Tour 1: Exploring Early Jewish Denver History
Tour leader: Jeanne Abrams, Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society and Beck Archives, Center for Judaic Studies and University Libraries, University of Denver
Denver’s Jewish community dates back to 1859—the first year of the city’s permanent settlement—and the first Jewish synagogue was founded in 1874. Much like members of the general population, Jews migrated to Denver, first in search of wealth and new opportunities, and then later in search of health, as by the 1880s Colorado had earned a reputation as “The World’s Sanatorium.” This tour will highlight the area’s early Jewish history, with particular emphases on the settlement of first German Jews and then Eastern European Jews, and on the major impact tuberculosis had on the growth of Denver’s Jewish and larger communities. Tour stops will include the Pearl Street Temple Emanuel building (1899), and the Auraria campus, which includes the Shearith Israel Synagogue (1903), the old Groussman’s Grocery (1906), and the Golda Meir House (1913). We will conclude with an extensive tour of the beautiful former campus of the Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society (now the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design), one of the best-known early tuberculosis sanatoria in the US.
Please note: The bus tour includes some walking, totaling about three city blocks. One stop includes a short staircase.
Limit 25 people. $20 members, $25 nonmembers