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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:

Oral History Interview with Will and Faye Cohen, 1976

 Item
Identifier: B098.01.0001.00018
Abstract

Interview discusses activities and programs in National Home for Jewish Children and histories of many of the residents. Will Cohen was the director of the home. Also gives description of board members and their functions.

Dates: 1976

Oral History Interview with Will and Faye Cohen, circa 1978

 Item
Identifier: B098.10.0009.00004
Scope and Contents From the Collection: RMJHS Oral Histories comprises audio and video cassettes of oral history interviews recorded by the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society. The recordings document Jewish history and culture in Colorado in the 19th and 20th century. The men and women interviewed for this collection are descendants of early Jewish pioneers in Colorado or were Jewish newcomers to the region at the beginning of the 20th century. Most of the interviewees were born between 1886 and 1927 and died in the 20th...
Dates: circa 1978

Our Goal, 1934 March 8

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00009
Abstract

Speech at the 27th anniversary dinner for the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. Fannie Lorber thanks guests for their help in keeping the Home afloat. She paraphrases E. B. Browning's poem ''The Cry of the Children''. 2nd page has date of 3/5/34.

Dates: 1934 March 8

Our Goal, 1935

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00010
Abstract

Speech at the 28th anniversary dinner for the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. Suggests forming a committee to set up an endowment fund for the support of the Home.

Dates: 1935

Pennsylvania - Chester - Federation, 1960-1969

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0007.0029
Abstract

Correspondence regarding the Chester, Pennsylvania federation

Dates: 1960-1969

Picnic at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, 1931

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00089
Abstract

A group of children sit on an outside deck at the National Home for Jewish Children. Each child has a plate of food and an unidentified woman serves them. Most of the children are unidentified, however, Bertha Katzson, Doris Greenstein and Reuben Levine are part of the group. The children are in the care of the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver in Denver, Colorado. Later, the home became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: 1931

POC/ Alexandrovich, Ruth, 1968-1978

 File
Identifier: B093.01.0004.0025
Abstract

Fact sheet and materials related to Ruth Alexandrovich. 24-year-old Ruth Alexandrovich was a heroine of the Jewish Resistance in Riga, Latvia. On October 7, 1970, a week before her wedding, the KGB imprisoned her for years before she and her fiance were allowed to immigrate to Israel.

Dates: 1968-1978

Presentation of Daniel L. Simon Building, July 6, 1950, 1950 July 6

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00036
Abstract

Presentation speech given by Fannie Lorber to commemorate the dedication of the Daniel L. Simon Building to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Simon. The building was named in memory of their son, Daniel L. Simon. Lorber presents a key to the Simons that is 'symbolic of the key which will be presented to you after the formal dedication on July 23rd.' The building was a dormitory to house 36 boys and girls at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver.

Dates: 1950 July 6

Presentation of Key to Mr. Simon for Daniel L. Simon Building, 7/6/50, 1950 July 6

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00037
Abstract

Presentation speech given by Fannie Lorber for the Daniel L. Simon Building to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Simon. Lorber presents a key to the Simons that is 'symbolic of the key which will be presented to you after the formal dedication on July 23rd.'' The building is a dormitory to house 36 boys and girls at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver.

Dates: 1950 July 6

Presentation Speech of Diamond Watch Presented to Mrs. Lorber, 1932

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00005
Abstract

Speech by an unidentifed member of the National Home for Jewish Children Board of Directors on the occasion of presenting Fannie Lorber with a diamond watch commemorating 25 years as President of the National Home for Jewish Children.

Dates: 1932

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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