jews in the d
Looking Back
New Enhancements
JN Foundation’s Davidson archive now part of U-M’s Bentley library.
I
t has happened
again. The Detroit
Jewish News
Foundation, via its
William Davidson
Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit History,
Mike Smith
has taken another step
Detroit Jewish
forward in its mission
News Foundation
Archivist
to preserve and make
available the history
of Detroit’s Jewish community, that is,
your history.
It is hard to believe, but this month
marks the five-year anniversary of the
launch of the digital archive. It began
with the digitization of every historic
page of the Detroit Jewish News, 1942-
2017. Along the way, every existing
page of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle,
1916-1951, was added to the archive
(just so you know, we scoured archives
across the United States but still could
not find issues for two months in 1916,
which is why we say “every existing
page”).
The Detroit Jewish News
Foundation website was also totally
revamped three years ago. Afterward,
we all had much easier access to the
archive’s nearly 330,000 historic pages
of the JN and the Chronicle.
And, as always, throughout the
process, the archive has been and still
is free and downloadable for all.
Following the launch of this
wonderful resource, an endowment
from the William Davidson
Foundation helped assure the archive
continues as a vibrant, vital, up-to-
date and well-utilized destination for
and software as new programs are
developed in the future. Other
collections at the Bentley include Civil
War letters, the papers of Michigan
governors and the papers of Carl and
Sander Levin, A. Alfred Taubman and
Mandell L. “Bill” Berman.
On the personal level, this means
you will see a few changes in how you
information, insight and lessons in
leadership.
Now, the Detroit Jewish News
Foundation has taken the next step
forward. As of Nov. 5, the archive is a
permanent collection of the Bentley
Historical Library at the University
of Michigan. First and foremost, this
means that the Bentley will preserve
and protect the archive forever. It
will be hosted on U-M servers, with
periodic enhancements to the database
access the archive. You will continue
to enter it through the Detroit Jewish
News Foundation’s William Davidson
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit
History (www.djnfoundation.org).
Additionally, access to the archive is
now available through the U-M library
system for historians and researchers.
Your searches will have one
significant change. In the search box,
when you are looking for a proper
name, like a person or place or
organization, you will need to place
quotation marks around the name,
like this: “William Davidson” or
“Jewish Community Center.” Then, as
usual, you will see a list of every page
containing that proper name.
Once you have made a search and
the list of pages with your search
term is shown, you will also notice
two other new features. The most
significant is that once you are on a
page from the list, you can use buttons
on the top right of the search page to
go back and forth through an issue.
No longer do you need to go back into
the archives for the next page of any
article. And, you will see on your left a
graph that shows the number of pages
per decade. Click on that to narrow
your search according to the year that
you wish to find. You will also see new
options for downloading on the right
of the page and other features.
We at the Detroit Jewish News
Foundation are excited and pleased
to bring you the next evolution of the
William Davidson Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit History. Let us know
how you like it or if we can help. We
can be reached at info@djnfoundation.
org.
Happy hunting! ■
From the DJN Foundation Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
T
Mike Smith
Detroit Jewish
News Foundation
Archivist
62
his year, Veteran’s Day holds a special significance.
It marks 100 years since the end of World War I or
“The Great War,” which ended on the 11th hour
of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 (although the
war did not officially end until the Treaty of Versailles was
signed on June 28, 1919).
Veteran’s Day was original called “Armistice Day,”
declared to be a holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in
November 1919. Unlike Memorial Day, which has been
a day to remember those Americans who perished in
war, Armistice Day was focused on those who served and
fought in the First World War. This includes an estimated
225,000 American Jews. It is also good to keep in mind
that Jews served in all of the armies of the Great War. In
the aftermath of World War II, Congress voted to change
Armistice Day to Veteran’s Day to honor all who have
served in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Thinking about this 100th anniversary, I went into the
Davidson Digital Archive to see how the Detroit Jewish
November 8 • 2018
jn
Chronicle covered the end of the First World War. Among
the many citations for the Great War or World War (it
was the only World War until 1939), there were four sto-
ries that caught my eye.
An article in the Nov. 22, 1918, issue summed up the
contributions of American Jews with this title: “Blood
and Brain of American Jewry, in Priceless Services to
Democracy ...” Two articles in the Chronicle on May
23, 1919, and Nov. 12, 1920, also described post-war
reports of the achievements of Jews in all branches of the
American military.
And, a succinct editorial in the Nov. 7, 1919, issue
stated: “May it not be hoped that Armistice Day, unlike
that of a year ago, may sound the deeper note of earnest
meditation upon the problems that now confront a con-
fused and a depressed humanity?” This is still a relevant
question for Veterans Day this year. ■
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives, available
for free at www.djnfoundation.org.