Skip to main content

National Home for Jewish Children in Denver (1928-1952)

 Organization

Biography

The National Asthma Center (NAC) existed under a series of names. It was The National Asthma Center (NAC) (1973-1978) had a series of names: the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children (1907-1927), National Home for Jewish Children in Denver (1928-1952), Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver (JNHAC) (1953-1956), and the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital (CARIH) (1957-1972). NAC was an independent institution from 1907 until 1978, when it merged with National Jewish Hospital to form the National Jewish Hospital and Research Center/National Asthma Center. The NAC campus in west Denver at 19th and Julian Streets sold in 1981. During the last part of the nineteenth century, Denver, Colorado, became a haven for those suffering from tuberculosis, "the white plague." However, no formal medical treatment facilities existed until the opening of the National Jewish Hospital (NJH) in 1899. Five years later, the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) began treating patients with advanced cases of tuberculosis. A Denver housewife, Fannie Lorber, became concerned about the plight of Jewish children left homeless by a parent's hospitalization or orphaned by a parent's death at NJH or JCRS. In 1907, she and her friends Bessie Willens and Sadie Francis organized other local East European immigrant women and founded the Denver Sheltering Home. For the next 51 years, Fannie Lorber presided over the volunteer board of the Home and was the driving force behind fundraising efforts. At first, funded entirely by the Denver Jewish Community, the Home's expansion eventually led to a system of fundraising Ladies' Auxiliaries throughout the United States. The Home initially sheltered only orphaned or neglected children of tuberculosis victims, but it soon expanded its mission to help combat delinquency among Denver's Jewish children. An arrangement was made with Judge Ben B. Lindsey to send first offenders to the Home rather than to a detention center. (Judge Lindsey created the Colorado Juvenile Court system.) The Home also began taking in orphaned and needy children from other cities, and by 1920, approximately 100 children were living on the expanded campus. The Home's founders aimed to provide a cultured, stimulating, and Jewish environment for the children that was as close to family life as possible, unlike most orphanages of the period. In 1939 the Home instituted the long-term residential treatment of children with intractable asthma. In the 1950s, medical, psychiatric, and research personnel were added to treat children with asthma and allergies. In 1951, Dr. Allan Hurst became the first full-time medical director, and Jack Gershtenson became the administrator, a position he held for nearly thirty years. The Home officially became a non-sectarian in 1953. Dr. Murray Pershkin, chief consultant to the home from 1940 until 1959, advocated '"parentectomy,"' the removal of the child from his or her home for up to two years. In 1957, the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital was created. At the time, it was the only research facility in the country dedicated to asthma and allergic diseases. In 1966, Drs. Kimishige and Taruko Ishizaka, a husband and wife research team at CARIH, discovered immunoglobin E, the physiological basis for asthma. In 1972, CARIH became the National Asthma Center. By the 1970s, National Jewish Hospital had gone from treating tuberculosis to treating a broader range of respiratory diseases, including asthma. It was decided in 1978 that a merger of the two institutions would be beneficial. Patients remained at the NAC campus until 1981, when it was closed. Fannie Lorber was president from 1907 to 1958, Arthur Lorber was president from 1958 to 1975, and Charles M. Schayer was president from 1975 to 1978.

Found in 345 Collections and/or Records:

President's Annual Report, National Home for Jewish Children at Denver for Year of 1937, 1928

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00001
Abstract

Reports progress on buildings, gate, sidewalks, curbs and gutters; adoption of a new name for the facility (The Denver National Home for Jewish Children, formerly The Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children), the dedication of the Fannie E. Lorber Building; celebration of the Home's 20th Anniversary; acknowledgement of benefactors, and the death of the Director, Mrs. Hill Chernoff. Mimeographed copy.

Dates: 1928

President's Thirty-First Annual Message, 1938 June 15

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00018
Abstract Thirty-First Annual Message from Fannie Lorber, the President of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. Fannie Lorber asks everyone to rise in silent tribute to the late Benjamin Solomon. Speech covers: the dedication of the new Service Building; an update on auxiliaries; an update on the anniversary dinner; legacy donations; federations and welfare funds; the children including graduates of the Home; recommendation to develop vocational guidance and facilities; recommendation of...
Dates: 1938 June 15

President's Twenty-Ninth Annual Report, 1936 June 17

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00011
Abstract

Reports on the 28th Anniversary Dinner of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver; the formation of new auxiliaries including the Blossom Scholarship League, the Men's Club in Brooklyn, the Gotham Chapter in New York, and the New York Chapter; acknowledgement of existing auxiliaries; acknowledgement of benefactors; the Journal, a new publication; current needs of the Home and fundraising goals; In Memoriam for Sam Isaacson; appreciation to Board of Trustees, and committees.

