Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol (Denver, Colo.)

An unidentified man stands at a podium speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony for Beth haMedrosh Hagodol Congregation (BMH). Propped on easels in front of the podium are interior and exterior drawings of the proposed building.

Henry Plonsky sits, wearing a suit and holding a document in his hand. Polish-born Plonsky arrived in Denver in 1877. He helped form an Orthodox minyan above his store on Larimer Street. He became a successful shoe and boot merchant in partnership with Leopold Mayer and was instrumental in the establishment of the Orthodox Jewish congregation Ahavey Emunah in 1880 and later the Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol Synagogue and the Beth Joseph congregation.

Several men and women sit in the BMH Chapel listening to a speaker during the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society's Historic Jewish Denver Tour. Dr. Jeanne Abrams' sons sit in the front row.