Today, we celebrate a woman who was ahead of her time and who had timeless impact, Frances Wisebart Jacobs- 1831-1892. Female historian Jill Tietjen wrote this about her life and her many lasting achievements, including founding the United Way and the National Jewish Hospital. Let us be inspired today by women from the past like Francis who were ahead of their time and can help us all to be visionary with forward impact in the centuries to come. 

Frances Wisebart Jacobs was also known as the Mother of Charities and is the only woman on a stained glass window amongst fifteen other men. Frances was one of the Founders of United Way and The National Jewish Hospital. 

Frances Wisebart was born in 1843 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to parents who had emigrated to the U.S. from Bavaria. She was the first daughter and second child in a Jewish family that would grow to include seven children. She attended public schools in Cincinnati, Ohio, where her father worked as a tailor. Her family believed that education was essential and that all their children should be well educated. Frances started her career as a schoolteacher when she was 16 years old. 

In 1870, Frances and her husband moved to Denver, where she became involved in many charities, defining her life and legacy. As a Jew, Frances learned about charity and philanthropy, especially that tzedakah is more than giving money to the poor. Instead, it requires a donor to share compassion, empathy, and cash. In doing so, Judaism teaches that the donor benefits more than the recipients of those donations.  

Wanting to do something about poverty, malnutrition, sickness, and unsanitary living conditions, which were especially prevalent among the Eastern European Jewish immigrants who had settled in Denver, in 1872, Frances organized and became president of the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society. Although criticized for personally visiting the shacks and tents along West Colfax and the Platte River, she provided soup and summoned doctors for medical care. In addition, Frances collected and distributed used clothing to people in need. Making up to 15 visits daily, she generally arrived with a bar of soap, convinced that any home that needed food probably needed soap.

In 1874, she organized the Ladies’ Relief Society and served as an officer. She advocated for a concerted community effort and addressed public meetings across Denver. She also regularly represented Denver at the National Conference of Charities and Correction. One of her accomplishments from this conference was Free Kindergarten for all Denver students opening Denver’s first free kindergarten class at Stanley Public School in 1855. In 1894, the Denver Public Schools began to add kindergarten classes to schools because of the work done by the Free Kindergarten Association, the organization that Frances had founded.

Due to her activism, Frances was approached by the Reverend Myron W. Reed, a Protestant minister, and Monsignor William J. O’Ryan, a priest, to help consolidate Denver’s charity groups. They recruited Dean H. Martyn Hart, an Episcopalian, and Rabbi William S. Friedman. Frances and these four men established Denver’s Charity Organization Society in 1887, the nation’s first successful, federated charitable organization. Ten health and welfare agencies benefitted in the first year from the fundraising effort totaling $21,700. In addition to raising funds, the organization they created coordinated relief services, counseled and referred clients to cooperating agencies, and made emergency assistance grants for cases that could not be referred. It adopted the now universally known system of once-a-year fundraising to reach one overall goal for the charities in the federation. The organization became the Community Chest in 1922 and today is known as United Way. Frances served as secretary of the organization for the rest of her life.

After witnessing people coming to Denver for the “Magical Cure” of tuberculosis and dying or unable to recover completely, in 1883, Frances sponsored a hospital benefit that would aid those in need. By 1889, a Hospital Association was created, and in 1890 the cornerstone of the hospital was laid. Tragically, two months later, Frances died of pneumonia at age 49. 

The Jewish Hospital Association named the Frances Jacobs Hospital in her honor. However, the financial panic of 1893 caused by the Silver Crisis was not kind to the hospital. Although the building was completed, there needed to be more money for it to operate. The Denver B’nai B’rith turned to fundraising to buy equipment and furnishings for the hospital over to the national organization. In 1899, the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives opened – the first hospital in the world. It accepted only destitute tuberculosis patients from throughout the country. In 1899, it could accommodate 65 patients. Today National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the country and the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune, and related disorders. A statue of Frances holding her bag of soaps and medicines is located today at National Jewish. The plaque on the statute reads, “ Frances Wisebart Jacobs – After her death in 1892, the Frances Jacobs Hospital was erected on this site. It was the forerunner of the present institution and was established through the love and gratitude of the people of Denver to memorialize a noble pioneer, Denver’s ‘Mother of Charities.’”

Because her legacy has already lasted over 100 years, we can expect Frances will still be remembered in another 100 years. The progenitor of Jewish Family Service, founder of United Way, founder of National Jewish, an inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame as well as the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, Frances was a quiet hero and a person who changed lives for the better because she was passionate about doing so. 

At a time when women couldn’t vote and had few of the rights and privileges that women in the U.S. enjoy today, Frances demonstrated the power of one person to make changes. She embodied the words of anthropologist Margaret Mead – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” One person can change the world. Frances quietly and determinedly changed the world for the better.

As this month ends, let us remember the mighty women and allies who lead the way for the millions of women striving for a more just and equitable future. 

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