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Magnet of opportunity
Same goals pull Chaldeans, Jews to suburbs
By Alan Stamm and Kaylee Hawkins
I t's the American Dream for families of all back-
grounds: Our children will have more than we do.
That often means more space, education choic-
es, enrichment, diversity, security. For immigrants
and other strivers, this dream of greater opportunities in-
cludes finding neighborhoods with newer homes, brighter
amenities and less crowding.
So it's no coincidence that Jewish and Chaldean
families followed similar paths from Detroit to outly-
ing communities — including in southeastern Oakland
County where current generations are neighbors.
"The movement was part of the suburban revolu-
tion," notes author Sidney Bolkosky, a
history and social sciences professor
at University of Michigan-Dearborn.
"The move reflected a desire for more
status, economic success and an at-
traction to more space."
"The move
[by each
community
to suburbs]
reflected a
desire for
more status,
some
economic
success and
an attraction
to more
space."
Exodus from Detroit
Jewish chapters of this saga began
with a "Great Migration" from Eastern
Europe and Germany early last centu-
ry. Detroit's Jewish population swelled
to nearly 35,000 in 1920 and 85,000
in 1940. Businesses and residents ini-
tially clustered along Hastings Street
on the near east side before migrating
north to Oakland Avenue, then across
Woodward to 12th Street in the late
1930s. Next was the Dexter Avenue
neighborhood and northwest Detroit
in the 1940s, followed by Oak Park
— Sidney Bolkosky,
and Huntington Woods.
U of M-Dearborn historian
Southfield and Farmington offered
greener pastures, literally, during the 1960s — particularly
after Detroit's 1967 rioting. Anticipating the next destina-
tion, community leaders obtained land during the early
1970s in West Bloomfield for a Jewish community campus,
with the Jewish Community Center as its focal point. By
2005, more than 50 percent of Jewish households in Metro
Detroit were concentrated in West Bloomfield, Farmington,
Farmington Hills, Orchard Lake and Bloomfield Hills.
Overall, the region has about 72,000 Jews. Oak Park
and Southfield retain sizable shares of Jewish residents.
Seniors and Orthodox families live within walking dis-
tance of synagogues and a Jewish community campus,
which includes another JCC, in Oak Park.
Chaldean chronicle of success
Chaldeans, who are Catholics upholding Eastern Rite
rituals and Aramaic mass, began migrating from north-
ern Iraq to Detroit during the early 20th century — drawn
by auto industry opportunities and religious tolerance.
The area already had a sizable community of Lebanese
Maronites, who also are Catholics.
The nation's first Chaldean Church was founded in
1947 at Euclid Street and Second Avenue in midtown
Detroit. Six years later, the Mother of God Parish moved
a mile north to Hamilton Avenue in the Boston-Edison
neighborhood. As families prospered, they looked in
the same directions as Jewish counterparts — to north-
west Detroit. "Chaldean Town" between Woodward and
John R still is served by Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic
Church on 7 Mile.
Moving vans later headed to Oak Park, Southfield
and West Bloomfield, paralleling the Jewish experience.
Southfield land was bought in 1963 for a new Mother of
God church to serve a community of 3,000. The move was
well-timed, as U.S. policy changes in 1968 allowed more
Iraqi immigrants. Detroit was a natural landing spot.
"There was already an Americanized community liv-
ing here and job opportunities for these newer immi-
grants in Chaldean-owned stores, especially after the
1967 Detroit riots," says Mary Romaya, director of the
Chaldean Cultural Center in West Bloomfield. "The new
immigrants, often relatives, provided these merchants
with a needed labor pool."
Series of new churches
The local Chaldean community, today estimated* at
121,000, is the largest outside the Middle East. "Our
people are growing fast on the east side with newcom-
ers and refugees," says Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim of the
Chaldean Catholic Diocese.
His Southfield-based diocese paid $1.1 million for a
900-seat church and 16-room school in Sterling Heights
this March. It also began celebrating Sunday mass at a
new mission in Warren this spring. Eastside churches
also are in Troy and Shelby Township.
Western suburbanites worship in Oak Park, South-
field, Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield. Southfield
also has the Chaldean Manor for senior citizens, opened
in 1997.
For Jews and Chaldeans alike, suburban religious
and community centers connect multiple generations to
ancestors whose arrival in Detroit is part of their fami-
lies' American odyssey.
Alan Stamm and Kaylee Hawkins are writers for
Tanner Friedman, a marketing communications
firm in Farmington Hills.
Strong area
organizations
serve as a vital
foundation for
Metro Detroit's
burgeoning
Chaldean
and Jewish
communities.