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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:

Speech to the Conference of Auxiliaries held in Chicago, undated

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00004
Abstract

Speech delivered by Fannie Lorber to the Conference of Auxiliaries held in Chicago, Illinois. This was the first conference held outside of New York City. Mrs. Bertha Levy, chairman of the Conference Committee, and Mr. David Harlam, chairman of the Building Committee are mentioned.

Dates: undated

St. Louis Pilgrimage - July, 1941, 1941 July

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0002.00015
Abstract

Speech welcoming the St. Louis Auxiliary to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver.

Dates: 1941 July

Steve McCree Jumping Over an Object at the National Asthma Center, between 1973-1985

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0006.00004
Abstract Steve McCree jumps over an unidentified object at 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 Asthmatic Children at Denver and...
Dates: between 1973-1985

Story Hour at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, 1931

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00068
Abstract

An unidentified woman reads a story to a group of children in the nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: 1931

Studying Hebrew at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children, after 1945

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00071
Abstract

A group of unidentified children studying Hebrew at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver Colorado.

Dates: after 1945

Superintendent's Annual Report, National Home for Jewish Children at Denver for Year of 1927, 1928

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00002
Abstract

Includes a detailed report of health care, education, vocational training and activities for the children; recommendations for improvement; acknowledgements. Mimeographed copy.

Dates: 1928

Telephone Directory, 1950-1960

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0014.0027
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The collection includes annual reports, correspondence, limited patient records, meeting minutes, financial statements, reports, scrapbooks, photographs, sound discs, and objects from 1899 to 2009. The items reveal patient demographics and characteristics as well as detailed information regarding the early treatment of tuberculosis.

Dates: 1950-1960

Tentative Speech to be Given by Mrs. Lorber at Dinner Meeting of Board of Trustees, 1938 December 8

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0001.00020
Abstract

Draft speech reporting on the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver Dinner and Auxiliary Conference held November 19-22, 1938 and other conferences held in Fall 1938. Fannie Lorber thanks Board Member Edwin J. Wittelshofer, Denver Auxiliary Member Tillye Levy, Superintendent William Cohen, Executive Director Will Blumenthal and his wife Mathilde, Chairmen of the Dinner Samuel Friedlander, Secretary of the New York Committee Jack Gerstein and Publicity Director Mr. Kirschstein.

Dates: 1938 December 8

The Barretts of Philadelphia, 1931

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0004.00015
Abstract

Four siblings pose together. Back left to right Nathan Enbner and Celia Enbner and front left to right Fannie Barrett and Joe Barrett.

Dates: 1931

The Klein Family of New York at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, 1931

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00072
Abstract

The four children of the Klein family of New York with another child. From left to right is Fannie Lukton, Sara Klein, Rosie Klein, Julius Klein and their brother whose first name is unknown.

Dates: 1931

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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