National Home for Jewish Children in Denver (1928-1952)
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 304 Collections and/or Records:
Mrs. Lorber's Welcome to James Roosevelt , May 2, 1952., 1952 May 2
Fannie Lorber's welcome speech for James Roosevelt, National Chairman of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, presented on May 2, 1952.
Mrs. Lorber's Welcoming Speech to Auxiliary Delegates, 1949 August 8
Text of welcoming speech presented to National Home for Jewish Children in Denver Auxiliary delegates on Friday, August 19, 1949 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Date at top of page is 8/8/49.
National Home for Jewish Children, between 1930-1939
A young boy stands on the stairs of the Fannie E. Lorber Building holding his hands and smiling.
National Home for Jewish Children, between 1930-1939
Joey Carsh and four other children sit at a table eating a meal in the National Home for Jewish Children.
Notes for Mrs. Lorber's Address at the Chicago League Luncheon - 11/15/44, 1945 November 25
Fannie Lorber's notes for a speech given at the Chicago League Luncheon include personal stories of three former residents at the National Home for Jewish Children: Ronnie S., Stanley Berman and Helen Rose Wolf.
Nurse and Child at the National Asthma Center, between 1965-1988
Oral History Interview with Will and Faye Cohen, 1976
Interview discusses activities and programs in National Home for Jewish Children and histories of many of the residents. Will Cohen was the director of the home. Also gives description of board members and their functions.
Our Goal, 1934 March 8
Speech at the 27th anniversary dinner for the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. Fannie Lorber thanks guests for their help in keeping the Home afloat. She paraphrases E. B. Browning's poem ''The Cry of the Children''. 2nd page has date of 3/5/34.
Our Goal, 1935
Speech at the 28th anniversary dinner for the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. Suggests forming a committee to set up an endowment fund for the support of the Home.
Picnic at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, 1931
A group of children sit on an outside deck at the National Home for Jewish Children. Each child has a plate of food and an unidentified woman serves them. Most of the children are unidentified, however, Bertha Katzson, Doris Greenstein and Reuben Levine are part of the group. The children are in the care of the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver in Denver, Colorado. Later, the home became part of the National Jewish Hospital.
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