Hayem David Spivak
Born: Philadelphia, November 19, 1893
Died: Denver, November 23, 1932
Hayem David Spivak, more commonly known by his middle name David, was born in Philadelphia to Dr. Charles David Spivak (1861-1927) [1] and his bride, Jenny Charsky Spivak (1871-1965), [2] on November 19, 1893. [3] During 1896, Dr. Charles would move his family West to Denver where he would become a leading figure in the fight against tuberculosis [4] as the director of Denver’s Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society’s (JCRS) hospital, which opened in 1904. [5] In her book, Dr. Charles David Spivak; A Jewish Immigrant and the American Tuberculosis Movement, Dr. Jeanne Abrams encapsulates Dr. Charles Spivak and the early JCRS:
…The JCRS opened in 1904 and served over 10,000 patients during its fifty-year existence as a tuberculosis sanatorium and hospital. [Charles] Spivak was also a luminary in the American Jewish community….
…Spivak’s life and work serve as a wide lens through which to view myriad important topics, including the social construction of disease as related to ethnicity and class, the perceived connection specifically between immigrants and disease, and the transformation of the American hospital from a charitable, ethnic/religious-based voluntary institution to a modern corporate complex. They also reflect larger issues surrounding immigrant acculturation and intra-ethnic tensions, as well as how the concept of the Jew as an “outsider” at the turn of the twentieth century evolved into a phenomenon in which many of the outsiders became insiders who moved into the mainstream of American life. [6]
Dr. Charles Spivak Family in 1915. From Back Left: Dr. Charles, H. David, Deena, Jenny, and Ruth.
Courtesy of Denver University Special Collections.
“The Spivak Family”. Denver, Colorado: University Libraries Online Exhibits. 2022.
During 1910, David is listed in the United States Census as a 16-year-old Denver resident living at home with his parents. No occupation was listed because he was probably finishing high school at this time. Curiously his father, Dr. Charles, has a recorded occupation of “musician” in the same document. [7] This likely occurred due to the enumerator’s misinterpretation, who presumably was told “medical physician” by Charles, whose primary language was Yiddish. [8] His thick accent added to the confusion. Arriving in Leadville a year later, it is probable that the then 17-year-old David was only in the city for a few months. The first recording of him was in October of 1911, when he thwarted a burglary attempt at the Leadville Loan Co., a pawn and jewelry enterprise he managed where he also resided:
BURGLARS SCARED AWAY- H. [David] Spivak took a shot at some men who he claims were trying to break into his Jewelry store at 415 Harrison avenue last Thursday. He sleeps in the rear of the storeroom and at 1 o’clock he was awakened by a noise at the door that opens on the alley. Sitting up in bed he listened for a moment and was convinced that someone was trying to pry into the back door. He reached a pistol that he keeps under his pillow and fired one shot at the bottom of the door. That proved enough for immediately the scamper of feet was heard down the alley. The matter was repored [reported] to the police. [9]
Advertisement in The Herald Democrat showing H. Spivak as manager of the Leadville Loan Company.
Hurry! Hurry!! Hurry!!! Leadville, Colorado: The Herald Democrat. Saturday, December 23, 1911. Page 6.
David appears in holiday advertisements for that same enterprise in December but is never listed in the city directory. Aside from these brief yet informative newspaper references, there are no other Leadville records for David, who most likely returned to Denver in the early stages of 1912.
After leaving Leadville, David attended the University of Denver before serving as a corporal for a Texas aviation unit during the First World War. David married Flora Stromburgh in Jackson, Missouri, on June 19, 1919. On their application for the marriage license, both bride and groom are listed as residents of Denver. [10]
David became an accomplished artist in the years to follow and “…Over time he would teach art at East [Denver] High School, West [Denver] High School, the Denver Academy of Applied Art, the Denver Institute of Art, and the Chappell School of Art. In 1927, Spivak was one of the 52 charter members of the Denver Artists’ Guild and later served as its second president.” [11] The couple had two children, Daniel Charles (1920-2007) [12] and David (1924-2000). [13]
Sadly, David died in Denver from a brain tumor [14] at the age of 39. [15] His wife, Flora, did not remarry and survived him by 65 years. She was interred by his side in 1987 at Mount Nebo Memorial Park in Aurora, Colorado. [16]
Bookplate of Dr. Charles David Spivak by Hayem David Spivak, circa 1920s. The sign on the wall reads; “From The Books of” and at the bottom; “Dr. Chayim Spivak.”
Courtesy Denver University; Beck Memorial Archives Online Collections.
H. David Spivak, “Bookplate”. Denver, Colorado: University Libraries Online Exhibits. 2022.
“Woman with Flower in Hair”, painted by H. David Spivak, circa 1914-1917.
Goodrum. “Woman with Flower in Hair by H. David Spivak 1914-1917”. Denver, Colorado. 2009.
1 Find a Grave, [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Dr Charles David Spivak (25 Dec 1861–16 Oct 1927), Lakewood, Jefferson County, Colorado, USA.
2 Find a Grave, [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Jennie Charsky Spivak (1871–24 Nov 1965), Find a Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA.
