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 52 Collections and/or Records:
May 6, 1941, 1941 May 6
Speech thanking the committees of the Denver Auxiliary of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. Thanks are also given to Tillye Levy.
Miami Donor Luncheon Speech - February 27, 1951, 1951 February 27
Miami Donor Luncheon Speech presented on February 27, 1951. The speech introduces the screening of the movie about the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver film called, Wings Over Denver.
Mrs. Lorber's 44th Anniversary Dinner Speech At the Waldorf-Astoria, November 17, 1951, 1951 November 17
Fannie Lorber's speech at the 44th Anniversary Dinner for the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York on November 17, 1951.
Mrs. Lorber's Dinner Speech November 25, 1945, 1945 November 25
Fannie Lorber's dinner speech given on November 25, 1945.
Mrs. Lorber's Greeting at the 43rd Anniversary Dinner, Los Angeles, February 26, 1950., 1950 February 26
Greeting speech given by Fannie Lorber at the 43rd Anniversary Dinner of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver in Los Angeles, California on February 26, 1950. She expresses the desire to transport to Los Angeles the new Daniel L. Simon Building that will give relief to an additional 36 children.
Mrs. Lorber's Greeting to Auxiliary Delegates at Opening Luncheon of Convention -- August 13, 1948, at Brown Palace Hotel, 1948 August 13
Speech greeting National Home for Jewish Children in Denver Auxiliary Convention delegates at the opening luncheon at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado on August 13, 1948.
Mrs. Lorber's Greeting to Auxiliary Delegates at Opening Luncheon of Convention - July 22, 1951 at The Home, 1951 July 22
Fannie Lorber's greeting to Auxiliary Delegates at the Opening Luncheon of the Convention of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver held on July 22, 1951, at The Home. The Convention commemorates the 44th Anniversary on the founding of the Home.
Mrs. Lorber's Greeting to Auxiliary Delegates at Opening Luncheon of Convention, June 20, 1947, at Cosmopolitan Hotel, 1947 June 20
Greeting to Auxiliary delegates at opening luncheon of convention celebrating the 40th anniversary of the founding of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver on June 20, 1947.
Mrs. Lorber's Speech at 40th Anniversary Dinner, November 23, 1947, 1947 November 23
Speech from 40th Anniversary Dinner in New York. Fannie Lorber thanks the audience for support of the National Home for Jewish Children. She presents awards to Judge Mitchell May, Dr. M. Murray Peshkin and Ralph M. Simon.
Mrs. Lorber's Speech at the 39th Anniversary Dinner, November 23, 1946 at the Waldorf-Astoria, 1947 April 15
Fannie Lorber's speech at the 39th Anniversary Dinner, November 23, 1946 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.
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- Archival Object 51
- Collection 1
- Subject
- Colorado 51
- Denver (Colo.) 51
- Tuberculosis 51
- Asthmatics 50
- Children 50
- Social work administration 48
- Social work with children 48
- Social workers 48
- Speeches 46
- New York (N.Y.) 11
- Charities 5
- Chicago (Ill.) 4
- Illinois 4
- Jewish children 4
- Colfax Avenue (Colo.) 3
- Group homes for children 3
- Jews 3
- Photographs 3
- Rehabilitation 3
- California 2
- Medical centers 2
- Saint Louis (Mo.) 2
- Wings over Denver (Documentary film) 2
- Asthma -- Treatment 1
- Boys 1
- Cleveland (Ohio) 1
- Florida 1
- Jewish orphanages 1
- Jewish women -- Colorado -- Denver 1
- Los Angeles (Calif.) 1
- Miami (Fla.) 1
- Ohio 1
- San Francisco (Calif.) 1
- Speeches, addresses, etc., American 1
- Sun-baths 1
- Therapeutics, Cutaneous and external 1
- Tuberculosis -- Hospitals -- Colorado -- Denver 1
- Tuberculosis in children 1 + ∧ less