Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) | |
---|---|
Geography | |
Location | 1600 Pierce St., Lakewood, Colorado, U.S. |
Coordinates | 39°44′37″N105°04′12″W / 39.7435°N 105.0699°W |
Organisation | |
Care system | Private, defunct |
Type | Specialist |
Affiliated university | University of Colorado, St Anthony Hospital |
Services | |
Emergency department | N/A |
Beds | 400 at its peak |
Speciality | tuberculosis, later cancer research and treatment |
History | |
Opened | 1904 |
Links | |
Lists | Hospitals in U.S. |
Jewish Consuptives' Relief Society | |
Location | 6401 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood, Colorado |
Area | 15 acres (6.1 ha) |
Built | 1904 |
Architectural style | Classical Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 80000905 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 26, 1980 |
The Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) was a non-sectarian sanatorium to treat tuberculosis patients in Lakewood, Colorado. Founded in 1904, the sanatorium campus was also home to the first synagogue in Jefferson County, Colorado. In 1954 the institution changed its mission to cancer research and became The American Medical Center at Denver. The American Medical Center merged with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2002.
Today, most of the original JCRS campus buildings are occupied by Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, which purchased the property in 2002. [2] Approximately 20 acres (8.1 ha) of the original JCRS campus was converted into a shopping center in the 1950s, known first as the JCRS Shopping Center and renamed to Lamar Station Plaza in 2014. [3]
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. [4] 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. [5]
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. [2] 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. [6] Since 1980, the campus has been on the National Register of Historic Places, [7] though the original application does have several factual errors, such as confusing the 1926 synagogue with its 1911 predecessor. [8]
Among the founders of JCRS was Dr. Charles David Spivak, who led the organization from 1904, until his death in 1927. [9] Spivak was a political refugee from Russia (modern-day Ukraine) who attended medical school in Philadelphia before moving to Denver, Colorado. [9] He was the first editor of the Denver Jewish News [10] 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, [11] Lune Mattes, [12] H. Leivick, [11] and Shea Tenenbaum. [12]
In 1954, JCRS repurposed itself as the American Medical Center at Denver dedicated to cancer research and treatment. Over the next few years, approximately 20 acres (8.1 ha) of the original 148 acres (60 ha) JCRS campus along West Colfax Avenue between Kendall and Pierce Streets were developed into the JCRS Shopping Center, [13] [14] 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. [15] At about the same time, AMC also began renting the New York Building to Jefferson County and later sold the building to the county. [2]
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 24 acres (9.7 ha) surrounding the buildings. [2] The JCRS Shopping Center was renamed to Lamar Station Plaza in 2014. [3]
Hospital staff and supporters
Patients (In chronological order)
Colfax Avenue is the main street that runs east–west through the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado. As U.S. Highway 40, it was one of two principal highways serving Denver before the Interstate Highway System was constructed. In the local street system, it lies 15 blocks north of the zero meridian, and would thus otherwise be known as 15th Avenue. The street was named for former Vice President Schuyler Colfax. At just under 50 miles in length, it is known as the "longest continuous commercial street in America".
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The town of Colorado Springs, Colorado, played an important role in the history of tuberculosis in the era before antituberculosis drugs and vaccines. Tuberculosis management before this era was difficult and often of limited effect. In the 19th century, a movement for tuberculosis treatment in hospital-like facilities called sanatoriums became prominent, especially in Europe and North America. Thus people sought tuberculosis treatment in Colorado Springs because of its dry climate and fresh mountain air. Some people stayed in boarding houses, while others sought the hospital-like facilities of sanatoriums. In the 1880s and 1890s, it is estimated that one-third of the people living in Colorado Springs had tuberculosis. The number of sanatoriums and hospitals increased into the twentieth century. During World War II, medicines were developed that successfully treated tuberculosis and by the late 1940s specialized tuberculosis treatment facilities were no longer needed.
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