University of Denver News Releases
Monday, January 14, 2008
From Haven to Home: 350 years of Jewish life in America
Exhibition opens Jan. 7, 2008 at the Denver Central Public Library
A Library of Congress exhibition, From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America, opens Jan. 7 at the Denver Central Public Library. This commemorative exhibition is one of the initiatives associated with the congressionally recognized Commission for Commemorating 350 Years of American Jewish History. The exhibit is brought to Denver through sponsorship of the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society at the University of Denver Center for Judaic Studies, the Mizel Museum, the American Jewish Historical Society, and the Denver Public Library. The exhibition will be on view in the library’s main floor of Schlessman Hall through Feb. 15.
From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America features more than two hundred reproductions of American Judaic treasures from the collections of the Library of Congress, augmented by a selection of important loans from other co-operating cultural institutions.
The exhibition examines the Jewish experience in the United States through the prisms of "Haven" and "Home." "Haven" opens with a selection of pivotal documents expressing the ideals of freedom that have come to represent the promise of America. This section also explores the formative experiences of Jewish immigrants as they struggled to become American.
The "Home" section focuses on the opportunities and challenges inherent in a free society and the uniquely American Jewish religious movements, institutions and associations created in response. In telling the story of diverse groups of Jewish immigrants who made the United States their home, the exhibition examines the intertwined themes, and sometimes conflicting aims, of accommodation, assertion, adaptation and acculturation that have characterized the American Jewish experience from its beginnings in 1654 to the present day.
This critically acclaimed national exhibit will also feature a special Colorado photo exhibit, Pioneering Jews of Colorado. Created by the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society at the University of Denver Center for Judaic Studies and the Mizel Museum, this exhibit tells the unique story of Colorado’s Pioneering Jewish history using images housed within Beck Archives at the University of Denver’s Penrose Library.
The Denver Central Public Library is located at 10 W. Fourteenth Ave. Parkway. The Central Library is open daily. For a list of hours, visit: http://denverlibrary.org/. For more information, contact the director of the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society, Dr. Jeanne Abrams at (303) 871-3016 or visit www.du.edu/cjs.
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The Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society & Beck Archives at the University of Denver’s Center for Judaic Studies has been the leading institution in the region for the preservation and education of the Jewish experience throughout the Rocky Mountain region. In addition to being a repository of the heritage of Jewish culture and history, the RMJHS serves as an aid to educators, students, researchers, writers and anyone interested in the rich Jewish history of the Rocky Mountain region. For more information on programs and events presented by the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society & Beck Archives, please visit www.du.edu/cjs or call 303-871-3020.
Contact: Jamie Polliard, (303) 871-2343, jpolliar@du.edu or Jeanne Abrams, (303) 871-3016, jabrams@du.edu.