Frances Wisebart Jacobs

Frances Jacobs ( Wisebart; March 29, 1843 – November 3, 1892) was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to Jewish Bavarian immigrants and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She married Abraham Jacobs, the partner of her brother Jacob, and came west with him to Colorado where Wisebart and Jacobs had established businesses in Denver and Central City. In Denver, Frances Jacobs became a driving force for the city's charitable organizations and activities, with national exposure. Among the philanthropical organizations she founded, she is best remembered as a founder of the United Way and the Denver's Jewish Hospital Association.

Biography Frances Wisebart was born March 29, 1843, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to Leon Wisebart, a tailor, and his wife. In addition to Frances, they had a son, Jacob (also called Benjamin), and five more girls, all of whom attended public school.

Frances was a school teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio before she married Abraham Jacobs Frances' brother, Jacob was the fifth mayor of Central City. The store he ran with his brother-in-law Abraham Jacobs, called the Wisebart store, succumbed to fire after the Denver 1863 fire, with $50,000 in damages.

The home of Abraham and Frances Jacobs at the corner of 16th and Welton Streets (circa 1880) Denver, Colorado. Following the Central City fire Frances and Abraham moved to Denver for a fresh start. served on the Denver city council, helped draft the Denver "people's constitution", was involved in the important merger of Denver and Auraria, and established and ran a stagecoach line until 1869, when it became unprofitable.

Frances Wisebart Jacobs, involved in Denver charitable activities shortly after settling in Denver, She became a forceful, persuasive speaker engaging and inspiring support for Denver's charitable organizations.

Background In 1858 settlers arrived to frontier land: "The early pioneer came to a silent wilderness. He took hold of the territory 'in the raw.' He had nothing by his hands, his energy and his courage to start a new civilization in the wilderness." In 1859 and 1860 people began arriving in the thousands to settle in the mountains, mining camps or valleys.

People also came to Colorado for the restorative benefits of its "clean air and sunshine." Starting in the 1860s, when tuberculosis (TB) was a worldwide problem, physicians in the eastern United States recommended that their patients go to Colorado. Not knowing how to manage a population of homeless ill people, many were taken to jail.

Charitable activities Jacobs was known across the nation as the "Mother of Charities" for her ground-breaking philanthropic service in Denver, Colorado.

Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society To meet the needs of Jewish pioneers living in Denver, in 1872 Jacobs organized, and was president of, the Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society.

Jacobs was troubled by the number of critically ill people with tuberculosis she saw on the streets and who lived like refugees in tents and shacks. As a member and early president of the Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society, Jacobs cared for critically ill Jewish people living in squalor along the Platte River banks and West Colfax by bringing soup, coal, clothing, soap and physicians. She also aided those who, due to hemorrhaging, fell ill on the street.

The nonprofit, nonsectarian organization is known today as Jewish Family Service of Colorado, serves 21,500 people per year.

Due in part to the research of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, tuberculosis is no longer an epidemic. In 1994, Jacobs was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, and in 2000 Jacobs and the National Jewish Medical and Research Center were awarded the Denver Mayor's Millennium Award.

A bronze statue sits in the lobby of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, a memorial to Jacobs, with her holding a bag of medicines and soaps.