46 June 27 • 2019 jn From the DJN Foundation Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History Mike Smith Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN ARCHIVES OF TEMPLE BETH EL, BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI. Abraham “Aid” Kushner was known for his remarkable synagogue models. Here, in the 1970s, he is pictured in the Anna S. and Meyer L. Prentis Memorial Library at Temple Beth El with many of his models. O n June 6, the Jewish Historical Society held its annual meeting and awards ceremony, a very nice affair. One of the awardees was Peggy Finkelstein, who received the Judith Levin Cantor Lifetime Achievement Award. Finkelstein is the director of the Peg and Mort Finkelstein Historical Archives at Temple Emanuel in Grand Rapids. Naturally, I like archivists, especially, those with a bit of vision. Finkelstein has an impressive track record as an archivist. As her family historian for many years, she morphed into the director of the archive at Temple Emanuel and, beginning in 2002, when Peg and Mort began supporting the archives, she began to reorga- nize them. “I wanted to make it user-friendly, ” she said. Well, she did, and is now working to digitize collections and make them even more user-friend- ly. Along the way, she earned the Olson Lifetime Contribution of Local History Award from Grand Valley State University as well as a history award from the Historical Society of Michigan. Finkelstein’ s work raised another question for me — what does the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History contain regarding Temple Emanuel, which is one of the oldest temples in Michigan in the state’ s second largest city? Its website claims it is the fifth-oldest Reform congregation in the United States. It was founded in 1857 by five German families and remained largely German until the late- 19th century. Its current temple opened in 1952. Searching for “Temple Emanuel, Grand Rapids” in the Davidson archive results in 540 pages citing the temple, with the first mention in 1917. In particular, I found a very good article in the Oct. 4, 1968, issue of the JN titled: “The History of Grand Rapids Jewry and its Founders.” The archive demonstrates that the JN and the Jewish Chronicle has and has had reporting on Jewish life throughout the state of Michigan, from Marquette and Mackinac Island, to Traverse City, Grand Rapids and Detroit. So, mazel tov to Peg! Good luck to her as she con- tinues to develop the archives named after her and her husband. And may Temple Emanuel thrive for another 150 years. ■ Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org. Looking Back