Chasing The Cure

Seraphine Eppstein Pisko first became associated with NJH as a traveling fundraiser; and in 1911 her success pivoted her into the position of Executive-Secretary (director) of National Jewish Hospital. She was at the helm of National Jewish Hospital until she retired in 1938 and was probably the first Jewish woman in the United States to assume the position of chief executive of a national institution. She was involved in both Jewish and secular social organizations, also holding executive positions in the Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society, and the National Council of Jewish Women.

Milk and eggs were considered especially healthy for tuberculosis patients. In 1900 the bill for eggs alone at NJH reached $240 for a single month, a considerable sum for the time. The hospital featured wards with large windows or sleeping porches and balconies. Golda Mier’s sister Shana Korngold, who was a patient at NJH in 1907 recalled that “even on the coldest nights did the sick ones, well wrapped up, sleep outside.” Many years later on the occasion of the NJH 75th anniversary, as Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir lauded the work of the hospital had aided so many, including her own sister. The Beck Archives holds collections on Seraphine Pisko, B242, and on Golda Meir and Jennie Korngold, B151.