The Rotary Club of Gastonia was formed January 1, 1920. Among the distinguished charter members of the club was an ambitious man by the name of Robert B. Babbington. RB was touched after reading about a crippled child that could not be accepted into a North Carolina orphanage. That was back in 1909. As a result of that experience Babbington had a vision of creating a hospital for crippled children. The North Carolina Orthopedic Hospital was created in 1921, becoming the first orthopedic hospital south of Philadelphia. The hospital played a central role during the polio epidemic, treating hundreds of patients who were stricken with polio. Dr. George Miller was one of the distinguished orthopedic doctors working at the hospital. See the Crowd Out Polio Homepage (www.crowdoutpolio.com) for the link to Dr. Miller’s story.
