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 347 Collections and/or Records:

The Barretts of Philadelphia, 1931

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0004.00015
Abstract

Four siblings pose together. Back left to right Nathan Enbner and Celia Enbner and front left to right Fannie Barrett and Joe Barrett.

Dates: 1931

The Klein Family of New York at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, 1931

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00072
Abstract

The four children of the Klein family of New York with another child. From left to right is Fannie Lukton, Sara Klein, Rosie Klein, Julius Klein and their brother whose first name is unknown.

Dates: 1931

The Rise and Fall of Mr. Dorfman, 2008

 Item
Identifier: B354.01.0005.00001
Abstract

Art book with cream colored hardcover and book jacket with black ink; written, designed and created by Brian Twigg, a student in Martin Mendelsberg's Visual Sequencing class at Rocky Mountain School of Art and Design. Inspired by the lives of Fannie Dorfman, a tuberculosis patient at the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society, and her son Hyman Dorfman.

Dates: 2008

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 - Sunday, July 20, 1952, 1952 July 20

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00020
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's Welcome Address for the 45th annual Auxiliary Convention of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver given on July 20, 1952.

Dates: 1952 July 20

Young Dancers at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, circa 1938

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00085
Abstract

A group of young girls after performing a dance. All of the girls are in costume. Pictured are Eva Gordon, Fannie Barrit and Arlene Ziegler, among others that are unidentified. The girls were in the care of the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: circa 1938

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 345
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
Community cookbooks -- Colorado 2
Cookbooks 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
Recipes 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
Kansas City (Mo.) 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
+ ∧ less