looking back

Lorraine Schneider Cooper, second from left, is seen with her parents, Ben and
Sylvia Schneider, and her brother, U.S. Army Lt. Victor Schneider. A graduate of
Central High School and encouraged by her brother, Lorraine joined the Civil Air
Patrol at age 20 and was assigned as a typist in the Detroit wing headquarters.
In 1943, she enlisted in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve because she felt
it was her patriotic duty to serve and help free up the men for active duty. She

served her tour in Quantico, Va., and, upon her discharge, received an Honorable
Service Button and an Honorable Discharge Button.
In 1944, she married David Cooper. After the war, the couple moved to Detroit
and purchased a small store on 12th Street and Calvert. Lorraine remained proud
of her service throughout her life. She passed away in 2015 and is one of the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan’s Women Who Made a Difference. •

Photo courtesy Stephen Cooper. Read more at michjewishhistory.org.

Historic photos are curated by the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

From the DJN

Davidson Digital Archive

S

eventy-five years ago, in the Jan. 29, 1943, issue of the JN,
there were some important headlines. Inside, however, I
found one particular story that was most relevant to today’s
Detroit Jewish News.
First, the headline on the front page read: “Post-War Planning
Rallies Jews of U.S.” As weird as it may seem, with more than two
years left in World War II, serious planning had
already begun to deal with post-war issues. And
one of the most pressing issues, especially for the
Jewish community, was: What do we do about
assisting the millions of Jewish refugees from
Europe?
There was also a JN editorial titled “America is
Safe” that will sound familiar to anyone who fol-
lows the news in 2018. It begins by citing a story
Mike Smith
of
anti-Semitism from the University of Michigan
Detroit Jewish News
Foundation Archivist
of 1943, where the faculty board overseeing stu-

54

February 1 • 2018

jn

dent publications refused to seat a Jewish student as editor of The
Michigan Daily. But, U-M students rallied in protest. The editorial
concluded, “As long as Americans fight for fair play and justice,
America is safe.” Indeed. Unfortunately, there is still anti-Semitism
on American campuses today, but fortunately, in 2018, things are
better at U-M, and there are still students willing to fight the good
fight when necessary.
A story I found was most relevant to today’s work. In Danny
Raskin’s “Jewish Youth’s Listening Post,” he noted that he received
a birthday greeting, which appeared to be from soldiers in Egypt.
It contained a happy birthday message for the 24-year-old Raskin,
who was only 10 months into his run of publishing a column in
every issue of the JN for the next 75 years. Raskin turned 99 last
week, which is another great accomplishment. Happy birthday,
Danny! •

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives,
available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.