THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, 'June 10, 1983 15
Allen Warsen, as an Octogenarian, Packs History
Hebrew, English Pedagogy Into His Very Rich Record
For many scares of weeks,
for more than a decade, the
name Allen Warsen has
bylined important book re-
views in The Jewish News,
covering more than 250
books.
In. the process of carrying
on his literary activities, he
was a pedagogue, with a re-
- ALLEN WARSEN
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Located in Sfld. & Wham Area
cord of five decades as a
teacher in the public and
Jewish schools, and was the
organizing and founding
president of the Jewish His-
torical Society of Michigan
and is an , archivist of dis-
tinction.
Tributes are now pouring
in as Warsen reaches his
80th birthday. Born in 1903
in Warsaw, Warsen was
raised in Mlawa on the
German border. His par-
ents, Jacob and Chana,
were traditional, religious
Jews, and Jacob was also a
"maskil," a Hebrew scholar.
Warsen was sent to
heder at an early age and
to a Hebrew-Polish gym-
nasium haas a teen. After
coming' to the U.S., he
earned BA and MA de-
grees and a permanent
teaching certificate at
Wayne University.
In 1930 he married Sara
Cohen, a public school
teacher. Their daughter
Annette is married to Dr.
Lee E. Friedman, and War-
sen has two grandchildren.
Warsen taught in the De-
troit Public Schools for 33
years — 15 at Higgin-
botham Elementary and 18
at Cody -High School. At
Higginbotham he was one of
the first in the city to teach
black history. At Cody he
helped found the Cody Re-
tirees Association before his
retirement in 1972.
He also taught for many
years at United Hebrew
Schools and served as direc-
tor of Adat Shalom religious
school for 18 years.
In 1952, Warsen pub-
lished "Jewish Com-
munal Institutions in De-
troit," and in 1971 "Au-
tobiographical Epi-
sodes."
He founded the Jewish
Historical Society of Michi-
gan in 1959 and edited its
"Michigan Jewish History"
journal for a number of
years. He has contributed
many articles to the journal,
including a history of the
Adat Shalom religious
school and an article on
Philip Slomovitz, editor and
publisher of The Jewish
News.
The Jewish Historical
Society was an outgrowth of
the U.S Jewish Tercente-
nary celebration of 1954.
Warsen was a member of
the Detroit committee for
the celebration.
Through the efforts of the
historical society, several
historical markers have
been erected:
At Fort Michilimackinac
in memory of Ezekiel Sol-
omon, believed to be Michi-
gan's first Jewish resident;
at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield
in memory of Chapman Ab-
raham, Detroit's first
Jewish resident;
At Wayne State Uni-
versity's Bonstelle Thea-
t4, a former Temple Beth
El designed by architect
Albert Kahn; and at the
Detroit Historical
Museum, in memory of
David E. Heineman,
communal leader and, ,
first historian of the
Jewish community.
Warsen also initiated the
state marker on Lafayette
Ave. for the Temple Beth El
cemetery, the oldest exist-
ing Jewish cemetery in
Michigan. He also helped
establish the Jewish arc-
hives at the Burton Histori-
cal Collection of the Detroit
Public Library.
He was instrumebtal in
the formation of the
Writer's Corner at the Mor-
ris Branch of the Jewish
Community Center as a life
history project of Jewish
senior citizens.
Warsen considers his
major historical effort the
identification of the found-
ing fathers of the Jewish
community in Detroit of the
1850s.
He also served for four
years as chairman of the
Yiddish Committee at the
HONOREES
and his
•
•Orchestra
Jewish Community Center
and initiated state driver's
license renewal tests in
Yiddish. The test was trans-
lated into Yiddish by Wolf
Snyder.
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Plan to attend
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Arthur Boschan
Congregation B'nai Moshe
Mack Pitt
The First
DETROIT COMMUNITY-WIDE DINNER
A SEMINARY SALUTE TO
THE CONSERVATIVE CONGREGATIONS AND FRIENDS OF THE
Jewish Theological Seminary
of America
A message
to the
Jewish
Community
1.41,
Stanley Berger
Congregation Beth Shalom
SHARON HART
Harry Laker
Congregation Beth Achim
DINNER
CO-CHAIRMEN
I. MURRAYJACOBS
Throughout its history, the Jewish Theological Seminary has
enjoyed a unique partnership with Jewish leaders in every walk of life,
men and women, who have seen in this institution an outstanding
expression of their own ideals of learning and devotion to Judaism.
You can join this illustrious company in lasting association with
the Seminary by attending this city-wide dinner and by showing your
support.
In doing so, you will be contributing invaluably to the work of the
Seminary, to the Honorees and to the Governor and his wife in
celebration of their Eternal Light Award.
Irving Laker
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
GUEST SPEAKER: • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 1983
Dr. Gerson D. Cohen
,
Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary
Special Guests:
Governor and Mrs.
JAMES J. BLANCHARD
Recipients of the Seminary's
Eternal Light Award
Cantor Larry Vieder
Adat Shalom Synagogue
Cocktails at 6 p.m. • Dinner at 7 p.m.
$7500 per person
Congregation
Zedek
27375 Bell Road, Smithfield, Michigan
For more information call 357-5592
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■ 1110ill 11111