Beck Archives

02/26/2026

02/17/2026

It's that time of the year again...research fellowship opportunity at the Beck Archives!

12/08/2025

We are thrilled to have just received the papers of Dr. Otto Einstein--third cousin to Albert Einstein.

Otto fled the N***s with his wife Jenny and made their way to Nicaragua where he worked at a hospital for 9 months before being allowed into the United States.

He and Jenny started their new lives in New Orleans before moving to Denver, Colorado 2 years later. He was hired at as a tuberculosis specialist at the age of 64. While working, he studied to take his American boards. Pictured here are some of his illustrations.

After some time at National Jewish he and Jenny moved to Colorado Springs where he worked at Modern Woodmen of America Sanatorium before finally settling in at the Cragmore Sanatorium.

We are so thankful to the donor for providing us with this incredible collection.

09/18/2025

She lived to 106 (1894-2000). Irene Miller Stein used a host of mediums to create her art. Glass, metal, lithography, painting, and so much more. Right now, outside of the Dean's suite in the , you can see an exhibit featuring photographs, lithographs, and material culture items from Irene's life. Stop by and have a look!

08/06/2025

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNBys0nyZdT/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Check out our recent visit to the JCRS campus! (Now ICCS and RMCAD).

11/20/2024

Couldn't have said it better myself. Come and see me and Dr. Joshua Furman speak at the next Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado event on December 8! Registration link in the comments.

10/02/2024

Shanah Tovah from the Beck Archives!

06/18/2024

Question for social media!

So, this item has been described as a challah brush in our content management system for years. It consists of 16 feathers tied together with twine. The original owner likely emigrated from Lithuania and it is unclear as to whether the brush was made in America or Lithuania.

I have never seen, or heard of, a feather challah brush used for egg wash (but that doesn't mean it wasn't). The feathers are in very good condition and don't seem like they were dipped in egg wash. However, I do know of the custom of bedikat chametz and the use of a feather or feathers for gathering crumbs before Passover. I also realize that the feather(s) are burned after this tradition.

Question: Do you think this is a challah brush or a tool for bedikat chametz? (Or something completely different).

Let me know what you think!

05/31/2024

The was founded in 1976 as a part of the at the . We still adhere to our collecting scope: "[The Beck Archives] serves as a repository of the heritage of Jewish culture and history of the Rocky Mountain region, with an emphasis on Colorado. The items in our collections reflect the history and culture of the Colorado Jewish community from the mid-1800s to the present."

We've grown from our beginnings with a few collections, into a repository holding around 400 personal, societal, and institutional collections with subject matter ranging from medical records and congregational documents to Jewish organizations and genealogical records. We serve researchers from around the nation and even internationally.

At the end of January, our curator of forty-two years--Jeanne Abrams--retired. A national search for a new curator commenced. After many months, I can announce that David Fasman (me) has accepted the position of Curator of the Beck Archives. I have been working at the Beck Archives for around 5 years and am beyond excited to build upon the incredible work that has occurred over the past 49 years.

So, as the new curator arrives, I arrive with a new logo for the Archives. I hope you enjoy what I intend to be a logo that embodies the scope of what we do. Here's to many more years of growth with the Archives. We hope that you'll join us on the journey.

05/17/2024

This is a picture of Golda Meir with Sam Korngold--her brother-in-law. They are standing in front of hist store, Wisconsin Cleaning and Processing Works, in Denver. Perhaps a lesser known fact about Golda Meir is that she spent about two years of her life here, in Denver.

At around the age of 15, Golda--upset with her parent's lack of support for her continuation of high school and to become a teacher--ran away from home to go and live with her sister, Shayna Korngold, in Denver. Her parents had in fact already chosen a husband and Golda refused to oblige. Her sister, Shayna, spent time in the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society with tuberculosis while Golda lived in Denver. Soon after her arrival, Golda went on to attend North High School.

The Korngolds held intellectual evenings at their home, where Golda was exposed to debates on Zionism, literature, women's suffrage, trade unionism, and more. It was in Denver that Golda met her future husband, Morris Meyerson.

In 1914, Golda and Shayna had a falling out and Golda moved back to Milwaukee. If you're interested in more, the Golda Meir House , here in Denver, is a great place to see how she and the Korngolds lived.

04/10/2024

A fraction, but still some of the women of Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society! And with (some) names! Both photos in this deck come from the album of Bertha "Mickey" Marks--a patient at the Sanatorium in the late 1920s. For people with tuberculosis, it looks like these women are having a great time!

1. The backside of the, "Let's Go - Whoopie" photo - reads, "At left Bertha "Mickey" Marks, JCRS patients c.1928, from her album."

2. The backside of the pajama party photo reads, "I made the paper hats for this occasion. c.1928, from album of Bertha "Mickey" Marks.

04/05/2024

You know, archives aren't typically associated with books. But, just so happens to contain a world class collection of antiquarian Judaica/Hebraica. The collection, named the Solomon Shwayder Memorial Library, is home to thousands of texts ranging from 1500 onward.

N**i -looted books just so happens to be the research area of one of our archivists. In addition to that, censorship in the Pale of Settlement regularly overlaps with N**i-looted books. Preparing for a lecture today, some interesting texts popped up.

Stamps in the books range from Polish/Pale censorship stamps and previous ownership stamps, to stamps that indicate a book was stolen by the N***s and discovered by the allies.

📸1. She'elot u-teshuvot | Questions and Responses, Asher ben Jehiel | Venice, Italy, 1552. There are two stamps from Polish censors in the Pale and two indecipherable stamps.

📸 2. Moreh Nevuchim | Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides | Jessnitz, Germany, 1742. This book has three stamps. Two censorship stamps from the Pale--one likely from Poland and one ownership stamp shown in the next picture.

📸 3. Ownership stamp: Tzvi Yoseph bar Avigad, Warsaw.

📸 4. Two Pale censorship stamps.

📸 5. Kol Bo | All is in it | Venice, Italy, 1547. There is yet to be an author attributed to this famous text. The title page has a Pale censorship stamp and also an ownership stamp for S.J. Wiszynski, Prague.

📸 6. desinf Lk. SEPT. 45. This stamp is deceivingly complex in what it represents. A book with this stamp indicates that the book was stolen by the N***s, "liberated" by the allies at the end of the war, disinfected in the Rothschild Library, before being moved--likely to the Offenbach Depot for cataloging.