jews d

in
the

A New
Permanent
Home

JN digital archive to reside
at U-M in perpetuity.

A

copy of the digital archive con-
taining the entire contents of
the Detroit Jewish News and its
predecessor publication, comprising
more than 330,000 pages and spanning
over 100 years, will be housed in perpe-
tuity at the University of Michigan and
be available to the public free of charge
on its servers.
The announcement was made during
the Detroit Jewish News Foundation-
sponsored May 3 event at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield celebrating
the 75th anniversary of the Jewish News.
The William Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit history is
expected to be fully operational on
the university’s servers and platform
this summer. It will be similar to the
archive’s current platform, which
provides fast, free Google-style search
capabilities.
The archive comprises content from
the Jewish News since its first edition
on March 27, 1942, as well as the Jewish
Chronicle, which published from 1916
until it was purchased by the Jewish
News in 1951.
“As director of the University of
Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library, I
speak for the entire staff when I tell you
we are extremely pleased and excited
that the library will be the home of
the archives in the near future,” said
Terrence J. McDonald, the Arthur F.
Thurnau Professor of History and
Bentley director. “We are committed to
preserving this history and providing
our researchers and the public contin-
ued access to this wonderful archive.
“The Jewish News has served
Metropolitan Detroit as the premier
voice of its Jewish community for nearly
eight decades,” he added. “As a profes-
sor at the U-M, I can assure you that
the Jewish News has also been a tremen-
dous resource for the study of the his-
tory of Detroit, Jews in the city and the
American Jewish community.”
The archive will continue to grow
at the University of Michigan, with the
newest editions of the Jewish News to be
added. Also, content from Jewish News
digital platforms, including its website,
will be captured.
“This relationship with U-M assures
the entire contents of the digital archive
and future content will be safely stored

42

May 17 • 2018

jn

and freely and quickly accessible to
all, in perpetuity,” Arthur Horwitz, JN
publisher and executive editor as well
as DJN Foundation president, told the
more than 800 event attendees. “The
story of our community, and of you and
your family, is secure and unalterable.”
Among those present for the
announcement were University of
Michigan President Mark Schlissel and
Professor McDonald.
Horwitz shared with the audience
that the vision for protecting, digitizing
and making freely available the con-
tents of the Jewish News emerged after
a January 2002 fire that destroyed the
company’s Southfield office.
“In the days following, I was repeat-
edly asked three questions: Was anyone
hurt? Are you still in business? And
what happened to the bound volumes
of the Jewish News we saw on television,
surrounded by smoke and flames?”
Horwitz said. “Fortunately, no one was
in the building and we had off-site
back up for our business and editorial
files. But I was surprised at how many
people expressed concern about the
back issues of the Jewish News and saw
them as part of their own personal fam-
ily histories.”
Almost all the back issues were sal-
vageable after the fire, and back-up
microfilm of the issues also existed.
In July 2011, the independent Detroit
Jewish News Foundation received
nonprofit status. In 2012, its board
of directors decided its first initiative
would be to protect and digitize the
entire contents of the Jewish News. The
digital archive launched in November
2013. In 2014, the digitized contents
of the Jewish Chronicle were added to
the site and it was named the William
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish
Detroit History in recognition of an
endowment gift from the William
Davidson Foundation.
In 2017, more than 16,000 users
accessed the almost 250,000 pages of
content in the archive.
“We’re standing on the shoulders of
those who came before us. The digital
archive assures the story of our com-
munity, and the myriad individuals
and families who continue to shape
it, is always at our fingertips,” Horwitz
added. •