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This folder contains newspaper clippings about churches in Boulder and Boulder County. The clippings were compiled by the Reference Staff at the Boulder Public Library.

Herb Kauvar begins by describing his childhood in Geneva, Ohio, and what brought him to Boulder, Colorado. He was instrumental in starting the first Jewish Sunday school at Hillel in order to provide a Jewish education for his children, and he was one of the founders of Congregation Har HaShem. He also owned The Sink, a favorite college hangout, and Tulagi, a music venue on The Hill that brought acts like Bonnie Rait and Harry Chapin to Boulder in the 1970s. He takes pride in his involvement in Har HaShem and its presence in the community.

Sheila Malcolm is one of two co-leaders of Beth Ami/Colorado Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, a Denver Metro area congregation that practices secular Humanistic Judaism. The members of this branch of Judaism do not believe in God, but are brought together by and honor cultural and values aspects of Judaism. Ms. Malcolm describes the origins of the movement, which has been guided by Sherwin Wine, and explains both the philosophical underpinnings and the day-to-day practices and services that are part of the congregation's life. She also explains how Beth Ami fits into the larger Jewish community in Boulder, including participation in interdenominational Jewish initiatives such as 18 Pomegranates and Jewish Together Boulder. She reflects on the growth and changes in the Boulder Jewish community since 1975 and ends by discussing her passion for teaching and for volunteering with organizations such as I Have a Dream and Reading to End Racism.

Bill and Rita Corn have lived in Boulder since the 1960s, a time when the Jewish population of the city was much smaller than it is today (2012). Bill and Rita begin by describing their childhoods and what brought them to Boulder. They delve into the development of the Boulder Jewish community, including the early days before there was a rabbi in Boulder, through the days of the Boulder Jewish Fellowship and the founding and development of Congregation Har HaShem. They discuss the experiences of their children in the community. Bill also touches on the newspaper editorials he has written over the years about Middle East politics.

This interview's primary focus is on the narrator's experience of Judaism. Nanette remembers her childhood in Germany, where she was born and lived until age ten when her family immigrated to the United States, in 1939. Her father spent one month in a concentration camp. She talks with great affection about arriving in and living in New York City, where she studied and practiced textile design. She and her husband met and were married in New York before moving to Boulder - her husband took a relocation job with IBM. Nanette recalls the formation of Har HaShem congregation and the synagogue, which she helped to establish; she talks about other Jewish orgnizations and the growth of Boulder's Jewish community from 1966 forward. The interview concludes with discussion of Nanette's secular interests and pursuits, such as her career teaching watercolor painting at Colorado Mountain College. Some of her work is displayed at the end of the video recording.

Charlotte Smokler's interview starts with her account of her family's emigration from Poland when she was a young girl. She describes her childhood in New York City and her move to Boulder with her husband in 1968. She talks about her jobs and community involvement in Boulder such as her job managing the Daily Camera's clipping library, writing book reviews for the Camera, running a Jewish film series for Congregation Bonai Shalom, and helping to catalog book donations for the Boulder Public Library. The heart of the interview centers around an exploration of Jewish identity as she encountered it during her childhood and in later years, including ways in which Boulder and its Jewish congregations have grown and changed.

Stanley Goldberg talks about his life in Boulder as a secular Jew. He describes what life was like as one of only a few Jewish families in Boulder during the 1950s, his eventual membership in both the Boulder Jewish Fellowship and Congregation Har HaShem, his contribution as the architect of the Har HaShem synagogue, and his experience of completing a Bar Mitzvah at the age of eighty. He also touches on his mountaineering accomplishments and his continuing love of being in the mountains.

Frank describes his experience of leaving Austria with the kindertransport just after the Nazi invasion of that country. He tells how he came to immigrate to the United States and details his education and other experiences that brought him to Boulder in 1959 to work for the University of Colorado in the field of engineering. Frank discusses his Jewish identity, his interactions with the Jewish community in Boulder, and the ways in which the Jewish community has grown in numbers and variety since the 1950s. The end of the interview includes video of numerous family photos and photos of Frank with President Jimmy Carter.

Ruth Seagull escaped from Nazism in Berlin, Germany, to Switzerland, before settling in New York City during WWII. She tells of her childhood experience adjusting to American school and culture. She tells a bit about life in Israel during the late ‘40s, leading up to establishment of the Jewish state. As an adult, her Jewish faith is rekindled by her experience with Transcendental Meditation. She tells of her involvement in the Boulder Jewish community through Jewish Renewal and the Conservative Bonai Shalom, teaching Hebrew, and volunteering with “chevra kadisha.”

CU Professor Paul Levitt, born in Newark, New Jersey, and who grew up mostly in the San Fernando Valley in California, has led a life focused on literature, writing, and political action. He begins by describing his Jewish family’s origins in Eastern Europe, his relatives’ immigration to the United States and his own boyhood. He came to the University of Colorado as an undergraduate student in 1954, began teaching at CU in 1964 and was the founder of CU’s Creative Writing Program. He also lived in London and wrote plays for the BBC for two years. Levitt became a prolific writer of historical novels and scholarly nonfiction. He also has strong beliefs about the importance of university faculty teaching lower-classmen as well as pursuing their own scholarship. Professor Levitt was an outspoken opponent of university participation in the investigations and subsequent firings that grew out of McCarthyism. He sponsored a meeting that resulted in university officials’ apologies to Morris Judd for his firing in 1952 and a lawsuit that resulted in the release of a previously secret report about President Robert Stearns’ investigations into the political leanings of CU faculty, which resulted in many firings and resignations. Professor Levitt discusses a number of his critically acclaimed books, including Stalin’s Barber and Come With Me to Babylon.

This interview is part of the University of Colorado’s service-learning course focusing on the religious lives of members of various religious communities in Boulder County. Charlotte Smokler is a Jewish Polish immigrant who moved to New York City when she was five years old. She describes growing up in New York, the effect of the Holocaust on her family, her move to Boulder with her husband, and her life in Boulder, including her religious affiliations, and her work as both a librarian and book reviewer for the Daily Camera. She talks about living in Italy with her husband, her love of living in Boulder, and the place of religion and family in her life.