T

hree years ago, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into 
law legislation that mandated Michigan schools 
provide at least six hours of instruction about 
genocide to students between grades 8-12. After the 
signing, Snyder stated: “Teaching the students of 
Michigan about genocide is important because we 
should remember and learn about 
these terrible events in our past while 
continuing to work toward creating a 
more tolerant society.
” These are words 
of wisdom about an idea that we, and 
our civic leaders, should keep in mind 
every day.
Of course, the Holocaust is one of 
the prime topics taught within the 
larger subject of genocide. In many 
ways, Michigan Jews have led the 
way in Holocaust studies. For example, the Holocaust 
Memorial Center in Farmington Hills celebrated its 
35th anniversary this year. It opened nine years before 
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, 
D.C. Since 1981, for another example, the University 
of Michigan-Dearborn has interviewed Holocaust 
survivors and preserved these oral histories in the uni-
versity’
s Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History 
Archive. 
But, what about Holocaust studies outside of Metro 
Detroit, which holds the largest Jewish population in 
the state and the largest number of survivors? Well, 
there is plenty of activity around the state, but I would 
like to tell you about a Holocaust-teaching dynamo 
from Battle Creek with whom I have recently become 
acquainted. Margaret “Gigi” Lincoln has been teaching 
about the Holocaust in Battle Creek and around the 
nation for a long, long time.
Lincoln and her husband, Gary, moved to Battle 
Creek in 1973. Since that time, she has been a library 
media specialist with the Lakeview School District. 
Lincoln holds a bachelor’
s degree in French and a 
M.L.S. from the University of Michigan, as well as 
other assorted graduate classes and certificates from 
Arizona State University, Michigan State University, 
Columbia and Syracuse universities, and a Ph.D. in 
information science from the University of North 
Texas. I’
ll run out of space if I list all her presentations, 
articles, projects and awards for her work in informa-
tion science, media and instruction in the Battle Creek 
area, as well as in state and national forums.
What stands out in Lincoln’
s rather lengthy resume, 
however, is her work with Holocaust studies. Since 

2002, she has been a U.S. Holocaust Memorial 
Museum teacher fellow, and at least from that 
time until today, Lincoln has been heavily 
involved in Holocaust education.
In the July 9, 2004, issue of the JN, then-Editor 
Robert Sklar wrote about her, citing an online 
presentation in which Lincoln wrote: “Today’
s 
high school students and their parents were not 
alive at the time of the Holocaust. Through appro-
priately designed learning activities, they can be 
alerted to the vigilance necessary to prevent the 
reoccurrence of a similar tragedy.
” 
Indeed, this is a cogent, succinct rational for 
Holocaust and genocide studies. It took another 
14 years before Michigan legislators reached 
the same conclusion. Since this time, Lincoln 
has also studied other genocidal situations 
such as those in Rwanda and, most recently, in 
Myanmar.
I should also mention that Gigi and Gary 
Lincoln are part of a small but active Jewish 
community in Battle Creek. They are mem-
bers of Temple Beth El (point of interest: Beth 
El was vandalized last year. The JN ran a story about 
this in its Dec. 13, 2018, issue).
It is an old adage that a single person can indeed 
make a difference. Want proof of this? Spend some 
time with Gigi Lincoln. ■

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

PHOTOS COURTESY MARGARET LINCOLN

66 August 22 • 2019
jn

ABOVE, CLOCKWISE: Margaret “Gigi” Lincoln with 

Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin, Art Center of 

Battle Creek, 2003. Lincoln at the American Library 

Association Conference, 2018. Lincoln and students at 

Michigan Association for Media in Education in 2016.

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

Mike Smith
Alene and Graham 
Landau Archivist 
Chair

Margaret Lincoln:
Teaching About the
Holocaust in Battle Creek

