A “Special
Features” tab
has been added,
which will
feature stories
in a drop-down
menu.
Visitors will be
able to add their
own interactive
content to each
special feature.
Visitors can
also access
biographies of
many community
leaders in book
form.
than 500 individual booklets, with content from
the archive, about those it provided funeral direc-
tion for over the past year.
David Techner said his son, Chad, was
intrigued by the possibilities the digital archive
presented. “As funeral directors, we try to estab-
lish the legacy of the person who died,” Techner
said. “What a great next step to be able to look at
the person’s lifetime, from a birth announcement
to their death notice and all their life encapsu-
lated in between.”
Techner said families have been overwhelmed
upon receiving the free memory books.
“A lot of the stuff they don’t remember. We
highlight the name of the deceased on each page
they’re mentioned in the Jewish News. Families
can take a look at what else was going on at that
time: from the ads to what people were wearing.
It brings history to life.”
The Foundation and Dr. Howard Lupovitch of
Wayne State University’s Cohn-Haddow Center
will be collaborating next spring to present an
eight-segment class titled “A Jewish Lens to the
’60s: A Decade of Hope and Despair” as part of
the Federation’s Agency for Jewish Education’s
FedEd curriculum. The Foundation’s William
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit
History will be one of the primary resources used
by students.
“The archive is a repository of multiple points
of view on the events of the day, especially those
that affect directly American Jewry, World Jewry
and, of course, the Jews of Detroit,” Lupovitch
said. “This vast collection will provide firsthand
accounts and analysis of events that transpired
during the 1960s, from vantage points that still
resonate a half-century later.”
Also, the Foundation and Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield are refining plans that would provide
religious school students, largely in the sixth and
seventh grades, with opportunities to utilize the
digital archive in ways that enhance their Jewish
identity and connectedness to their families, the
community and their temple.
“We are excited to be working with the Jewish
News Foundation and using its digital archive in
our sixth and seventh grades,” said Temple Israel’s
Rabbi Marla Hornsten. “This is an opportunity
for our kids to dig deeper and make special con-
nections between the generations. It is our hope
they will strengthen their Jewish identity in tan-
dem with creating and sustaining a Detroit com-
munity identity … all the while having a great
time!”
Added Horwitz, “Not only is 100 years of com-
munity, organizational and family history now
at the fingertips of all — fast and free of charge
— but its content is linking one generation to the
other.”
A SHINING EXAMPLE
The upgrade incorporated recommendations
from users and the Foundation’s Technical
Advisory Committee, which includes Sharon
Alterman, Lauren Ann Davies, Troy Eller English,
Ben Falik, Tessa Goldberg, Kit Greening, Arthur
Horwitz, Bill McGraw, Meghan McGowan, Paul
Neirink, Dallas Pillon, Lynne Standley and chair
Mike Smith, also the foundation’s archivist.
The DJN Foundation’s William Davidson
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History is setting
the standard for historic digitalization projects.
Following a national search, the University of
Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library recently
identified the DJN Foundation’s William Davidson
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History as the
model it wanted to replicate for the digitization of
the 200,000-plus pages comprising the history of
the Michigan Daily student newspaper.
“When developing plans, the prime example,
the gold-standard of digital newspaper archives,
was the William Davidson Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit History,” said Smith, who is also
the Johanna Meijer Magoon principal archi-
vist for the Bentley. “My experience with the
Davidson Digital Archive as archivist for the
Jewish News Foundation was invaluable for my
work here. Indeed, the Davidson Digital Archive
has influenced the decision-makers at U-M who
are developing cutting-edge digital processes.”
STAY TUNED
The Detroit Jewish News is looking forward to
celebrating its 75th anniversary, which begins
March 27, 2017, and runs through March 26,
2018. As part of the yearlong celebration, the
DJN Foundation will be identifying — with the
help of the community — the top stories of the
past 75 years and sharing them in ways that will
enable community members to add their recol-
lections of any or all of those stories — as wit-
nesses to history that will forever be a part of the
archive.
Also, as part of its community-building activi-
ties, the DJN Foundation will soon be launch-
ing a “historic scavenger hunt” of the William
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit
History. Readers of the JN will be given 10 fun
clues and will be able to use the archive to find
the answers. Readers will then submit their
answers. One random winner from all correct
responses will be chosen to win a prize. Look for
details in an upcoming issue of the JN.
“This is just one way we can get the community
familiar with and comfortable using the archive,”
Horwitz said. “We want everyone in Jewish
Detroit to understand what a treasure the archive
truly is.”
With the archive, “we are standing on the
shoulders of the ones who came before us and are
tapping into their successes and disappointments,
simchahs and heartaches — all serving to bind
us closer together in ways that further strengthen
our ties to Jewish Detroit and each other,” he
added.
*
Visit the DJNF website and portal into its William Davidson
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History at www.djnfoundation.
org.
September 15 • 2016
17