"C. D. Spivak Administration Building: 1907 (5668). The C. D. Spivak Administration Building is a one story rectangular building of stretcher bond brick on a coursed cut stone foundation. A front portico with six Corinthian columns rises above the main front door which is fronted by two engaged columns. The original door and windows of this building have been replaced; however, the original stone window sills" and the radiating voussoirs remain. The roof is asphalt shingle with overhanging eaves and there are dormer windows on all four building faces in addition to fish scale trim. The roof of the front portico is decorated with four carved urns. Today this building houses the administrative offices of the American Medical Center (AMC)." (from the NRHP form Section 7, pg. 1)
"Dr. Charles David Spivak --
Red-headed Charles David Spivak, was no ordinary man. An immigrant from Russia, he excelled in many fields and made his mark as a brilliant physician, lexicographer, professor, editor, Hebraist and Yiddishist, Talmudist, Zionist, Socialist, but most deeply as the beloved humanitarian, "Tateh (Papa) Spivak."
Chaim David Spivakofski was born into an Orthodox Jewish home in Krementschug, Russia, on December 25, 1861, to Samuel David and Deborah Adel (Dorfman) His parents gave him a Hebrew and uncommonly thorough secular education, so that for the rest of his life he had a deep understanding of the problems that faced his people and mankind, historically and contemporaneously.
As Cossacks pogroms began to take their toll on the Jewish population, he refused to believe that this terror was the Jewish lot. In his studies be became a Socialist, reading books forbidden by the government, and undertaking the publication of a small revolutionary paper.
Spivak's friend, Abraham Cahan, noted that Spivak fled Russia, not only because of hispolitical activity, in which he had been apprehended, but also because of his strong feelings that as a Jew he had to do something for the Jewish future. He and a friend had planned to join a colony of Russian settlers in Oregon in order to apply their ideas of co-operation and living close to the soil. The colony was never organized and Spivak went to work in a New York factory for six dollars a week. From there he went to Maine where he worked in a wool mill.
His own aspirations and abilities led him into the field of medicine. Through the aid of friends he entered the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia graduating with honors in 1890. During his student days he was active in communal work in Philadelphia and began his writing in the Yiddish and Anglo-Jewish newspapers. In the years that followed he took post-graduate work at the University of Berlin, and returned to Philadelphia, where he married Jenny (Eugenia) Charsky, a well-educated young woman, in 1893.
Spivak was well on his way to prominence in his field. He was named chief of the clinic of gastro-intestinal diseases in the Philadelphia Polyclinic. In communal life he had begun to. satisfy his longing to improve Jewish life. He was elected president of a group who sought responsibility and recognition for the East European Jews in the short-lived Jewish Alliance of America in Philadelphia, February 15, 1891. The plan came to nothing then but fifteen years later the idea came to life in the American Jewish Committee. Spivak's career in Philadelphia terminated abruptly when his wife's health demanded that they leave the East.
In Denver he was immediately recognized as a leader in his field of medicine, and upon his arrival in 1896 he was invited to become a lecturer on diseases of the gastrointestinal tract in the local medical college, as well as professor of anatomy and of medicine.
In his private practice he was an instant success, but he was greatly dissatisfied with the lack of treatment offered the tuberculars in the state. When he was called to address the first mass meeting organized by the "lungers" on West Colfax, he found the field that was waiting for his enthusiasm and ability. [Thus was established the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society.] This was a mighty task in an entrenched community, and one which required the co-operation of all the Jews, not only of Denver, but of the whole nation -- appealing to the finest ideals of Judaism -- tsdokoh for saving lives. Spivak never let it be forgotten that the JCRS was conceived in lower West Colfax, and that its birth was attended by the Yiddish-speaking Jews of America.
This ideal attracted just such professional men as Spivak; Drs. Zederbaum, Hillkowitz, and later Drs. Oscar Shere and I. D. Bronfin were men whose brilliance was matched by their love for suffering humanity.
