A BANNER YEAR

Few Jewish figures in ear-
ly Detroit could compare
with the illustrious David
Heineman, the politician
once voted "the most pop-
ular Jew in Detroit" and the
man who designed the city
flag.
The son of Emil and Fanny
(Butzel) Heineman,
Heineman was born in 1865
in Detroit. He attended the
University of Michigan law
school, and was named chief
assistant city attorney in
1893.
While working as city at-
torney, Heineman created
the flag of Detroit. Adopted
in April 1948 as the official
flag of the city, the banner
was the design for a stained-
glass window placed in the
old City Hall. The window
can now be seen above the
entrance of the Detroit
Historical Museum.
Heineman also held posi-
tions as a member of the
state legislature, as presi-
dent of the Detroit City
Council in 1902 and as city
controller in 1910. He served
as president of the League of
Michigan Municipalities,
the League of American
Municipalities and the board
of State Library Commis-
sioners. He was the first
Detroit Jew to research the
early history of the Jews of
Michigan.
Heineman's reputation
was such that in 1913, he
was the only Jewish member
of the Detroit Athletic Club.
Heineman lived at 428

Woodward, at the southeast
corner of Woodward and
Adelaide. The site later
became the home of the
LaSalle Hotel. On July 22,
1930, popular Detroit radio
commentator Jerry Buckley
was shot in the lobby of the
hotel, notorious as a hangout
for hoodlums.
The LaSalle later became
a home for the elderly
known as Carmel Hall. To-
day, the building at 428
Woodward is abandoned,
across the street from dirt
lots filled with weeds.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

The presses were rolling
and the paper was out. The
Jewish American, the first
Jewish newspaper of
Detroit, was jam-packed
with photos, news stories
and reports on social events.
Advertisers included a fu-
neral home that promised
"delicacy and neatness"; Old
Kentucky Whiskey, warning
readers to choose only the
finest in liquor because
10,000 Detroit citizens al-
ready had died "drinking
adulterated whisky"; and
the Lewis School for Stam-
merers, headed by George
Lewis, "originator of the
Lewis Phono-Metric
Method."
The Jewish American,
which operated through
1911, represented Detroit's
Reform Jewish community.
Temple Beth El Rabbi Leo
Franklin served as the
paper's editor, while con-

The first issue of 'The
Jewish American,' the
first Jewish newspaper
of Detroit. Miami
Street, where the
paper was located, as
it appeared in 1903
(top), and the site of
the paper's first office,
as it is today.

gregation member S.M.
Goldsmith was publisher.
The offices of the paper,
which was established in
1901, were at 58 Miami
Ave., today 1368-1374
Broadway. Published each
Friday, The Jewish Ameri-
can cost 5 cents per issue, or
$1 for a one-year subscrip-
tion.
Today, the former site of
The Jewish American is a
large brown-and-white
building with a "For Lease"
sign in the window. It is
flanked on the right by the
Broadway Market and on
the left by Paul's Cut Rate
Drugs. Just behind and to
the right is a brick building
with a faded white sign,
"Hart and Company Car-
nival Distributors," and to
the left is the Milner Hotel.

Horizon Magazine

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