Founding Mission, 1905-1920

Rafael T. Wathen was a longtime employee in the maintenance department at both the old and new Jewish Hospital. He retired in 1965 at age 77

Laying the Cornerstone, December 13, 1903

Original Board of Directors and Rabbis, ca. 1905

Through donations and volunteer work, the Jewish Ladies Benevolent Society No. 1 contributed to the mission, maintenance, and growth of Jewish Hospital. The Jewish Welfare Federation and the National Council of Jewish Women Louisville Section also gave critical support to the hospital.

This is a solemn moment, my friends; none of us can conceive of the vast beneficence, extending as I hope it may, to many, many generations, still unborn, which will issue forth from the portals, which we are about to throw open, bidding all who may suffer and seek refuge to enter.    

-Charles Goldsmith, Vice President, Jewish Hospital Association, May 15, 1905 (History of Jewish Hospital, folder 1)

The dawn of the 20^th century brought changes and challenges for American Jews. German Jewish immigrants of the mid 1800s had established houses of worship, community groups, and successful businesses throughout the United States. The late 19^th and early 20^th centuries brought a new wave of Jewish immigration from eastern Europe. Fleeing oppression and violence, many arrived on American shores destitute and unfamiliar with the language and customs of their new home.  Aspiring Jewish doctors longed to assist them but, due to discrimination, faced a lack of training and practice opportunities.

In 1903, local Jewish leaders began marshalling resources to build a hospital that could meet the unique needs of their changing community. Two years later, Jewish Hospital opened at the corner of Floyd and Kentucky streets, a convenient distance from the city’s Jewish neighborhoods clustered around Preston and Floyd streets between Market and Broadway.

The founders’ aims were ambitious and altruistic: providing the highest level of care to the neediest of patients. Sustaining this mission would not be easy.