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 277 Collections and/or Records:
Steve McCree Jumping Over an Object at the National Asthma Center, between 1973-1985
Studying Hebrew at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children, after 1945
A group of unidentified children studying Hebrew at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver Colorado.
Superintendent's Annual Report, National Home for Jewish Children at Denver for Year of 1927, 1928
Includes a detailed report of health care, education, vocational training and activities for the children; recommendations for improvement; acknowledgements. Mimeographed copy.
Tentative Speech to be Given by Mrs. Lorber at Dinner Meeting of Board of Trustees, 1938 December 8
Draft speech reporting on the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver Dinner and Auxiliary Conference held November 19-22, 1938 and other conferences held in Fall 1938. Fannie Lorber thanks Board Member Edwin J. Wittelshofer, Denver Auxiliary Member Tillye Levy, Superintendent William Cohen, Executive Director Will Blumenthal and his wife Mathilde, Chairmen of the Dinner Samuel Friedlander, Secretary of the New York Committee Jack Gerstein and Publicity Director Mr. Kirschstein.
Three Girls in the Kitchen at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children, between 1947-1950
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.
Washroom at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, between 1928-1940
Welcome Address - Sunday, July 20, 1952, 1952 July 20
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.
Additional filters:
- Type
- Archival Object 276
- Collection 1
- Subject
- Children 271
- Denver (Colo.) 253
- Group homes for children 215
- Hospitals 200
- Slides (Photography) 180
- West Colfax (Denver, Colo.) 178
- Social work administration 60
- Social work with children 60
- Social workers 60
- Speeches 54
- Tuberculosis 51
- Photographs 36
- Jews 18
- Colfax Avenue (Colo.) 16
- Jewish children 16
- Medical centers 16
- Rehabilitation 16
- New York (N.Y.) 14
- Recreation 10
- Boys 8
- Charities 6
- Chicago (Ill.) 4
- Girls 4
- Illinois 4
- California 2
- Flying discs (Game) 2
- Nurses 2
- Saint Louis (Mo.) 2
- Table tennis 2
- Wings over Denver (Documentary film) 2
- Asthma -- Treatment 1
- Basketball 1
- Cleveland (Ohio) 1
- Corporate minutes 1
- Edgewater (Colo.) 1
- Florida 1
- Food 1
- Football 1
- Gymnastics 1
- Hobbies 1
- Kitchens 1
- Los Angeles (Calif.) 1
- Miami (Fla.) 1
- Occasional speeches 1
- Ohio 1
- Reports 1
- San Francisco (Calif.) 1
- Snack foods 1
- Speeches, addresses, etc., American 1
- Spivak (Colo.) 1
- Sun-baths 1
- Therapeutics, Cutaneous and external 1
- Tuberculosis in children 1
- Twins 1
- Violin 1 + ∧ less