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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:

Sewing Class at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, between 1928-1940

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0027.00008
Abstract

A group of girls learn to sew during a class at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver. The National Home for Jewish Children at Denver'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.

Dates: between 1928-1940

Snacks in the Nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, between 1930-1940

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00088
Abstract

A group of children seated at a table in the Nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children. Each child has a graham cracker and cup of milk. The child seated third from the left in the back row is Morris Susan. The children were in the care of the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: between 1930-1940

Speech for New York Dinner - Mrs. Lorber, 1952

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00019
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's speech for a New York dinner for the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. The evening's honorees include Mr. and Mrs. Jack Albert and Maurice Levin. A motion picture about the Home is also introduced.

Dates: 1952

Speech for the Twenty-ninth Anniversary of the Founding of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, 1936 November 16

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00015
Abstract

Speech for the 29th Anniversary of the founding of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. Gives thanks to benefactors of the Home.

Dates: 1936 November 16

Speech Given by Mrs. Lorber at Testimonial Dinner for Supt. Cohen 2/15/38, 1938 February 15

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00017
Abstract

Speech honoring Superintendent William Cohen for 16 years of service to the National Home for Jewish Children.

Dates: 1938 February 15

Speech made by David E. Harlem at Jubilee Dinner, Hotel Astor, New York, February 22, 1932, 1932 February 22

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00006
Abstract

Speech by David E. Harlem encouraging support for the National Home for Jewish Children.

Dates: 1932 February 22

Speech on 31st Anniversary of National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, 1938 November 19

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00021
Abstract

Speech noting the 31st anniversary of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver presented on November 19, 1938. Presidents of the 31 Auxiliaries are in the audience.

Dates: 1938 November 19

Speech on the Dedication of the New Service Building on Purim Donation DaySpeech Given by Mrs. Lorber at Dedication of New Service Building on Purim Donation Day, 1938 March 20

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00019
Abstract

Speech on the Dedication of the New Service Building on Purim Donation Day. Fannie Lorber thanks the Chairman, Tillye Levy, the Board of Trustees and the Auxiliaries for providing the funds for the new building.

Dates: 1938 March 20

Speech Sunday Morning, June 27, 1937, 1937 June 27

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00016
Abstract

Speech to the presidents of the auxiliaries for the 30th anniversary celebration of the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver.

Dates: 1937 June 27

Speech to be Given by Mrs. Lorber at Twenty-sixth Anniversary Dinner, New York, 1933 March 7

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00008
Abstract

Speech given at the 26th anniversary dinner of the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver. Fannie Lorber makes an appeal for help in keeping the doors of the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver open. She references her unpublished editorial (B089.02.0005.0001.00007) asking donors to think of children as investment in future.

Dates: 1933 March 7

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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