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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:

Mrs. Lorber's Speech at the 39th Anniversary Dinner, November 23, 1946 at the Waldorf-Astoria, 1947 April 15

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0002.00011
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's speech at the 39th Anniversary Dinner, November 23, 1946 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

Dates: 1947 April 15

Mrs. Lorber's Speech at the 41st Anniversary Dinner, Biltmore Hotel, April 4, 1948, 1948 April 4

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0002.00005
Abstract

Speech for the 41st Anniversary Dinner for the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver held at the Biltmore Hotel on April 4, 1948.

Dates: 1948 April 4

Mrs. Lorber's Speech at the 41st Anniversary Dinner, Biltmore Hotel, April 4, 1948, 1948 April 4

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0002.00006
Abstract

Speech for the 41st Anniversary Dinner for the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver held at the Biltmore Hotel on April 4, 1948.

Dates: 1948 April 4

Mrs. Lorber's Speech at the 43rd Anniversary Dinner, November 18, 1950 at the Waldorf-Astoria, 1950 November 18

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00032
Abstract

Speech given by Fannie Lorber at the 43rd Anniversary Dinner of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver on November 18, 1950 held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Lorber introduces the screening of the movie about the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver film entitled, 'Wings Over Denver'.

Dates: 1950 November 18

Mrs. Lorber's Speech at the San Francisco Auxiliary Meeting, April 15, 1947, 1947 April 15

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0002.00010
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's speech at the San Francisco Auxiliary Meeting, April 15, 1947 at the convention celebrating the 40th anniversary of the founding of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, 6/20/1947.

Dates: 1947 April 15

Mrs. Lorber's Speech for 45th Anniversary Dinner - November 22, 1952, 1952 November 22

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00018
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's speech for the 45th Anniversary Dinner of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver held on November 22, 1952. Lorber presents a plaque to Judge Louis Goldstein.

Dates: 1952 November 22

Mrs. Lorber's Welcome to James Roosevelt , May 2, 1952., 1952 May 2

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00022
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's welcome speech for James Roosevelt, National Chairman of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, presented on May 2, 1952.

Dates: 1952 May 2

Mrs. Lorber's Welcoming Speech to Auxiliary Delegates, 1949 August 8

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0002.00001
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1949 August 8

National Asthma Center Records

 Collection
Identifier: B089
Abstract The National Asthma Center (NAC) existed under a series of names. It was founded in 1907 by Fannie Lorber as the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children; from 1928-1952, it was called the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver; from 1953-1956, it was the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver; from 1957-1972, it was the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital (CARIH); and from 1973-1977, it was the National Asthma Center. In 1978, it merged with the National...
Dates: 1904-2000; Majority of material found within 1950-1982

National Home for Jewish Children, between 1930-1939

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0020.00003
Abstract

A young boy stands on the stairs of the Fannie E. Lorber Building holding his hands and smiling.

Dates: between 1930-1939

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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