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STAFF REPORT

PHOTOS BY GLENN TRIEST

75th Anniversary

Then And Now

STAFF REPORT

From its birth in 1942,
the Jewish News
continues to change
with the times.

T

he Jewish News published its first weekly
issue on March 27, 1942, from offices in
Detroit’s Penobscot Building, covering
a vibrant Jewish community sending its young
men off to war, grappling with the horrors befall-
ing the Jews of Europe and confronting anti-Sem-
itism at home. Seventy-five years later, the Jewish
News is an integral part of a still-vibrant Jewish
community it covers in print and online.
Much has changed in the community and at
the Jewish News over that time. Today’s Metro
Detroit Jewish community is one of America’s
most successful — and generous — and largely
welcomed into “mainstream” society. Its num-
bers are currently estimated to be in the low-
60,000 range and spread in a northwesterly direc-
tion into Oakland County. The Jewish News fol-
lowed the community’s path, but has remained

in Southfield since December of 1969.
That first issue came with accolades from local
Jewish leaders as well as the broader community.
Business owners, Congressional representatives,
the editor of The Michigan Catholic and even
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt sent congratula-
tions for the first issue. A yearly subscription was
$3 and single copies could be purchased for a
dime. In contrast, today’s Jewish News carries an
$85 annual subscription rate and $2 single-copy
charge.
A large headline trumpeted the newspaper’s
importance: “National Leaders Greet Jewish
News — Great Interest Aroused Throughout the
Land in Detroit’s Community-Sponsored Weekly.”
Given that the Detroit community had been
served since 1916 by the weekly Jewish Chronicle,
the rousing welcome the Jewish News gave itself

Philip Slomovitz

continued on page 108

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July 18 • 2017

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