In 1958, Richard J. Daley was Mayor, Dwight Eisenhower was President, and Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole.

And on the west side of Chicago, Mount Sinai Hospital built a new residence hall, the $1.1 million Leopold and Nannette Kling Residence, to house medical residents, interns, and their families and offer easy access for hospital physicians who were often on call round-the-clock.

At the time, it was a major investment for Mount Sinai, which was originally founded in 1919 to serve Eastern European immigrants and provide medical training for Jewish physicians denied educational opportunities elsewhere. JUF contributed $600,000 toward the capital project.

This spring, Sinai began demolishing the Kling Residence to make way for a healing garden, part of an ambitious $100 million campus improvement plan that will expand and improve health care for thousands of Chicagoans.

After reviewing historical documents about Kling’s construction archived at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Learning and Leadership, Sinai learned there was a time capsule laid in the building’s cornerstone. Quickly located, the capsule immediately became something of a mystery.

On a sunny day in April, descendents of Sinai founder Morris Kurtzon including current board member Anne Cohn Donnelly joined with CEO Karen Teitelbaum to open the capsule. Tucked inside the sturdy copper box they found a treasure trove of historical documents including medical textbooks, Jewish newspapers and annual reports. There was also a Star of David nursing lapel pin, a testament to the hospital’s Jewish roots.

Mount Sinai Hospital is a partner with the Jewish United Fund in serving our community.