CONTEMPORARY JEWISH DENVER
THE REANIMATION OF HISTORIC JEWISH SPACES
Presented here is my capstone project, titled Contemporary Jewish Denver: The reanimation of historic Jewish spaces, for the Program in Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. This project serves as a summation of my work and studies during the past four years in this program.
My capstone project captures the reanimation of three Jewish spaces in contemporary Denver, Colorado. I created a photo series of these Jewish spaces, which explores the ever-changing Denver Jewish community and how it has evolved since its inception in the late 19th century. These sites include the former Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society, an original building belonging to Temple Emanuel, and the Golden Hill Cemetery.
The Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) was a sanatorium established to treat tuberculosis. A group of Eastern European Jews, who immigrated to the United States and, eventually, to Colorado, founded the society in 1904. JCRS became the world's largest free tuberculosis treament facility. The Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design bought this land in 2002 and has strived to take care of their campus as a historic site for the city of Denver and the Jewish community.
Temple Emanuel is Colorado's oldest congregation, founded in 1874. Since the synagogue's inception, they have occupied four different spaces. Their second site, which they called home from 1882 until the 1920s, is a building located at 24th Street and Curtis Street in Denver. This historic building, which still stands today, is now called The Temple. This building was repurposed in 2014 as a community space for non-profit organizations and studio spaces for local artsits.
The Golden Hill Cemetery was founded over 100 years ago in the historic west Colfax area of Jewish Denver. This cemetery was built in response to Jews needing their own cemetery where specific religious and burial practices could be observed. At the end of the 19th century, tuberculosis swept America, forcing people to move out of cities to places with fresh air, like Colorado. Golden Hill Cemetery is still in use today, continuing to serve the needs of the Jewish community, as well as preserving
Denver's Jewish history.
To learn more about these sites, you can click on the following links:
Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society
Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design