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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:

National Home for Jewish Children, between 1930-1939

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0020.00004
Abstract

Joey Carsh and four other children sit at a table eating a meal in the National Home for Jewish Children.

Dates: between 1930-1939

National Home for Jewish Children Confirmation Class, between 1930-1939

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0020.00002
Abstract

Seven unidentified young people, four women and three men, all from the National Home for Jewish Children pose on the steps of the Fannie E. Lorber Building dressed up for their Confirmation.

Dates: between 1930-1939

National Home for Jewish Children Fund Raiser, between 1940-1960

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0004.00103
Abstract

A large group of men and women dressed formally and posed around a decorated cake. A sign mounted on the wall behind the group says: ''National Conference Auxiliaries National Home for Jewish Children of Denver.''

Dates: between 1940-1960

National Scientific Advisory Council, 1981-1982

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0036.0002
Abstract

correspondence related to the National Scientific Advisory Council visit

Dates: 1981-1982

Notes for Mrs. Lorber's Address at the Chicago League Luncheon - 11/15/44, 1945 November 25

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0002.00013
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's notes for a speech given at the Chicago League Luncheon include personal stories of three former residents at the National Home for Jewish Children: Ronnie S., Stanley Berman and Helen Rose Wolf.

Dates: 1945 November 25

Nurse and Child at the National Asthma Center, between 1965-1988

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0003.00002
Abstract An unidentified nurse hugs a boy while she writes on a chalkboard at the National Asthma Center. The NAC'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 Asthmatic Children at Denver and...
Dates: between 1965-1988

Oral History Interview with Charles Milton Schayer, 1978 July 13

 Item
Identifier: B098.10.0009.00001
Abstract

Topics covered: About half of the interview is family history, biographical information; second half of interview covers experience on the NAC board.

Dates: 1978 July 13

Oral History Interview with Jennie Pells, 1978 August 1

 Item
Identifier: B098.10.0009.00002
Abstract

Topics covered: About half of the interview is family history, biographical information; second half of interview covers the children’s home, people involved with it, her mother (Sadie Francis) on board of home from 1908-1946 when she died, then Jennie was on the board; conventions.

Dates: 1978 August 1

Oral History Interview with Sam Robinson, 1979 August 13

 Item
Identifier: B098.10.0009.00003
Abstract

Topics covered: Brief family history, from Robinson farming family; grew up around the home, both parents and grandfather helped the home; came on board in 1934; name changes- Denver Sheltering Home, National Home for Jewish Children, National Asthma Center; functions, activities and anecdotes related to home.

Dates: 1979 August 13

Oral History Interview with Tillye Levy: National Home For Jewish Children and Allied Jewish Federation Federation, 1978 September 18

 Item
Identifier: B098.02.0007.00004
Abstract

Topics include: 1907 began volunteering at the National Home for Jewish Children on Sundays, later joined board in 1917, organization grew and built buildings, activities and leadership, how Federation got started, Nat Rosenberg, Women in the federation, fundraising, Israel tours, donors and effectiveness of the Federation.

Dates: 1978 September 18

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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