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Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver (1953-1956)

 Organization

Biography

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 270 Collections and/or Records:

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

Snacks in the Nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, between 1930-1940

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00088
Abstract

A group of children seated at a table in the Nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children. Each child has a graham cracker and cup of milk. The child seated third from the left in the back row is Morris Susan. 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 1930-1940

Steve McCree Jumping Over an Object at the National Asthma Center, between 1973-1985

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0006.00004
Abstract Steve McCree jumps over an unidentified object 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 Denver and...
Dates: between 1973-1985

Studying Hebrew at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children, after 1945

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00071
Abstract

A group of unidentified children studying Hebrew at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver Colorado.

Dates: after 1945

Telephone Directory, 1950-1960

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0014.0027
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: 1950-1960

Three Girls in the Kitchen at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children, between 1947-1950

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00084
Abstract

Three girls in a kitchen: from left to right they are Toby Greif, Rachel Kinel (Almo), and Eileen Cohen. Eileen Cohen is washing dishes and the Toby Greif and Rachel Kinel are standing in front of a table of brown paper bags. The girls were in the care of the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: between 1947-1950

Washroom at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, between 1928-1940

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0028.00002
Abstract Interior view of the washroom at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver. The National Home for Jewish Children at Denver'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...
Dates: between 1928-1940

Welcome Address, 1956

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00004
Abstract

Draft of Welcome Address for the 49th Annual Convention of Auxiliaries for the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver.

Dates: 1956

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 268
Collection 2
 
Subject
Colorado 267
Denver (Colo.) 243
Asthmatics 233
Children 228
Group homes for children 220