OPINION

Historical Society Touches The Past

Taut Cicchitti
jor 4,..714en

Suits • Sportcoats

Tuxedos • Slacks • Shirts

Topcoats • Raincoats

Shoes • Sweaters • Socks

Ties • Cuff Links

Custom Buttons

At the Rabbi Leo Franklin monument are Historical Society members James Grey,
Hugh Broder, Judy Cantor, Milton Marwil, Irwin Shaw and Joan Braun.

JUDITH LEVIN CANTOR
Special to The Jewish News

ASK FOR SHEILA BLUM-
FASHION CONSULTANT

Taut Ciccliini

jor cWomen

Skirt Suits • Pants Suits

Blazers • Slacks • Shirts

Topcoats • Accessories

HOURS BY APPOINTMENT

M, W, F: 9:00 - 5:00
SAT: 9:30 - 3:00

271 MERRILL
BIRMINGHAM • 48009
(248) 646-0535

=mon JEWISH NEWS

FOR SALE

7ridetili at:

(

INTERNATIONAL NEWS PLUS

9/18

ig

372 Oullette Avenue
Windsor, Canada

1998

40 Detroit Jewish News

•

arly Sunday, Aug. 30, in
Woodmere Cemetery on
Fort Street near old Fort
Wayne in Detroit, Hugh
Broder fine-tuned his research on
"over a hundred relatives buried in
the Beth El section of the cemetery."
Milton Marwil located the Mar-
wilsky family plot of his ancestor
who came to Detroit in the 1850s
from Lithuania. Jackie DeYoung
Kasky visited the gravesite of her
great-uncle Jacob Golden, the first
Jewish police officer in Detroit who
joined the force in 1896 and retired
as a detective lieutenant in 1926.
Sponsored by the Jewish Histori-
cal Society of Michigan (JHSM), this
first-time tour of the cemetery,
founded in 1867, was chaired by
JHSM President Jim Grey and con-
ducted by historical docent Dr. Mar-
tin Brosnan.
Declaring that one can tell a great
deal about a society from the way it
takes care of its dead, Brosnan led a
lively tour through the Christian and
Jewish sections of the extensive park-
like cemetery, recounting highlights
of Detroit lore.
The mausoleum of James E.
Scripps, founder of the original
Detroit Evening News in 1873, a state
senator and father of our Detroit Art
Museum, replicated in elaborate
architectural detail an English
church. On the other hand, five sim-

Judith Levin Cantor is a member of
the Jewish Historical Society of Michi-
gan.

pie gravestones marked the five labor
unionists, including one African
American, killed by Henry Ford's
"Harry Bennett service men" in the
infamous 1932 Miller Road Battle of
the Overpass. The UAW had spon-
sored these burials in the "peoples
section" to honor this watershed
event in labor history.
Dr. Brosnan also led the group to
the sites of distinguished Jews: David
Heineman, early president of the
Detroit Common Council and
designer of the Detroit flag; brothers
Fred and Henry Butzel, each a stellar
Michigan and Jewish luminary;
Rabbi Leo Franklin, the centennial
of whose arrival at Temple Beth El
will be celebrated this month; and
the Siegel families, early fashion mer-
chandisers. Also of great interest are
the gravesites and associated lore of
numerous historic Detroit digni-
taries, such as James Vernor of Ver-
nor's Ginger Ale fame; David Whit-
ney, whose home is the well-known
restaurant; and David Mackenzie,
principal of the old Detroit Central
High School at the turn of the cen-
tury and dean of Detroit Junior Col-
lege, which developed into Wayne
State University, the alma mater of
many Detroit Jewish professionals.
The Beth El section includes hun-
dreds of Jewish burial sites, many of
prominent Reform Jews who arrived
in Detroit in the 19th century. How-
ever, since Beth El originated as an
Orthodox congregation in 1852, the
Jewish sections in the cemetery also
included an extensive number of
graves of Orthodox families, includ-
ing the Marwilsky graves.

Surprisingly enough, there were a
number of gravestones of Dutch Jews
who emigrated to Detroit from Ams-
terdam in the 19th century, such as
the Smit family and the oculist Van
Baalen, beautifully engraved in
Hebrew script.
In contrast to the concentration of
the Jewish population in Detroit
from Congress and St. Antoine
streets to Brush and Winder streets
at the time this cemetery was in
greatest use by Jews, Jewish partici-
pants in the recent tour ranged from
the Kaskys of Grosse Pointe to Kurt
Scheuer of Waterford.
Matilde Brandwine, chair of the
Jewish Federation's cemetery index,
was able to see firsthand that which
is so painstakingly documented for
future researchers. Some on the tour
came to check up on their own fami-
ly trees; some, in traditional fashion,
at the end of the visit utilized water,
supplied by the Jewish Historical
Society, to wash their hands.
Everyone found the cemetery one
of the best places to learn more
about Jewish history and Detroit his-
tory in a spirited way. ❑

LETTERS

LETTERS

from page 38

Archive Trip
Is Memorable

Thank you for The Jewish News' con-
tinued interest in, and coverage of,
Temple Beth El's Franklin Archive,
its first exhibit and the accompany-
ing programs.
Like the more than 200 preview
attendees, your readers older than 65
will find "Rabbi Leo M. Franklin:
The Man and His Message" a trip
down memory lane. Others reported
that both the exhibit and the video
about Rabbi Franklin and Jewish
Detroit in the first half of the 20th
century were enjoyable history
lessons.
The Franklin Archive Committee
invites everyone with curiosity about
the 29-year-old rabbi who, in 1899,
organized the United Jewish Chari-
ties, to consider Temple Beth El's
exhibit an orientation to the Jewish
Federation's centennial celebration.
Mary Shapero, Chair
Rabbi Leo M. Franklin Archive
Temple Beth. El