Dates: 1936 June 17

Refugee Child at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, circa 1939

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00092
Abstract

An unidentified refugee child stands in her crib at the National home for Jewish Children in Denver Colorado.

Dates: circa 1939

Refugee Child at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, circa 1939

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00093
Abstract

An unidentified refugee child sits in her crib with a doll at the National home for Jewish Children in Denver Colorado. The child was born in Milan, Italy to German parents and brought to American in 1930 by her father. Her mother committed suicide on the boat before they reached America. Her father brought her to the National Home for Jewish Children when he was admitted to a sanatorium in Denver.

Dates: circa 1939

Releases Approved - January - March, 1960

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0017.0054
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The collection includes annual reports, correspondence, limited patient records, meeting minutes, financial statements, reports, scrapbooks, photographs, sound discs, and objects from 1899 to 2009. The items reveal patient demographics and characteristics as well as detailed information regarding the early treatment of tuberculosis.

Dates: 1960

Residents of the National Home for Jewish Children in Sunday School Class, 1942 June

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00074
Abstract

Teacher Abe Kirschstein stands behind Sunday School students seated at desks at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver located in Denver, Colorado. From 1928-1952, the home was called the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver.

Dates: 1942 June

San Francisco - R.O. 12, 1968

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0010.0034
Abstract

Letters related to the San Francisco office

Dates: 1968

Senator Gary Hart at the National Asthma Center, 1977 February 14

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0012.00001
Abstract Colorado Senator Gary Hart stands at a press conference at the National Asthma Center. The National Asthma Center's history began in 1907 as the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children, which was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. In 1953, the name changed to the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children at...
Dates: 1977 February 14

Sets of Twins at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, between 1930-1935

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00087
Abstract

Three sets of twins seated on a lawn. In the front row are Joey and Esther Karsh, center are Rose and Violet Waterman and flanking the Watermans are Eddie and Sammy Friedman (from left to right). The children were in the care of the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: between 1930-1935

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 343
Collection 2
 
Subject
Colorado 334
Denver (Colo.) 317
Children 285
Asthmatics 277
Group homes for children 233
∨ more
Hospitals 205
West Colfax (Denver, Colo.) 181
Slides (Photography) 180
Jews 70
Social work administration 60
Social work with children 60
Social workers 60
Photographs 55
Speeches 54
Medical centers 53
Tuberculosis 53
Jewish children 45
Colfax Avenue (Colo.) 32
Medicine 27
Rehabilitation 24
New York (N.Y.) 14
Boys 12
Recreation 10
Girls 8
Charities 6
Oral histories 6
Jewish orphanages 5
Jews -- Colorado -- Charities 5
Charity organization 4
Chicago (Ill.) 4
Illinois 4
Dance 3
Fund raising 3
Playgrounds 3
Social service -- Colorado -- Denver 3
Asthma -- Treatment 2
California 2
Dance recitals 2
Dinners and dining 2
Flying discs (Game) 2
Fund raisers (Persons) 2
Jewish Refugees 2
Jewish orphans 2
Jewish women 2
Nurses 2
Saint Louis (Mo.) 2
Table tennis 2
Tuberculosis -- Hospitals -- Colorado -- Denver 2
Wings over Denver (Documentary film) 2
Basketball 1
Book objects 1
Bookbinding 1
Cats 1
Chickens 1
Cleveland (Ohio) 1
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.) 1
Confirmation (Jewish rite) 1
Corporate minutes 1
Cows 1
Dancers 1
Denver (Colo.) -- Social life and customs 1
Dogs 1
Edgewater (Colo.) 1
Executives 1
Florida 1
Food 1
Football 1
Gardens 1
Generals 1
Gymnastics 1
Hobbies 1
Israel 1
Jewish men 1
Jewish newspapers 1
Jewish women -- Colorado -- Denver 1
Kitchens 1
Leadville (Colo.) 1
Los Angeles (Calif.) 1
Miami (Fla.) 1
Newspapers 1
Occasional speeches 1
Ohio 1
Oral reading 1
Organization 1
Pets 1
Picnics 1
Political prisoners 1
Printers 1
Protest and social movements 1
Refuseniks 1
Reports 1
Rīga (Latvia) 1
San Francisco (Calif.) 1
Sanatoriums 1
Sewing 1
Snack foods 1
Social service 1
Speeches, addresses, etc., American 1
Spivak (Colo.) 1
Sun-baths 1
+ ∧ less