique social invention: a permanently self-sustaining source of funds for the support of research — the voluntary health organization." With a centralized administration, state and local chapters and a large corps of volunteers, the
National Foundation for Infantile
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succeeded in collecting $ 66.9 million in 1954 for 100,000 new patients, while in the case of about 10 million patients with heart diseases only $ 11.3 million were donated. In 1958 O'Connor received the
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with the 30,000 letters containing ten-cent contributions to the
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis that arrived at the White House that morning in the inaugural March of Dimes campaign (January 28,
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wrote of O'Connor. "Over the years he collected and spent more than seven billion dimes — many of them from schoolchildren — with a half-billion dollars of it going to the war on polio."
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314:. On April 12, 1955 – ten years after Roosevelt's death – the National Foundation published the successful results of Salk's research on the development of a polio vaccine.
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In 1974, the
Georgia Warm Springs Foundation sold the property in Warm Springs to the State of Georgia for $ 1. The name was later changed to the
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O'Connor (left) looks on as FDR is presented with a $ 1 million check, the proceeds of the first national
President's Birthday Ball (1934)
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in recognition of his efforts in the fight against polio. On
January 2, 1958 the National Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary at
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249:& Henderson, and for the next three years for Streeter & Holmes in Boston. In 1919 he founded his own law firm in New York.
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for that work. It therefore goes without saying that I shall accept no salary as chairman of the
American National Red Cross."
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next to FDR and fifteen polio scientists from two centuries. The following undated quotation is attributed to Basil O'Connor:
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Leaders in the effort against polio were honored at the opening of the Polio Hall of Fame on
January 2, 1958. From left:
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The organization initially focused on the rehabilitation of victims of paralytic polio, and supported the work of
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Polio – An American Story – The Crusade That Mobilized the Nation Against the 20th century's Most Feared Disease.
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245:, then was admitted to the bar to practice law in 1915. For one year he worked in New York for the law firm of
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340:. O'Connor declined to join the Roosevelt administration on a formal basis, preferring the life of a lawyer.
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After Roosevelt's death, the foundation gradually began taking care of patients with handicaps of all kinds.
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and the research on polio prevention and treatment. From 1944 to 1949 he was chairman and president of the
443:"The world cannot continue to wage war like physical giants and to seek peace like intellectual pygmies."
352:, of which he served as chairman (1944–47) and president (1947–49). In this capacity he also chaired the
142:(January 8, 1892 – March 9, 1972) was an American lawyer and nonprofit executive. In cooperation with
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291:"His genius was in generating large numbers of relatively small contributions for a cause,"
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Daniel Basil O'Connor was born January 8, 1892, in Taunton, Massachusetts. His father was a
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and Basil O'Connor was honored by having his bust inducted into the
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Paralysis became the prototype for dozens of similar foundations.
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Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement History – Basil O'Connor
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29(1)/2004. DMS Publications, p. 52–57; also online:
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that advised Roosevelt on political strategy during his
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he started two foundations for the rehabilitation of
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Thirteen Americans: Their Spiritual Autobiographies
461:Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York 2005,
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Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation
614:Barrett, William P. "March of Dimes' Second Act".
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485:Autobiographical essay in Finkelstein, L. (ed.)
237:Basil O'Connor did his undergraduate work at
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552:"F. D. Roosevelt Ill of Poliomyelitis"
525:"Basil O'Connor, Polio Crusader, Dies"
280:Birthday Ball of 1938 was dubbed "the
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808:20th-century American philanthropists
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662:"New Hall of Fame Hails Polio Fight"
630:Baghdady, Maddock J. (Spring 2008).
348:Roosevelt appointed O'Connor to the
588:The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
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803:People from Taunton, Massachusetts
716:Non-profit organization positions
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16:American lawyer and philanthropist
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639:Stanford Social Innovation Review
632:"Marching to a Different Mission"
523:Whitman, Alden (March 10, 1972).
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660:Furman, Bess (January 3, 1958).
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182:Lawyer and businessman
58:Taunton, Massachusetts
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254:Franklin D. Roosevelt
252:In 1920 O'Connor met
147:Franklin D. Roosevelt
140:Daniel Basil O'Connor
44:Daniel Basil O'Connor
620:, November 19, 2008.
560:. September 16, 1921
735:Red Cross Societies
481:PDF file, ca. 390KB
477:Dartmouth Medicine.
416:and Basil O'Connor.
356:from 1945 to 1950.
260:Fight against polio
241:and graduated from
122:(married 1957–1972)
117:(married 1918–1955)
667:The New York Times
557:The New York Times
530:The New York Times
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293:The New York Times
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71:(1972-03-09)
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783:1892 births
334:Brain trust
328:Brain trust
300:Gerard Piel
757:Categories
739:1945–1950
584:Burns, Ken
494:References
410:Jonas Salk
308:Jonas Salk
298:Publisher
170:Early life
50:1892-01-08
165:Biography
85:Education
694:Archived
673:April 8,
586:(2014).
270:fell ill
176:tinsmith
130:Children
641:: 60–65
425:of the
247:Cravath
109:Spouses
617:Forbes
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364:Awards
79:, U.S.
60:, U.S.
635:(PDF)
274:polio
216:1938)
675:2020
647:2015
596:ISBN
566:2015
538:2015
475:In:
463:ISBN
66:Died
40:Born
102:LLB
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