3 National Archives at Washington DC; Washington DC, USA; Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941; NAID: M1916, NAID 596118; Record Group Number: 92; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General
4 "Charles David Spivak 1861-1927." American Review of Tuberculosis, 16(6). P. 763
5 “Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society (JCRS)”. Denver, CO: Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado. 2021.
6 Jeanne Abrams. “Dr. Charles David Spivak; A Jewish Immigrant and the American Tuberculosis Movement”. Denver, CO: University Press of Colorado. 2009. Pp. 1&2.
7 Year: 1910; Census Place: Denver Ward 13, Denver, Colorado; Roll: T624_117; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0173; FHL microfilm: 1374130
8 Year: 1920; Census Place: Denver, Denver, Colorado; Roll: T625_158; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 54
9 Burglars Scared Away. Leadville, CO: Carbonate Chronicle. October 11, 1911. P7.
10 Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Marriage Records [Microfilm]
11 Becca Goodrum, ed., “Woman with Flower in Hair by H. David Spivak 1914-1917”. [Accession Number: 2009.0962]. Denver, CO: Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art. 2009.
12 Find a Grave, [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Daniel Charles Spivak (15 Dec 1920–30 Aug 2007). Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA.
13 Find a Grave. [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for David Spivak (6 Aug 1924–6 Dec 2000). Commerce City, Adams County, Colorado, USA.
14 Goodrum. “Woman with Flower in Hair by H. David Spivak 1914-1917”. Denver, CO. 2009.
15 National Archives at Washington DC; Washington DC, USA; Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941; NAID: M1916, NAID 596118; Record Group Number: 92; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General
16 Find a Grave. [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Flora Sternburgh Spivak (15 Jul 1895–4 Sep 1987). Find a Grave Memorial ID 60020481, citing Mount Nebo Memorial Park, Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA; Maintained by Ed (contributor 46938801) .
Bibliography
Abrams, Jeanne. “Dr. Charles David Spivak; A Jewish Immigrant and the American Tuberculosis Movement”. Denver, CO: University Press of Colorado. 2009.
Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805-2002 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.
Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm publication M1916, 134 rolls. ARC ID: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92. National Archives at Washington, D.C.
Burglars Scared Away. Leadville, CO: Carbonate Chronicle. October 11, 1911.
Find a Grave. [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Daniel Charles Spivak (15 Dec 1920–30 Aug 2007), Find a Grave Memorial ID 60021006, citing Mount Nebo Memorial Park, Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA; Maintained by Ed (contributor 46938801) .
Find a Grave. [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for David Spivak (6 Aug 1924–6 Dec 2000), Find a Grave Memorial ID 60020632, citing Rose Hill Cemetery, Commerce City, Adams County, Colorado, USA; Maintained by Ed (contributor 46938801) .
Find a Grave. [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Dr Charles David Spivak (25 Dec 1861–16 Oct 1927), Find a Grave Memorial ID 60841982, citing Golden Hill Cemetery, Lakewood, Jefferson County, Colorado, USA; Maintained by Gravesnapper (contributor 47003950).
Find a Grave. [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Flora Sternburgh Spivak (15 Jul 1895–4 Sep 1987). Find a Grave Memorial ID 60020481, citing Mount Nebo Memorial Park, Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA; Maintained by Ed (contributor 46938801) .
Find a Grave. [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Hayem David Spivak (19 Nov 1893–23 Nov 1932). Find a Grave Memorial ID 7910181, citing Mount Nebo Memorial Park, Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA; Maintained by Ed (contributor 46938801) .
Find a Grave. [Database and Images]. Memorial Page for Jennie Charsky Spivak (1871–24 Nov 1965), Find a Grave Memorial ID 67308212, citing Mount Nebo Memorial Park, Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA; Maintained by Ed (contributor 46938801) .
Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).
Goodrum, Becca, ed. “Woman with Flower in Hair by H. David Spivak.” Woman With Flower In Hair by H. David Spivak. Kirkland Museum, March 23, 2021. https://www.kirklandmuseum.org/collections/work/woman-with-flower-in-hair/.
Hurry! Hurry!! Hurry!!! Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat. December 23, 1911.
“Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society (JCRS)”. Denver, CO: Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado. 2021.
Spivak, H. David, “Bookplate,” Denver, CO: University Libraries Online Exhibits. 2022. https://exhibits.library.du.edu/librariespresents/items/show/7342
The American Thoracic Society. "Charles David Spivak 1861-1927”. American Review of Tuberculosis. New York City, NY: ATS Journals. 2022.
“The Spivak Family”. Denver, CO: University Libraries Online Exhibits. 2022. https://exhibits.library.du.edu/librariespresents/items/show/5700
Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910. (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA.
To cite any of the information in this biography, please use the following reference.
AUTHOR: Jeffrey P. Grant
EDITOR: William Korn & Andrea Jacobs
SOURCE: Jewish Surnames/Spivak
PUBLISHED BY: Temple Israel Foundation. Leadville, CO; USA. 2020.
STABLE URL: http://www.jewishledville.org/spivak.html
