The Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society is one of the premiere local Jewish historical societies in the United States. Together with its Beck Memorial Archives, the Historical Society preserves the fascinating history of Jews in the West and serves the needs of scholars and other individuals interested in historical research.

Advancing knowledge of Jewish history, thought, and culture through learning, intercultural dialogue, and social action.

On Colorado Public Radio’s Colorado Matters, Dan Meyers interviewed Jeanne Abrams, Director of the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society, about the failed agricultural colony in Cotopaxi Colorado. From 1882-1884, Cotopaxi was the site of an agricultural colony of Russian Jewish immigrants. After the ill-fated colony disbanded in 1884, most of the colonists move to Denver, forming the nucleus of the city’s west side Jewish Community.

Denver recorded the birth of its first Jewish girl in 1860. Within half a century, Jewish women in Colorado and throughout the West were taking leading roles in charitable work, medical care and other public matters. Their influence far exceeded their numbers. And their experience differed from that of Jewish women in eastern cities. A new book by University of Denver professor Jeanne Abrams brings this facet of western history to light. It's called Jewish Women Pioneering the Frontier Trail: A History in the American West. Abrams talks to Dan Meyers.

The physician played a key role in Denver, with the founding of the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society, a treatment center for tuberculosis. Abrams, a University of Denver professor, speaks with Dan Meyers.

The influx of tuberculosis patients coming for fresh air and healthy living in the late 1800s and early 1900s, expanded Colorado's population.

Brief biographies of early Jewish lawyers in Colorado and their contributions to the law, the Jewish community, and Colorado.

Jews played a central role in the development of Colorado through their contributions to economic life and development. Denver's first mercantile store was opened by Jewish citizen Fred Salomon in 1859. Before long, stores run by Jewish merchants and their family members in search of work and wealth flourished on the main streets of most Colorado towns including, Denver, Central City, Leadville, Trinidad, and Fairplay. This film focuses on the lives of a number of early merchants, including some who founded national and regional empires: the Shwayder Brothers, who opened what become the world renowned Samsonite Luggage Company, David May, founder of the May Company department stores, Leopold Guldman, proprietor of the Leadville and later Denver's Golden Eagle Store, the city's first popular priced department store, and A.B. Hirschfeld who started the Hirschfeld Press in 1907.

Brief biographies of Jewish men and women who grew up in Jewish communities in Colorado. Contains historical photographs and interviews with people describing their childhoods.

Brief biographies of Jewish women who contributed to philanthropy and social activism, the Jewish community, and Colorado. Contains historical photographs and interviews with people who knew some of the early key women.

Brief biographies of Jewish men and women who contributed to medicine, the Jewish community, and Colorado. Contains historical photographs and interviews with people who knew some of the early key figures.

History of the ill-fated Cotopaxi Colony of Jewish immigrants in Colorado. Brief biographies of the families involved and their contribution to Denver and Colorado after they left the colony.

Brief description of several early Jewish leaders of commerce, philanthropy, religion, and community as well as several Jewish lawyers, doctors, merchants, and politicians in Colorado.

The Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers project, has digitized copies of the Denver Jewish News.

The Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers project, has digitized copies of the Jewish Outlook.