Construction on a building that was to be called the Frances Wisebart Jacobs Hospital and is now known as the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, began in Denver on October 9, 1892.

Frances Jacobs, known as Colorado's "Mother of Charity," devoted her life to community service. She is the only woman included among the sixteen Colorado pioneers depicted through stained glass portraits in the state's Capital Rotunda.

Born in Kentucky and raised in Cincinnati, Jacobs moved with her husband to Colorado in 1863; they settled in Denver in 1870. Jacobs quickly became involved in Denver's Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

By 1872, Jacobs had helped to organize and was serving as president of the Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society. In 1874, she helped found the nonsectarian Denver Ladies' Relief Society. She worked for the creation of Denver's first kindergartens and, together with leading Christian clergymen, helped organize Denver's Charity Organization Society, a forerunner to the United Way, in 1877.

To find out more about Frances Wisebart Jacobs, visit This Week in History.