Entit• Comm pity Invite to Detroit
Historical Museum Exhibition Sunday
Scores of Events Planned
For Jewry's Tercentenary
Continued from Page 1
Preparation of the Detroit -
HistoriCal Museum Exhibition
was under the direct supervision
of Henry D. Brown, director of
the Museum; Robert E. Lpe, size
Museum's chief preparator;
their associates, Patricia Botko-
roski, Bartlett Frost and John E.
Peterson; Abraham Kastenbaum,
of the Jewish Community Cen-
ter staff; Mr. Feinberg, chair-
I -man of the exhibition committee,
and Irving L. Katz, co-chairman
of the committee on exhibitions
and secretary of the Detroit
Tercentenary Committee.
Many of the valuable objects,
photographs and historical data
for the exhibition were gathered
by Mr. Katz, who has earned
recognition as a historian. His
collection of important docu-
inents make him the best in-
formed man on the history of
the Jews in Michigan.
Work is under way for the
publishing of a history of De-
troit and a number of Michigan
CHARLES E. FEINBERG
Chairman, Committee
on Tercentenary Exhibits
•
g
HENRY D. BROWN
Director of Detroit
Historical Museum
communities. Mr. Katz is com-
piling the material. As historian
of the Detroit Committee, he
has been commissioned to write
a chronological history of Michi-
gan Jew7.
At 11:15 a.m. Sunday, pre-
ceding the official opening of
the Historical Museum Exhibi-
tion, a special broadcast, ar-
ranged by the Detroit Tercen-
tenary Committee and the
Detroit Historical Society, in
cooperation with the Jewish
Community Council, will eval-
uate the contents of the ex-
hibition and will honor the
300th anniversary of Jewish
settlement in this country. The
participants will be Leon Way-
burn, chairman of the Tercen-
tenary public relations com-
mittee, Robert E. Lee and Irv-
ing Katz.
A special fund provided by
the Jewish Welfare Federation
of Detroit makes possible the
many functions arranged for
the Detroit celebration.
The Tercentanry also will be
launched Sunday with an NBC-
TV program, 5:30-6 p.m., in the
form of a Hollywood variety
telecast featuring stars of stage
and screen.
National Plans
Geared to the theme, "Man's
Opportunities and Responsibili-
ties Under Freedom," the na-
tional Tercentenary observance
will be launched officially with
a Reconsecration Service Sunday,
4:30 p.m., at Congregation Shea-
rith Israel, New York, founded
in 1654 by the first Jewish sett-
lers in New Amsterdam. The
service will be broadcast over
the American Broadcasting Com-
pany's radio network from 4:30
to 5 p.m.
The eight and a half month
celebration will be brought to a
close with an outdoor religious
ceremony at the Carter Barron
Amphitheatre in Washington,
D. C., May 29, 1955.
, More than two and a half
years of planning have gone into
development of the nationwide
Tercentenary program by the
National Tercentenary Commit-
tee of 300, headed by Ralph E.
Samuel, with David Bernstein as
executive director.
In connection with the Ter-
centenary, the American Jewish
Historical Society is sponsoring
a conference of historians, Sept.
13 and 14, at Peekskill, N. Y. The
society's 53rd annual meeting, to
be held in New York on February
12 and 13, 1955, will also be de-
voted to the observance.
New York School of Social
Work of Columbia University
will hold a Tercentenary con-
ference Nov. 10, and on Nov. 27
and 28 the Conference on Jewish
Relations will sponsor a Tercen-
tenary meeting on American
Jewish sociology. The National
Council of Jewish Women has
undertaken a study of "Jewish
Family Life in America," which
will be a highlight of its biennial
convention in New Orleans from
March 20 to 25.
National and regional con-
ventions, conferences, and meet-
ings of Jewish organizations,
Jewish Centers, YMHA's, USO
clubs and other groups are also
being devoted to the Tercenten-
ary theme.
The Tercentenary "Contem-
porary Fine Arts Exhibit" will
open at the Riverside Museum
in New York on Oct. 5, follow-
ing which it will be on display
in a number of cities, includ-
ing Detroit. The "Contempor-
ary Graphic Arts Exhibit,"
comprising works of foremost
American Jewish artists, will
also tour the country.
