Collection on Guldman Family and Golden Eagle Dry Goods

Leopold H. Guldman was born in Harburg, Bavaria in 1853 and immigrated to the United States in 1870. He was one of Colorado's leading merchants and philanthropists. Guldman came to the Colorado mountains in search of silver, but found it more profitable to open the Golden Eagle clothing stores in Leadville and Cripple Creek. In 1879, Guldman moved to Denver and opened his third and most successful Golden Eagle enterprise, which for many years was Denver's leading popular-price department store. His vigorous advertising campaigns, combined with an aggressive policy of burying and selling for cash only, soon established record sales for him. The rapid growth of the Golden Eagle necessitated continual expansion and remodeling. By 1901, its five-story building occupied most of the block at 16th and Lawrence Streets. Guldman's philanthropy contributed to the growth of National Jewish Hospital (NJH), the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS), Beth Israel Hospital, Temple Emanuel, and the Guldman Community Center, which evolved into today's Denver Jewish Community Center. After Guldman's death in 1936, his store endured hard times and was forced to close in 1941.