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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:

Central File Correspondence - ''Sc'', 1970

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0019.0020
Abstract

Central File Correspondence related to persons and companies starting with the letter ''Sc''

Dates: 1970

Central File Correspondence - ''U'', 1970

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0019.0026
Abstract

Central File Correspondence related to persons and companies starting with the letter ''U''

Dates: 1970

Central File Correspondence - United States Trust Company, 1975 July 1-December 31

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0019.0029
Abstract

Central File Correspondence related to the United States Trust Company

Dates: 1975 July 1-December 31

Chapeau Day, 1969 May 17

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0023.0020
Abstract

Correspondence and reports related to Chapeau Day 1969

Dates: 1969 May 17

Child Making Pottery at the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital, between 1970-1980

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0004.00002
Abstract An unidentified child makes a piece of pottery on a pottery wheel at the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital. 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...
Dates: between 1970-1980

Child Playing Tetherball at the National Asthma Center, between 1974-1979

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0021.0001.00055
Abstract Child playing tetherball at the National Asthma Center (NAC). The NAC encouraged asthmatic children to take part in physical activities. The NAC's history began in 1907, when it was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. At that time it was known as the Denver Sheltering Home. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. In 1953, the name changed to the Jewish...
Dates: between 1974-1979

Child with an Inhaler at the National Asthma Center, between 1974-1979

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0021.0001.00032
Abstract An unidentified boy inhales on an inhaler while an unidentified man watches. The child was a patient at the National Asthma Center (NAC) in Denver, Colorado. The NAC's history began in 1907, when it was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. At that time it was known as the Denver Sheltering Home. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. In 1953, the name...
Dates: between 1974-1979

Children and their Pets at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, 1936

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00091
Abstract

Children at the National home for Jewish Children in Denver, Colorado with animals. From left to right is Isadore Gradsky, Louise Ziebart, Bunny Kortz, Jackie Lapin and Jakie Werls. Two chickens, a kitten and a puppy are being held by the children.

Dates: 1936

Children at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, 1947 February

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00080
Abstract

Two unidentified boys at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: 1947 February

Children Eating at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, 1936

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00069
Abstract

Three unidentified children (the one on the left may be Jimmy Wren), eating at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: 1936

Additional filters:

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