Nov. 27 has been set aside as
"Tercentenary Sabbath." qb n
Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, a
special ceremony will be held
at Touro Synagogue in Newport,
R. I., oldest existing synagogue
building in America, consecrated
in 1763.
On Nov. 14, there will be a
mass meeting at Carnegid Hall,
New York, entitled "The Syna-
gogue Speaks," which will be
sponsored by the National Ter-
centenary Committee and the
Synagogue Council of America.
In Washington, the world
premier of a special Tercen-
tenary symphonic work by the
noted composer, David Diamond,
will be the high point of a Ter-
centenary concert on Nov. 17 by
the National Symphony Orches-
tra, Dr. Howard Mitchell con-
ducting. The Washington con-
cert will also include a perform-
ance of "The Age of Anxiety,"
by Leonard Bernstein, with the
composer as soloist.
The major Tercentenary re-
search project, a 10-volume
documentary history of the
Jews in the United States, is
being carried out by an 18-
member Committee on Re-
search and Publications, head-
ed by Dr. Salo W. Baron of
Columbia University.
To facilitate requests, for his-
torical information, an Office of
Historical Information has been
established under the joint spon-
sorship of the American Jewish
Tercentenary and the American
Jewish Historical Society, and is
located at the offices of the
society, 3080 Broadway, New
York.
Statement by Samuel
Ralph E. Samuels, national
chairman of the American Jew-
i s h Tercentenary Committee,
told newsmen, that "the Ameri-
can Jewish Tercentenery was
planned not by us, but by his-
tory. The date," he said "was
determined for us by the first
group of 23 settlers who came
to the little colonial town of New
Amsterdam in September 1654."
Asked to express his view on
a resolution brought before the
recent ZOA emergency meeting
by Rabbi Shubow of Boston, call-
ing for the ouster of Lessing
Rosenwald as a member of the
Tercentenery Committee which
he heads, Mr. Samuel replied
that while he did not agree with
the opinions held by Mr. Rosen-
wald, all the members of the
National Committee, including
Mr. Rosenwald, were appointed
not as representatives of organi-
zations, but as American Jews
interested in the general nation-
al Jewish life.
(The appointment of Dr. Noah
E. Aronstam, ,Senator Charles S.
Blondy, Dr. Louis I. Galin, Al-
fred May, Dr. Leo Orecklin and
Zvi Tomkiewicz as additional
members of the Detroit Com-
mittee of 300 was announced
this week by the chairman of
the Detroit committee.)
3 Tercentenary Books
On the occasion of the Ter-
centenary, two important books
are appearing this week-end-
Louis Zara's "Blessed Is the
Land," an impressive novel of
Colonial history, to be published
Sunday by Crown Publishers
(419 4th, N. Y. 16), and "Adven-
ture in Freedom" by Prof. Oscar
Handlin, to be published Monday
by McGraw Hill Book Company
(330 W. 42nd, N. Y. 36).
Mr. Zara's novel, which has
the distinction of having been
given a Sunday release, exciting-
ly portrays the history of the first
Jewish settlers. It is impressively
realistic, is based on historical
facts and is history narrated in
the form of a novel.
"Blessed Is the Land," in
which Ashur Levy, one of the
group of 23 who established the
first Jewish community in Amer-
ica, is the chief character in
this great drama. In writing his
book, Mr. Zara resorted to
astronomical d a t a, to obscure
personal documents from many
lands, to court records, in order
to substantiate his story. As
leader of the group that settled
on these shores and established
our first congregation in what
was then New Amsterdam, Levy
is portrayed as a daring leader;
as a bold adventurer, as a man
of high ideals and deep-rooted
principles.
There is romance in the Zara
novel, the women playing an in-
teresting role in pioneering. The
fights with the Indians are re-
corded for their historical value.
Peter Stuyvesant's attempts to
exclude the Jews and the Jewish
settlers fight for their liberties
in which they scored triumph-
antly against him are ably re-
told.
