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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 345 Collections and/or Records:

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 Jewish Sheltering Home in Denver, circa 1912

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00090
Abstract

A group of children, some in robes, sit with the matron and director at the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children. The children were in the care of the home, which later became the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver.

Dates: circa 1912

Children at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, between 1935-1940

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00077
Abstract

From right to left: Joey Carsh, Barbara Blackmer, Joey Barret, Ester Cash, and Alvin Uikon sitting in a garden at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver in Denver, Colorado. The Home later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: between 1935-1940

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 Clog Dance at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, between 1928-1940

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0027.00009
Abstract

A group of children clog dance on stage at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver. The National Home for Jewish Children at Denver 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.

Dates: between 1928-1940

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

Children Eating at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, between 1930-1960

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00073
Abstract

A group of children eating at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: between 1930-1960

Children Eating Watermelon at the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital, between 1957-1973

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0004.00003
Abstract An unidentified group of children eat watermelon 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 National Home for...
Dates: between 1957-1973

Children in a Garden, between 1925-1939

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0004.00013
Abstract

Several children working in a summer garden at the National Home for Jewish Children. The building in the background was first a hospital and then became the superintendent's cottage.

Dates: between 1925-1939

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 343
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
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
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
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
Social service 1
Speeches, addresses, etc., American 1
Spivak (Colo.) 1
Sun-baths 1
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