Chasing The Cure

The early German Jews in Denver had integrated well into the general population and many had achieved economic, political, and social success. Because of the onslaught of consumptives, beds for patients in city and state general hospitals were so scarce that the poor were frequently left to their own devices, often dying in the streets. Frances Wisebart Jacobs launched a relentless campaign to arouse public awareness on behalf of the indigent consumptives, seeking the support of businessmen and political leaders to raise funds for a new hospital. Her efforts were initially rebuffed by city leaders. Then she turned to the Jewish community which rallied to establish a sanatorium.

Denver’s Jewish Hospital Organization was formally incorporated in 1890 and was to be managed and funded by the Jewish community, but it would have a nonsectarian admissions policy. Jacobs found an ally in a young, energetic rabbi who had just come to Denver: William Sterne Friedman. Rabbi Friedman enlisted the financial support of some of the trustees of his congregation, Temple Emanuel, insisting that concern for the sick and indigent had always been a vital tenet of Jewish tradition. The hospital was initially named the Frances Jacobs Hospital. Frances Wisebart Jacobs Clothing and Papers, B148 provides more information on Frances Jacobs and National Jewish.