The Jewish Chronic Relief Society (1914-1988) was established in Cleveland, Ohio, as the Cleveland Ladies Consumptive Aid Society to provide assistance and care to indigent Jews afflicted with tuberculosis or other chronic conditions. In 1923 the group incorporated as the Cleveland and Denver Consumptive Ladies Aid Society and, in 1935, as the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society of Cleveland. Together with the Bikur Cholim Sick Relief Society and with the cooperation of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Cleveland and Mt. Sinai Hospital, the society helped raise the funds to build the Jewish Convalescent Hospital, a nineteen bed facility for tuberculosis patients. The facility, at 18810 Harvard Road, was dedicated in 1937. In 1945, the Cleveland Federation of Jewish Charities assumed the operation of the facility while the Society continued to contribute the funds for its maintenance as well as volunteers for its operation. By the 1940s membership int eh Jewish Consumptive Relief Society was over 1,000. This total included members of the group's Junior Auxiliary, the Daughters of the Consumptive Relief Aid Society, a men's group and a Cleveland Heights, Ohio, group. With the decrease in tubercular incidence, the organization changed its name in 1958 to the Jewish Chronic Relief Society and enlarged its mission to include all chronically ill Jews. In 1967, the Jewish Convalescent Hospital officially changed its name to the Jewish Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center of Cleveland. In 1979, when this facility closed, the society shifted its main support to Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital. In November 1988, with fewer than 100 members, the Society agreed to disband. It disbursed its assets among a number of medical associations, societies, and foundations, as well as Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem and Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital in Cleveland.
The Jewish Chronic Relief Society Records, 1935-1988, consist primarily of membership lists and donor (fundraising) ledgers.
This collection is of value to researchers studying the response to the needs of tubercular patients in the United States in general and the Jewish community of Cleveland, Ohio, in particular. Those interested in the fundraising efforts of the Cleveland Jewish community during the twentieth century, especially in the health care sector, will find this collection useful.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
The researcher should also consult MS 3673 Bikur Cholim Ladies Sick Aid Society Records and MS 4693 Jewish Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center of Cleveland Records.
Processed by Stanley Lasky in 1994.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4698 Jewish Chronic Relief Society Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Jewish Chronic Relief Society, 1983; and Lenora Wolf, 1990.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.