metro
Still Going Strong
Detroit Women's Forum continues to bring diverse women together after 40 years.
Esther Allweiss Ingber
Contributing
Writer
I
J
ewish women in Detroit
embraced the cause of feminism
sparked by Betty Friedan's 1963
bestselling book, The Feminine Mystique,
and Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin
Pogrebin with Ms. magazine in 1972.
Noting that the tenets of Judaism
include the "attitude of giving to the com-
munity and getting involved:' social work-
er Jacquie Steingold, 72, a former national
board member of National Organization
for Women (NOW), told the Jewish News
in 1994 that "Jewish women have been
leaders in all human rights organizations:'
Mildred Grossman and Marge Alpern,
now in their 90s, were two such leaders.
Equal rights for women was their agenda
when they convinced American Jewish
Committee, an organization concerned
with public issues, to offer a women's pro-
gram nationally, according to Sherwood
"Woody" Sandweiss, retired director of
AJC's Detroit chapter.
Shortly thereafter in 1974, Ruth Driker
Kroll, the chapter's assistant director,
founded the Detroit Women's Forum. Its
40th anniversary will be celebrated on
Dec. 12 (see box for details).
The Forum began during a recession,
when the inequities of unemployment
were most likely to affect women: poor,
minority and/or heads of households.
Other women were afraid of losing hard-
earned rights and being unable to advance
in male-dominated organizations.
"My feminism led me to want to involve
myself in projects for helping women:' said
Kroll, now 89.
Although Sharona Shapiro, who suc-
ceeded Sandweiss, assisted with the Forum
for many years, "Ruth was the glue that
got the organization firmly grounded:' said
Jeanne Vogt, the Forum's current chair.
Kroll's many honors include the 1987
Harriet Tubman Award from the Detroit
Chapter of NOW.
Diverse Membership
The Forum, a project of AJC, provided
"an opportunity for diverse women —
by race, by age, by religion — to come
together and talk. It was unique at that:'
said early member Edwina Davis, director
of the Michigan Jewish AIDS coalition in
the 1990s and a longtime aide to the late
Detroit City Council President Maryann
Mahaffey.
"The intent was to attract women from
14 December 4 • 2014
Forum founder Ruth
Driker Kroll was
honored at the group's
25th anniversary by
Sherwood "Woody"
Sandweiss of AJC.
all walks of life:' said
founding board member
Harriet Saperstein, 77,
an activist who worked
more than 40 years in
the cities of Detroit and
Highland Park.
Kroll and friends
Harriet
recruited women they
Saperstein
knew in government,
business, unions, educa-
tion, nonprofits, various
professions and activist
groups. The Forum ini-
tially had 65 members;
300 was the high point
in 1984.
Another founder
was
Michigan Women's
Kathleen
Hall
of Fame member
Straus
Kathleen Straus, 91, the
first woman to serve
as president of the Detroit AJC Chapter,
and former president of Detroit's Jewish
Community Council. Straus invited friends
from her Detroit League of Women Voters
group to the Forum, including Mary
Shapero and Harriet Alpern, who now are
deceased.
Networking was an important part of
the agenda from the start.
"We wanted to bring women together to
meet each other, to learn from each other
and encourage one another; said Straus,
chairman of the 40th anniversary com-
mittee.
Experienced women sharing their
knowledge could "strengthen women's
ability to succeed as positions opened up:'
Saperstein said.
Marge Alpern hosted the first Forum,
recalled Davis. The women then met
monthly in the Butzel Building (hous-
ing AJC) on Madison in Detroit. The
Forum stayed in the city when the Jewish
Federation moved to Bloomfield Township
in 1991.
"We were founded as a Detroit organiza-
tion, and we wanted to remain that way:'
Saperstein said.
Interesting Programs
The Detroit Women's Forum met for many
years at First Congregational Church on
Woodward at Forest. Since September
2003, the Forum has held luncheon pro-
grams on the third Friday of the month
in the Whitney restaurant on Woodward.
Members pay $20; others pay $25.
Forum programs, always presented by
women, focus on significant political, eco-
nomic and social issues of the day, always
emphasizing their impact on women.
"We're primarily interested in domestic
issues affecting our metropolitan commu-
nity and Detroit:' Saperstein said.
The Forum offers "a marvelous
exchange of ideas. I think it should be
called 'the questioning women's network;"
said Arlene Frank, 59, a
Forum chair for 13 years.
She is coordinator of the
Womencenter at Oakland
Community College.
Frank serves on the
group's advisory board.
These more active mem-
bers
plan programs and
Arlene Frank
approve a chair-elect to
serve the following year.
"Our officers consist of the chair, chair-
elect, past-chair, secretary and treasurer:'
Vogt said. In August, members paying
annual dues of $50 receive a program
calendar for the September-through-May
season.
Highlights during 2015 will include
"Women Prisoners: Entering Society,"
"Plight of Native American Women"
and "Domestic Violence: A Cultural
Difference:'
A feminist seder has been held annually
since 1975, using the Women's Haggadah.
Co-created by Kroll's friend, the late for-
mer Detroiter Esther (E.M.) Broner, it tells
the story of the Exodus from a woman's
perspective.
An essential part of each gathering is
when women announce activities they'd
like other women to support.
"The Detroit Women's Forum doesn't
subscribe to any particular point of view,
but each individual separately is involved
in her own social, political or educational
agenda:' said early member Irene Miller, a
memoirist and retired leader in the health-
care industry.
"This is a group of intelligent, liberal
activist, mostly professional women —
very community-oriented, each in her own
way:' she said.
❑
40th Anniversary
The Detroit Women's Forum 40th
anniversary celebration, including
folksinger Julie Beutel, starts noon
Friday, Dec.12, at the Whitney, 4421
Woodward, Detroit. Pre-paid admis-
sion is $30 members, $35 guests.
Send check, payable to the Detroit
Women's Forum, to P.O. Box 20991,
Ferndale, MI 48220. For the dead-
line, call Wendy Hamilton at (313)
400-9234.