Central
1945

Central
1919

Sarah Levin

Adelle
Sherman

Hyman Levy Sarah Levy

Martha Shev

Blanche Sonia
Shulman

Mumford
1959

Laurel
Goldman

Miriam
Goldman

Nancy
Goldman

Jonathan
Goldsmith

Beverly
Goldstein

Bruce Goldfarb

Jeffrey Golden

Irma Goldstein

Groves
1974

=el Day
1974

Judy Gunsberg Lori Helman

Southfield-
Latkrup
1985

A sampler of student yearbook
pictures from the past century.

Andrew
Goldberg

Dana Goldberg Steve Goldberg Elisa Golden

Sheryl Goldin

Brian Goldman

ty is built: person, by person, by person.
for the historical society is that history is
sought as well. Reunion memory books
I love the idea that everybody is in
about
everybody,"
said
Cook,
the
pro-
are also appreciated.
there."
ject's
co-chair.
The purpose is to create a permanent
Yearbook aficionado Domstein, social
"It's not just about rich people; it's
collection for the Jewish community, so
studies department head and a 30-year
not just about famous people," he adds.
that current and future generations can
teacher at Oak Park High School,
"Everyone is in the yearbook. Every Jew
look back and reminisce about their
already is one up on his compadres. He's
is important. That's how our communi-
own lives or discover their ancestors'
been stockpiling school yearbooks
roots. History buffs
for 15 years, rummaging through
would have a field
used bookstores and garage sales.
day tracing family
Domstein has amassed not only
histories, the pat-
a complete collection of Oak Park's
terns of neighbor-
Revoir annuals, but also many of
hood migration and
the Centralite yearbooks of Detroit
the changes in
Central High, where he attended
lifestyles over the
and taught, and the Capri books
years.
of Mumford High, where he grad-
The historical
uated in 1963.
hunters from the
During those 15 years of col-
society include Marc
lecting yearbooks, Domstein
Manson, Gerald
thought he was pretty much alone
Cook and Jim Grey,
in seeing the significance of these
all of Farmington
historical artifacts. This changed
Hills; Chuck
when
he saw a story in the Nov. 5
Domstein of Oak
Community
section of the Jewish
Park; and Joan
unveiling
the Jewish
News,
Braun and Fred
Historical
Society
of Michigan's
Apel, both of West
project to collect them.
Bloomfield.
Domstein donated a large por-
"One of the
Marc Manson, Chuck Domstein and Jim Grey of the Jewish
tion
of his collection to the society
things I like about the Historical Society of Michigan look at a 1943 wartime yearbook
and
joined
the posse.
yearbooks as a project from Detroit's Central High School

"For many years, I just had these and
I shared them with people who were
looking for them, and now I have a
chance to share them with a much wider
community," he said.
What's the magical, intriguing quality
about high school yearbooks that
inspired him,to collect them? Domstein
thinks he knows.
In yearbooks, he said, "we look at
people's lives when they were the most
optimistic of what the world should be
like. The future is a mountain to be
climbed and everything's at your dispos-
al. Unfortunately, reality hits and we go
through the highs and lows of life. It
would be nice to recapture some of that
optimism."
The JHS members believe their pro-
ject may be unique. "I think that the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan is
a pioneer for the country," Domstein
said.
Grey, a genealogy expert, said, "The
Detroit community is a very dose com-
munity. A lot of people who have grown
up here are still here, so the interest is
continuous."
The collection will be unique from

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