The Seligman Family

The Seligman family began with five brothers who immigrated to Albuquerque from Germany in the late 19th century. They began working for the then-named Bibo Mercantile, purchasing it in 1903 and renaming it the Bernalillo Mercantile Company. The mercantile was located in Bernalillo, and the Seligmans chose to live in the Huning Castle neighborhood of Albuquerque.

Siegfried Seligman married Meta Block, and became the parents of Elza and her two brothers. The family was very active in their Jewish faith, participating in many Congregation Albert activities.

In 1930, due to their sons' involvement with Boy Scouts, the Seligmans purchased the land that would become Camp Elza Seligman for use as a Boy Scout camp. The Boy Scouts used it for a few years, but after a serious fire that consumed all the buildings, they gave it up, and the Seligmans offered it to Chaparral Council for use as a Girl Scout camp, as Elza was an active and lifelong Girl Scout. The Girl Scouts gladly accepted, and named the camp after the Seligmans' daughter who died in 1927.

This  information can be found in the books, 'Jewish Albuquerque: 1860-1960' by Naomi Sandweiss, and 'Albuquerque's Huning Castle Neighborhoods' by Jane Mahoney, and on the website: http://www.vintagegirlscout.com/campNM.html.