Spivak became the secretary of the organization, and his painstaking minutes reveal the idealism of its officers. Most of the board meetings were held in his office, where he and his friends, Yehoash and Jacob Marinoff, the writer of Yiddish humor, wrote the bulletins, press releases, and other publicity for the fledgling institution. To them were added Philip Hornbein, the lawyer, Henry Cohen and Mrs. Edgerton, the picturesque couple -- he a labor lawyer and son of the founder of the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society and she his teacher and devoted friend -- and, of course, all of West Colfax.
One of the first suggestions adopted was that no member of the board should hold any pay position in the JCRS. Another was that no one should be paid for soliciting funds, be it salary, commission, or expenses. This was the opinion of Henry Cohen, who believed that "the JCRS must remain unique in this respect as in all others," and that: to pay a commission would lower the high standard the society had set for itself."
The Press and Propaganda committee branched into its own publication, The Sanatorium, of which Spivak was the editor from 1907 until his death. On the staff of the bi-monthly were Yehoash and Marinoff, as well as writers who were patients at the JCRS.
Dr. Spivak's legacy to humanity cannot be evaluated. Many people lived to bring into the world their own children because, no matter how full the JCRS was, he always managed to scrape up a cot from some source and to squeeze it into the brimming hospital. The Russian Jew proved that the East European Jews were capable of assuming responsibility, and that experience was not a prerequiste in establishing life-saving institutions. He was happy to overlook petty differences in order to unite the Jews into strong central groups, always democratic in policy and action. Simply presented, he left many guides to those that followed who wanted to keep Judaism alive and healthy in a democratic America. Dr. Charles David Spivak was the first person inducted into the Jefferson County Hall of Fame.
Spivak died in Denver on October 16, 1927. His gravesite is at Golden Hill Cemetery.
Material excerpted with permission from the author, Ida Libert Uchill, Pioneers, Peddlers and Tsadikim © 2000 University Press of Colorado. (from (
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"At the turn of the last century, the nation was ravaged by the “white plague,” and tuberculosis was the cause of death for 154,000 annually. By 1903, the number of consumptives flocking to Denver for its fresh air and sunshine seeking a cure for tuberculosis had outstripped all medical and social service capabilities.
A concerned and idealistic group of Jewish immigrants in Denver met to draft a solution to care for indigent patients suffering from all stages of tuberculosis. These visionaries created a non-sectarian refuge for tuberculars from across the country, providing a safe haven for healing and care, devoid of the taint of professional charity. Ultimately, these efforts reached across the country and spawned a network of Jewish philanthropy and fundraising that saved thousands of lives. The motto for the JCRS was taken from the Talmudic tenet: 'He who saves one live is considered as if he had preserved the whole world.'
With guidance and dedication from leaders such as Drs. C.D. Spivak and Philip Hillkowitz, in 1904, twenty acres of land were purchased one mile west of Denver, and that September six men and one woman were admitted to a fledgling place of hope consisting of six canvas tents and a one-story building. The first brick building was constructed in 1905, offering wards for bed-ridden patients. JCRS Ladies’ Auxiliaries across the country raised money to build more buildings for the rapidly growing institution.
During its first fifty years, the JCRS – also known by its address as Spivak, Colorado – treated 10,000 patients. Along with medical buildings, an on-site farm and dairy, and research facilities, JCRS provided a social services department, library with 9000 volumes, dental office, pharmacy, technical school, monthly magazine, cooperative store, post office, solarium and barber shop.
Because the majority of the patients were Orthodox Jews, there was a need for a synagogue to serve their traditional religious needs. The first such permanent structure was built in 1911, funded by Isaac Solomon in memory of his son, Jacob. Following a fire in 1920, noted architects William and Arthur A. Fisher designed a one-story brick and stucco synagogue in a distinctive Moorish style. Completed in 1926, the synagogue accommodated 70 worshippers and was used for daily, High Holy Day and festival services. Worship services for other faiths were also conducted in this building. The synagogue was the heart of the campus.
The JCRS functioned as a sanatorium until 1954 when the JCRS changed its name and focus and became the American Medical Center for Cancer Research (AMC). In 2002, the campus was purchased by the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. Some buildings continue to be used by AMC for laboratories and research.
The Beck Archives at the University of Denver house much of the original material on the JCRS, including Dr. Jeanne Abrams' dissertation, "Chasing the Cure," a complete history of the JCRS. Material here based on her work is used with the author's permission." (from (
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