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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:

IJN Century Edition, 2013

 File
Identifier: B113.01.0001.0003
Scope and Contents

File contains articles and reprints from the Century Edition of the Intermountain Jewish News, published throughout 2013. Articles cover highlights of the past 100 years (1913-2013).

Dates: 2013

Indiana Pacers with Children of the National Asthma Center, between 1970-1980

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0009.00001
Abstract Three members of the Indiana Pacers basketball team stand with children from the National Asthma Center. 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 1970-1980

Introduction of Mrs. Stella Alperin, President of the Cleveland Auxiliary, and Hyman J. Alperin, National Trustee, undated

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00003
Abstract

Four paragraph introduction of Mrs. Stella Alperin, who was president of the Cleveland Auxiliary, and her husband, Hyman J. Alperin, National Trustee.

Dates: undated

John Kirkland Throws Frisbees at a Benefit for the National Asthma Center, between 1973-1978

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0019.0016.00003
Abstract John Kirkland throws frisbees at a benefit for the National Asthma Center. The event was called the Great KIMN Funky Frisbee Fly-In and was held at Denver Public Schools Stadium, 1450 S. Franklin Street, Denver, Colorado. The National Asthma Center's history began in 1907, 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...
Dates: between 1973-1978

Juvenile male patients posed in the garden at National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, circa 1907

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0035.00105
Abstract

Two young men stand on either side of garden foliage in the garden of the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, Denver, Colo., founded in 1899. In 1907 the name of the hospital changed to the National Asthma Center. It later became the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital, National Jewish Hospital/National Asthma Center (1978), and National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine (1985).

Dates: circa 1907

Male patient playing the violin for other patients in National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, Denver, Colo., circa 1907

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0035.00103
Abstract

A male patient sits in a tent playing a violin while male and female sanatorium patients look on. The hospital was founded in 1899. In 1907, the name of the hospital changed to the National Asthma Center. It later became the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital, National Jewish Hospital/National Asthma Center(1978), and National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine(1985).

Dates: circa 1907

May 6, 1941, 1941 May 6

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0002.00017
Abstract

Speech thanking the committees of the Denver Auxiliary of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. Thanks are also given to Tillye Levy.

Dates: 1941 May 6

Medical, 1960-1970

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0037.0003
Abstract

Correspodence to and from Richard Bluestein regarding medical files of NJH

Dates: 1960-1970

Medical Executive Committee, 1979

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0038.0018
Abstract

Correspondence to and from Richard Bluestein regarding the medical executive committee, record of proceedings and minutes

Dates: 1979

Miami Donor Luncheon Speech - February 27, 1951, 1951 February 27

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00031
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1951 February 27

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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