Levy, Hannah, 1905-1984

Person

Staff Only

Biography

Hannah Levy became a nationally known fashion expert, traveling extensively to New York, Europe, and Asia to buy clothes for Fashion Bar, which was started by her brother Jack in 1933. Fashion Bar became the largest privately owned chain in Colorado. Hannah was born in the town of Haigerloch, near Stuttgart in Southern Germany, on May 19, 1918, to Raphael and Bertha Hilb Levy. Hannah's uncle, Isidore Hilb, came to Denver in the early 1900s and founded Hilb and Company, a wholesale clothing supply business. Jack Levy came to Denver in 1923 to work at his uncle's company as a salesman. Hannah Levy reached New York in 1925, working at menial jobs for 20 months to earn enough money for a train ticket to Denver. She worked as a cleaner, a nanny, a manicurist, and a delicatessen worker. Hannah Levy supported many Jewish, civic, and cultural causes, including Temple Emanuel, Rose Hospital, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Denver Symphony, Jewish Community Center, and the University of Denver's Holocaust Awareness Institute.After a 50-year career at Fashion Bar, Hannah Levy died December 1, 1984.

Citation

Not found in LCNAF or VIAF. mmata 2016-10-26

Sources: https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=268 (article by Jeanne Abrams (2016). Tales of a Little Trunk by Hannah Shwayder Berry. Obituaries.

Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:

Box 6, 1938-1993

File — Box B097.04.0006: Series B097.04 [Barcode: U186020759239]

Identifier: B097.04.0006

Abstract

(7) file folders include: photographs of Fashion Bar buildings, events, logo images, employees, and Hannah and Jack Levy. Photos of trips to Hong Kong, Italy and Israel with Golda Meir. Also a photo with May D and F visible.

Dates: 1938-1993

Found in: Special Collections and Archives / B097, Fashion Bar and Levy Family Papers / Photographs and Scrapbooks

Fashion Bar and Levy Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: B097

Abstract Siblings Hannah, Jack and Edward Levy immigrated to America in the 1920s. Jack Levy came to America in 1923, headed to Denver, and began working at his uncle's business, Hilb and Company. Edward Levy reached Denver in 1925 and also started working for Hilb and Company, eventually becoming the president. After working in New York City for 20 months at menial jobs, Hannah moved to Denver in the fall of 1927. Jack started as a traveling salesman for the Hilb company and Hannah as a shop-girl at...

Dates: 1938-1993; Coverage: 1900-1993

Found in: Special Collections and Archives / Fashion Bar and Levy Family Papers

Jack Weil, Hannah Levy, and the 32nd Anniversary of Fashion Bar, c. 1960

Item

Identifier: B097.05.0019.0002.00001

Abstract

Contains one large format image of Hannah Levy and Jack Weil and another of a 32nd anniversary sale at Fashion Bar.

Dates: c. 1960

Found in: Special Collections and Archives / B097, Fashion Bar and Levy Family Papers / Large Format Architectural Drawings, Watercolors, Photographs, and Plans / Container 19 / Large Format Photograph

Oral History Interview with Siblings Hannah and Jack Levy, 1983 October 18

Item

Identifier: B098.01.0005.00116

Abstract "Siblings Jack and Hannah Levy discuss the Levy family history, how they started the retail store, Fashion Bar, and the development of their stores. They also talk about the fashion business. Siblings Hannah and Jack Levy were born in Haigerloch, Germany. Jack Levy immigrated to the United States arriving in Denver, Colorado in 1923 at the age of 14. Hannah Levy immigrated to the United States, arriving in New York in 1926 at the age of 20. She lived on her own in New York for nearly two...

Dates: 1983 October 18

Found in: Special Collections and Archives / B098, Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society Oral History Collection / General / Box 5

Filtered By

Subject: Department stores X