Berry, Hannah Shwayder, 1895-1986
Biography
Rachel Kobey and Isaac Shwayder had 11 children: Solomon, Dora, Jesse, Raschelle, Mark, Gertrude, Florence, Maurice, Hannah, Benjamin, and Liebe. Having been persuaded by his wife's pioneering uncle Abe Rachofsky and great uncle Alexander Rittmaster, Isaac Shwayder first came to Central City, Colorado, in 1879 to find work, and after two years the rest of his family joined him. The Shwayders later moved to Nevadaville (Black Hawk), Colorado, and in 1888 they settled in Denver. Hannah Shwayder was born in Denver on August 21, 1920 and died in Denver on December 21, 1995. Hannah Shwayder married Harry I. Berry and wrote about the Shwayder family and business, Samsonite luggage, in "Tales of a Little Trunk and Other Stories."
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Oral History Interview with Hannah Shwayder Berry, 1981 March 1
Major subjects covered in the interview include the Shwayder and Kobey (originally Kobersky) families, immigrating to Colorado from Poland, Hannah Shwayder Berry’s grandmother Miriam "Mary" Kobey (a Denver midwife nicknamed the “Angel of Mercy”) and refers to book “The Tale of the Little Trunk”; a copy of the book can be found in the Beck Archives.