On the recordMarch 17, 2011
The Senator listened to it well. He heard it right. It was an outbreak of diphtheria in Nome. There was no way to get the diphtheria serum to the residents of Nome. It was a true and honest scare in the middle of the winter. The concern was that if they were to take it through a regular route during the winter months, it would not get there in time to save the residents of Nome. The airfields were not sufficient. They could not travel by air because we did not have the airfields back in the twenties. It was a team of dogs that did a relay across the State. They delivered the serum in time and saved the town. This race has been resurrected, if you will, to commemorate the Great Serum Race to Nome, as it is called, to commemorate the delivery of the serum, an act that would save that community. It is quite a remarkable story in our State's history.
