Roth and Ambrose Family Papers

Henry Roth moved to Pueblo, Colorado around 1896 with his wife Rose Schon Roth. Her brother Samuel Schon had moved to Colorado in 1880 and operated a general store in Pueblo. Henry worked as a lamplighter in Central Park in New York City before moving to Pueblo, Colorado. Henry Roth joined the Pueblo Police Department and carried badge No. 29. Hannah Roth, the daughter of Henry and Rose Roth, was born on Hester Street in New York and was young when the family moved to Pueblo. Hannah Roth married itinerant Hungarian cowboy Adolph Hausman and the couple moved to a logging camp in British Columbia, where their first child Harriett was born in 1913. After a year the family moved to the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas and Adolph and his three brothers ran meat packing companies. After her father died, Harriet ran his meat packing business for a few years. Her uncles assisted her to go to college and after college she took a job teaching in Brownsville, Texas. She met Aubrey Ambrose in Pueblo and they were married in Brownsville in 1936. Russian born Mandel Emanuel Amburs was in Pueblo by 1905. The 1921 flood in Pueblo destroyed his Army Navy surplus store on Union Avenue. He rebuilt the store and his son Aubrey Ambrose took over the store when his father retired. Aubrey and Harriet Hausman Ambrose had moved to Pueblo where their son Arlen was born. Another son of Mandel Amburs, Jay Ambrose, was a prominent member of Denver's Jewish community from the 1930s to the 1970s. He was nicknamed "Mr. Basketball and played a critical role in the development of the Denver Nuggets. The Denver Nuggets began as Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team in the 1933-34 season and retained its amateur status through 1948. Jay Ambrose partnered with the American Legion to sponsor the Denver team for a season. It became the Denver Ambrose Jellymakers after Ambrose, who headed Ambrose and Company, which manufactured wine, jams, and jellies, took over full sponsorship of the team in the 1944-1945 season. In 1945, three members of the Ambrose Jellymakers were picked for the All-America team. Jay Ambrose ended his sponsorship in 1948 and in 1949, the Denver Nuggets became part of the National Basketball Association. Jay Ambrose also sponsored a women's baseball team and a women's basketball team during the 1940s. The collection contains photographs, news clippings, and programs related to the Roth and Ambrose families from 1890 through 1966.