metro
Renewing Roots
Connecting former Jewish Detroiters
with Bagley neighborhood.
ISRAELMBONDS
CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK
TRIBUTE BRUNCH
HONORING
DR. LEORA BAR - LEVAV AND DR. GARY EDELSON
SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2012
11:00 A.M.
CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK
27375 BELL ROAD • SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN
A home on Roselawn in Northwest Detroit
Elizabeth Kirshner
Special to the Jewish News
HONORARY CHAIRS
Dr. Natan and Norma HarPaz
Hannan and Lisa Lis
Dr. Lowell Schmeltz and liana Glazier
T
o many, visiting one's child-
hood home evokes wistful-
ness, bringing back memories
of fragrant foods, lively games and
poignant moments. Yet, beyond senti-
ment, an event to return to the former
Jewish community in Northwest
Detroit's Bagley neighborhood is
meant to accomplish higher goals.
On June 24, from 2-5 p.m., the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan
will host an open house for former
residents of the area to revisit their
childhood homes during the Bagley
Neighborhood Association's annual
home tour and open house and get
to know the current residents. This
event will re-establish ties between the
Metro Detroit Jewish community and
the Bagley neighborhood.
Between the years 1956-1968,
the Bagley neighborhood, bounded
by West Outer Drive to the north,
Livernois Avenue to the east, West
McNichols to the south and Wyoming
Avenue to the west, was among the
wealthiest Jewish communities in
Michigan. However, its rich heritage is
barely known by the new generation
of Jewish Detroiters.
According to Lee Gaddies, presi-
dent of the Bagley Neighborhood
Association, the efforts to reconnect
with Bagley are "long overdue."
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METRO DETROIT EXECUTIVE BOARD CO-CHAIRS
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RSVP BY JUNE 14, 2012
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS
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10 May 31 2012
"In order to know where you're
going, you must know your history,"
Gaddies says, also noting the impor-
tance of recognizing the separate com-
munities' "common struggles, goals
and legacy."
Although the Jewish population has
shifted mainly to Oakland County, the
Jewish impact on Detroit as a whole is
significant.
"The Jewish community has played
a pivotal role in Detroit's success,
financially and socially," says Gaddies,
who specifically credits philanthro-
pists like the late Max Fisher.
In a time when Jewish Detroiters
are quickly moving elsewhere, Gaddies
believes projects like the Bagley home
tour will create an opportunity to
instruct young people to "make where
you live as nice as anywhere you would
like to go."
To those with roots in the Bagley
neighborhood, this project is even
more personal. Barbara Cook, coor-
dinator of the home tours, recalls
her upbringing in the "very vibrant
neighborhood," which used to boast
Adat Shalom and Young Israel congre-
gations as well as Temple Israel reli-
gious school. "The essence of it was so
Jewish," Cook fondly remembers.
The shift in Jewish Detroit occurred
when people began to relocate to the
suburbs around the 1967 disturbanc-
es. To Cook, who tutored at the Bagley
Elementary School, the neighbor-
hood's plight is disheartening. "Many
Renewing on page 11