Ellen Kowitt

Demonstrating online access to the patient application records of Denver's historical Jewish Consumptives Relief Society (JCRS), we will explore the history of Jewish migration to western states. Tuberculosis treatment in a dry climate was one of the primary reasons that Jews left the east and traveled to Colorado and points west between 1859-1950. By 1950 when the disease was eradicated, 100,000 patients had been treated in Colorado. JGS Colorado volunteers spent seven years creating the JCRS online index and also won the 2002 IAJGS Stern Grant on behalf of the University of Denver where these records are housed. Patient application files can include personal letters and photos, and list genealogical details including place of birth abroad, contact information for relatives, date of death, and precise locations for unmarked pauper graves. The collection is open to the public.