A Legacy of Caring: Jewish Women in Early Colorado Seraphine Eppstein Pisko and National Jewish Hospital

Seraphine Eppstein Pisko served as the president of the Hebrew Ladies’ Benevolent Society (renamed the Jewish Relief Society in 1901) and as president of the Denver Council of Jewish Women. The Denver section of the National Council of Jewish Women, founded by Carrie Shevelson Benjamin, was active in settling and Americanizing the largely Russian Jews on West Colfax. Seraphine Pisko helped organize the Denver Jewish Settlement House and a free kindergarten to benefit the Eastern European Jewish immigrants on Denver’s west side.

In 1909, Seraphine Pisko became a fund-raiser for the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, and in 1911 she was appointed secretary of NJH and later was appointed executive director as well as vice president. She was in administrative control of the day-to-day activities until her retirement in 1938. She was probably the first woman in the United States to become the chief executive of a national Jewish institution.

The photos above of National Jewish Hospital can be clicked to view larger versions.

Click on page titles below to learn more about the Legacy of Caring.

Beginnings | Jacobs | Pisko | West Colfax | Legacies