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Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital (Denver, Colo.) (1957-1972)

 Organization

Biography

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 203 Collections and/or Records:

Lorber Correspondence, 1972

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0032.0006
Abstract

Correspondence related to Arthur B. Lorber, President of NAC.

Dates: 1972

Male patient playing the violin for other patients in National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, Denver, Colo., circa 1907

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0035.00103
Abstract

A male patient sits in a tent playing a violin while male and female sanatorium patients look on. The hospital was founded in 1899. In 1907, the name of the hospital changed to the National Asthma Center. It later became the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital, National Jewish Hospital/National Asthma Center(1978), and National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine(1985).

Dates: circa 1907

Memorial and Tribute Plaques, 1980

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0032.0005
Abstract

correspondence related to memorial and tribute plaques, Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital

Dates: 1980

Miscellaneous Correspondence - Memorials, 1972

 File
Identifier: B005.01.0032.0008
Abstract

correspondence related to miscellaneous sources regarding memorial tablets

Dates: 1972

Mrs. Lorber's Greeting, New York Dinner, November 23, 1957, 1957 November 23

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00002
Abstract

Copy 2 of Fannie Lorber's greeting at the New York Dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Home (Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital). Vice-President Ralph M. Simon and Golden Anniversary Dinner Chairman Mrs. Edith Albert are both recognized for their contributions.

Dates: 1957 November 23

Mrs. Lorber's Greeting, New York Dinner, November 23, 1957, 1957 November 23

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00001
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's greeting at the New York Dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Home (Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital). Vice-President Ralph M. Simon and Golden Anniversary Dinner Chairman Mrs. Edith Albert are both recognized for their contributions.

Dates: 1957 November 23

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

Refugee Child at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, circa 1939

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00092
Abstract

An unidentified refugee child stands in her crib at the National home for Jewish Children in Denver Colorado.

Dates: circa 1939

Refugee Child at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, circa 1939

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00093
Abstract

An unidentified refugee child sits in her crib with a doll at the National home for Jewish Children in Denver Colorado. The child was born in Milan, Italy to German parents and brought to American in 1930 by her father. Her mother committed suicide on the boat before they reached America. Her father brought her to the National Home for Jewish Children when he was admitted to a sanatorium in Denver.

Dates: circa 1939

Sets of Twins at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, between 1930-1935

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00087
Abstract

Three sets of twins seated on a lawn. In the front row are Joey and Esther Karsh, center are Rose and Violet Waterman and flanking the Watermans are Eddie and Sammy Friedman (from left to right). 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 1930-1935