metro

Preserving A

History

The Detroit Jewish News Foundation
aims to make 70 years worth of issues
available and searchable to the public.

Jackie Headapohl I Managing Editor

bout 10 years ago, the Jewish
News suffered a devastating
fire that destroyed or damaged
many of its nearly 60 years of print issues.
Thankfully, those issues were backed up
on microfilm at another location, so they
were not lost for good.
However, that fire sparked a dream in IN
Publisher Arthur Horwitz to digitize the
entire history of the Jewish News and make
it available and searchable for the public.
That dream is getting closer to fruition.
Earlier this year, the Detroit Jewish
News Foundation was born, a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit that will support the educational
mission of the Jewish News. Its first initia-
tives will be to digitize every issue of the
Jewish News, dating from March 27, 1942,
and to create forums, town hall meetings
and other events to best utilize and share
this historical community resource.
"Imagine students at Frankel Jewish
Academy being able to download Jewish
News stories about what was happening in
Detroit during the time of the Holocaust,
or someone being able to research their
family tree from the convenience of their
own computer:' Horwitz said.
Researchers can currently access
the microfilm files of old IN
issues by appointment,
but the pro-
cess is

cumbersome and time-consuming. The
Detroit Jewish News Foundation vision is
to make this resource as easily searchable
as Google.
Many leaders in the community share
Horwitz's vision — and enthusiasm —
for creating this living historic treasure.
A who's who of the Jewish community,
including every living past-president of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, has signed on as members of
the Detroit Jewish News Foundation's
Honorary Board of Advisors. They will
serve as mentors and sounding boards to
members of the Operating Board, which is
currently in formation.
Every one of the Honorary Board
members has played a role in shaping the
Detroit Jewish community. Among them
are Irwin Field and Mary Lou Simons
Zieve. Field of Los Angeles is a past gen-
eral chairman of the United Jewish Appeal,
past president of the Jewish Federation
of Los Angeles and serves as chairman
of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal.
His father, Walter,
was one

Detroit Jewish News
Foundation Honorary
Board Of Advisors

Donating
To The
Cause:

If you would like to support
this project, you can donate
via credit card online at
thejewishnews.com . Click on
"Donations" at the top of the
page and follow the prompts.
A tax-deductible donation
also can be sent to the Detroit
Jewish News Foundation,
29200 Northwestern Hwy.,
Suite 110, Southfield, MI
48034.

14

,

Jember 17 2,011

HONORARY CHAIRS:
Eugene Applebaum
Mandell L. Berman
The Hon. Avern Cohn
A. Alfred Taubman

Eugene Applebaum

Mandell L. Berman

The Hon. Avern Cohn

A. Alfred Taubman