The many boxes—different shapes and sizes, all of them heavy—nearly filled a small room at JEWISHcolorado.
Their contents promised a vivid trip into the past for the Colorado Jewish community.
For nearly a decade, the boxes had been carefully kept in storage. But on a chilly January morning, they traveled to a new home where the historical materials they hold will be given new life.
Methodically, Dr. Joshua Furman, University of Denver’s Jeanne Abrams Endowed Director of the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society (RMJHS), and David Fasman, Curator of the Beck Archives, along with Archivist Elizabeth Ferguson loaded the boxes onto carts and moved them from JEWISHcolorado’s lower level to waiting cars.
Stephanie Geller, David Fasman, Dr. Joshua Furman, and Elizabeth Ferguson
When the archivists go through the boxes, they will find a trove of items from the history of the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado, the Jewish Community Foundation, and the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education (CAJE), the three stand-alone organizations that merged to create JEWISHcolorado.
“It’s like finding a treasure,” said Furman. “Honoring and remembering those who came before us means we are preserving links in the chain of our history. If we don’t preserve it, we lose it and it’s gone forever.”
The history of the boxes
In 2016, when JEWISHcolorado began a two-year renovation of its building, a variety of items that had been stored or displayed in the building for many years needed to find a new home during the renovation.
JEWISHcolorado staffers packed all sorts of items into boxes to be stored offsite: photographs, newspaper clippings, vinyl records, city proclamations, framed portraits, scrapbooks, written records from the Women’s Division, videos, CDs, programs from events, publications, typewritten ledgers with notes from Board meetings dating back to the 1950s, honors for the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado, mementos from trips, and more.
Two years later, in 2018, JEWISHcolorado moved back into its renovated building, but the boxes remained in storage. Jco President & CEO Renée Rockford and Chief Culture Officer Stephanie Geller discussed the possibility of digitizing and archiving the materials, but they concluded that they did not have the resources or expertise to tackle the project.
A solution presented itself when Rockford met with Furman and Fasman. They jumped at the chance to archive the materials.
“This is one of the most significant collections that the Beck Archives could hope to acquire,” Furman says. “It’s essential for understanding the history of the Colorado Jewish community and the ways it organized itself, and as we go through it, we expect to find a “Who’s Who” of Jewish community leaders.”
For JEWISHcolorado, the opportunity to work with the Beck Archives was a true mitzvah.
“I was thrilled to know that these materials would no longer be in storage,” said Geller. “There could be valuable information, stories that should be shared that are important and really inspirational for the Jewish community to uncover.”
The future of the boxes
After the boxes arrived at the Beck Archives, Fasman and Ferguson began the meticulous process of organizing the contents. First, they will do an initial assessment to determine whether there is a duplication of items. That will be followed by a physical organization, then a digital organization. When that process is finished—and it may take about a year—they will offer access to the materials to the public, including researchers.
“What some people might see as trash, others might consider to be extremely valuable research material,” Fasman said. “The Beck Archives already has materials from the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado, but this will expand and enhance it.”
Furman points out that the materials will also be available for family members interested in learning more about the contributions of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
“These materials are one of one,” he said. “You can’t go to Amazon and order copies of this. What we will do is make sure that this history is preserved for generations to come—to study, learn from, and enjoy.”