Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society

By the late 19th century, Colorado and the American Southwest had become famous for the health benefits of a dry, sunny climate. At that time, the only known treatment for tuberculosis was clean air and sunshine and hundreds of people with tuberculosis descended upon Denver in hopes of finding a cure for what was then the nation's leading cause of death.{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Shanna |title=How tuberculosis fueled Colorado's growth |url=https://www.cpr.org/show-segment/how-tuberculosis-fueled-colorados-growth/ |publisher=Colorado Public Radio |date=10 February 2015}} Consequently, many people with tuberculosis spent their last dollars coming to Colorado. By the 1890s, it was estimated that one out of every three residents of the state was there for respiratory reasons. However, no facilities existed to provide treatment or shelter to these victims. In Denver, victims of tuberculosis were literally dying in the streets as boarding houses often banned "lungers", as they were called.{{cite book |last1=Krainz |first1=Thomas |title=Delivering Aid: Implementing Progressive Era Welfare in the American West |date=2005 |publisher=UNM Press |isbn=9780826330253 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tbj6Z4-t8EgC&pg=PA90}}

When the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) opened its doors in September 1904, it had only seven patients housed in white wooden "Tucker" tents. Over the next fifty years, the JCRS served over 10,000 patients; more than half of those patients were from New York City. While National Jewish Health was founded earlier to also treat tuberculosis, and both were nondenominational, JCRS was established to serve the Denver West Side Jewish community with an Orthodox kitchen.

The campus was also home to the first synagogue in Jefferson County, Colorado. Completed in 1926, the Isaac Solomon Synagogue was the third synagogue on the JCRS campus and was actively used from 1926 until the 1950s.{{cite web |title=JCRS Isaac Solomon Historic Synagogue Foundation |url=https://www.levasha.com/jcrs/index.htm}} Since 1980, the campus has been on the National Register of Historic Places,{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=80000905}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Jewish Consuptives' Relief Society |publisher=National Park Service|author= |date= |access-date=May 21, 2022}} With {{NRHP url|id=80000905|photos=y|title=accompanying pictures}} though the original application does have several factual errors, such as confusing the 1926 synagogue with its 1911 predecessor.National Register of Historic Places. (1980). United States Department of the Interior National Park Service. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/73a2d84a-bf40-4999-ad97-adfc5494e3fb/index.htm

Among the founders of JCRS was Dr. Charles David Spivak, who led the organization from 1904, until his death in 1927.{{cite book |last1=Abrams |first1=Jeanne |title=Dr. Charles David Spivak: A Jewish Immigrant and the American Tuberculosis Movement |date=31 May 2009 |publisher=University Press of Colorado |isbn=9780870819414}} Spivak was a political refugee from Russia (modern-day Ukraine) who attended medical school in Philadelphia before moving to Denver, Colorado. He was the first editor of the Denver Jewish News{{cite book |last1=Uchill |first1=Ida Libert |title=Pioneers, Peddlers, and Tsadikim: The Story of the Jews in Colorado |date=1957 |publisher=Sage Press |isbn=9780960446803}} and the father of artist H. David Spivak.

In its history as a sanatorium, the JCRS hospital also became known as a center of Yiddish poetry and many of the patients were or became well-known literary figures, including Yehoash,

{{cite book |last1=Gilman |first1=Ernest B. |title=Yiddish Poetry and the Tuberculosis Sanatorium: 1900-1970 |date=2014 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=9780815653066}} Lune Mattes,{{cite book |last1=Yudkoff |first1=Sunny S. |title=Tubercular Capital: Illness and the Conditions of Modern Jewish Writing |date=2018 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9781503607330}} H. Leivick, and Shea Tenenbaum.

In 1954, JCRS repurposed itself as the American Medical Center at Denver dedicated to cancer research and treatment. Over the next few years, approximately {{convert|20|acres}} of the original {{convert|148|acres}} JCRS campus along West Colfax Avenue between Kendall and Pierce Streets were developed into the JCRS Shopping Center,{{cite news |title=CC Welcomes Shopping Center |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CTR19540218-01.2.21&srpos=9&e=--1950---2023--en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA--------0------ |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=Jeffco Transcript |date=18 February 1954}}{{cite news |last1=Flynn |first1=Kevin |title=TB sanitarium spurred growth on West Colfax - JCRS became hub for several health facilities |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=23 October 2007}} which opened in 1957 with anchor stores including J.C. Penney, Joslins, and Woolworth. Originally rented as revenue for the hospital, AMC later sold the shopping center. Casa Bonita opened in the former Joslins location in 1974.{{cite news |last1=Svaldi |first1=Aldo |title=A refreshed Casa Bonita could accelerate redevelopment along West Colfax corridor |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2021/10/23/casa-bonita-west-colfax-lakewood-south-park/ |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=Denver Post |date=23 October 2021}} At about the same time, AMC also began renting the New York Building to Jefferson County and later sold the building to the county.

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Following AMC's merge into the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design purchased the JCRS campus's buildings, including {{convert|24|acres}} surrounding the buildings. The JCRS Shopping Center was renamed to Lamar Station Plaza in 2014.

Hospital staff and supporters

• Philip Hillkowitz
• Rabbi Charles Kauvar of the Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph
• Rabbi William S. Friedman of the Temple Emanuel (Denver)
• Jacob Marinoff
• May Arno Schwatt{{cite web | url=https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/may-arno | title=May Arno, "Musician, Author, Teacher, Actress" | date=28 February 2022 }}
• Charles David Spivak

Patients (In chronological order)

• Yehoash (poet)
• Shayna Korngold (sister of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir)
• Yehuda Leib Ginsburg
• H. Leivick
• Shea Tenenbaum
• Max Lazarus

• The University of Denver has a permanent online exhibit "[https://exhibits.library.du.edu/librariespresents/exhibits/show/chasing-the-cure Chasing the Cure]" in which the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society features prominently.University of Denver. Chasing the Cure. University Libraries Online Exhibits. https://exhibits.library.du.edu/librariespresents/exhibits/show/chasing-the-cure
• In 2019, the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society was featured in the "Lakewood: A 20th Century Journey" exhibition as part of Lakewood's 50th Anniversary celebration{{cite news |last1=Bocko |first1=Karyn |title=New exhibition "Lakewood: A 20th Century Journey" at the Lakewood Heritage Center |url=https://yourhub.denverpost.com/blog/2019/06/new-exhibition-lakewood-a-20th-century-journey-at-lakewood-heritage-center/244637/ |work=Denver Post |date=13 June 2019}}
• In 2022, The Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design hosted the descendants of Dr. Charles D. Spivak. Professor Thomas Keefe presented a lecture on the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society, the Spivak family, and H. David Spivak in particular.{{cite news |last1=Mark |first1=Steve |title=Descendants of Dr. Charles Spivak gather for reunion |url=https://www.ijn.com/descendants-dr-charles-spivak-reunion/ |work=Intermountain Jewish News |date=10 August 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Wooley |first1=Bob |title=Lakewood celebration honors Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society founder's family |url=https://jeffcotranscript.com/stories/celebration-honors-jcrs-founders-family-on-historic-lakewood-campus,398912 |work=Jeffco Transcript' |date=15 August 2022}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.rmcad.edu/a-blast-to-the-past-rmcad-campus-history/ A Blast to the Past: RMCAD's Campus History]

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Category:Hospitals in Colorado

Category:Jewish medical organizations

Category:Jews and Judaism in Colorado

Category:Tuberculosis sanatoria in the United States

Category:Buildings and structures in Denver

Category:Synagogues completed in 1926

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Colorado

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1904