"Blessed Is the Land" is well
documented. The manner of
dealing with the half-Jewess
Maria, the charm with which
the characters are portrayed,
the strong spiritual thread that
bind the story sequences—these
are among the elements that
serve to make it a truly great
historical novel. -
'Adventure in Freedom'
Prof. Handlin, who won the
Pulitzer Prize for his great book
on immigration ("T h e Up-
rooted") , has performed another
great task with his one-volume
history "Adventure in Freedom."
This McGraw-Hill book, dealing
with 300 years of Jewish life in
America, is an evaluation of the
events that have transpired and
have led up to the present time
and to the summary that in the
spirit of American Jewry's quest
for freedom "democracy became
New Jewish History
The stirring drama of the 300
years of Jewish settlement in
America comes to life in a new
book, "The Jews in America: A
History," by Rufus Learsi, which
will make its appearance Sept.
13.
It is the first one-volum3
definitive book ever to be pu')-
lished on the dramatic saga of
Jews in this country, and it cap-
tures the full fire, despair, tri-
umph and faith of the first 23
refugees and the ten generations
which followed them, exchang-
ing for their freedom on these
shores undreamed-of contribu-
tions to our country. The booK
reads like an adventure story,
yet it was written by an objec-
tive historian and noted author
of many books including "Israel:
a History of the Jewish People"
and "Fulfillment: The Epic Story
of Zionism," and is published by
World Publishing Company of
Cleveland and New York.
Radio Plays
Plays depicting various aspects
of American Jewish history will
be presented on 13 "Eternal
Light" Tercentenary programs,
beginning Sunday, 12:30 to
p.m., over NBC's radio network.
Dedicated to the 300th anniver-
sary celebration, the series will
be sponsored by the Jewish The-
ological Seminary of America,
under the editorship of Dr. Ben
Zion Bokser. The schedule in-
cludes:
Sept. 12 : Dramatization by
Marc Siegel, based on the ar
rival of Jews in New Amster-
dam in 1654, guest speaker,
Ralph E. Samuel.
Sept. 19: "Valley Forge," by
Morton Wishengrad. Guest
speaker: David Bernstein, Ter-
centenary executive director.
Sept. 12: "A Night at Valley
Forge," CBS-TV, 10-10:30 a.m.
Sept. 12: Dr. Solomon B.
Freehoff, ABC-Radio, 10:05-
10:30 a.m.
I. Columbus and the Jews
THE TERCENTENARY STORY
Text by DANIEL ELAZAR
. . 11 11k\Nir b
Copyright, 1954, by American Jewish Press
a way of life that reordered the
Jewish communities."
"Though nothing remains free
of change," this historian tells
in his conclusion, "the Jews of
America await a future in which
they expect still to find the pro-
jections of their adventure of
the past."
Dr. Handlin deals with the
challenges of the past 300 years,
with the immigration move-
ments, the participation of "Jews
in all of our country's wars, with
the integration of the immi-
grants who struggled for a liveli-
hood and for acquisitions of
cultural blessings into American
life.
The rise and development of
philanthropies, the changing as-
pects of Zionism, the various
patterns of our communal life
are reviewed most interest-
ingly. He will be differed with,
no doubt. Zionists will take ex-
ception to his evaluations.
Others will resent some of his
conclusions. But in the main his
book is thought-provoking and
has great value in the Tercen-
tary Year in which we hope to
stimulate wider study of Jewish
history by Jews.
Illustrations by MAURICE del BOURGO
.7"_-' i f Ms.
;all
aF ri A
'1•!
......
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■ -
P.M*
ROBERT E. LEE
Preparator of Detroiit
Historical Musetuirin
24—DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, September 10, 1954
SHORTLY BEFoRE . THE OfscOVERY ONE
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SPAIN BANKRUPT, ouT -CHE JEWs "
HELPED QUEEN iSABELLA Film/3,1.1cm'
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THAT DISCOVERED A NEIN WORLD
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THEIR FAITH IN oR•FR TO ,g6 - •
CAPE PERserctiT/ONJ6IGNEri ON
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INTERPRETER WAS -11-1E FIRGT ' lO
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(HE GRATEFUL KING
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