Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

Thank You, Southfi
 eld!
A

fter more than 50 years in 
Southfield, the Detroit Jewish 
News moved to more compact 
offices in Farmington Hills on March 1. 
Necessity brings change, but we will 
miss you, Southfield.
Southfield has been a great home, 
and the city has gone above and 
beyond being an excellent location. 
The Southfield Fire 
Department bravely 
fought the blaze that 
devastated our offices in 
2002, and the Southfield 
Police Department has 
always been keenly 
responsive to our needs, 
which included such 
things as investigations 
into antisemitic graffiti on office prop-
erty and bomb threats — the price of 
doing business as a Jewish publication. 
When first published on March 27, 
1942, the JN offices were in the 47-story 
Penobscot Building, the tallest building 
in Detroit at the time. In 1952, shortly 
after the Detroit Jewish Chronicle was 
incorporated into the JN, the newspaper 
moved to another Downtown location 
in the David Stott Building. As Jews 
moved north and west, the JN strived to 
stay in the center of the community and 
moved its offices in Detroit to 17100 W. 
Seven Mile Road in July 1953.
Fifteen years later, the JN determined 
that Southfield would be an ideal loca-
tion for its home. The suburb was an 
easy drive from various Jewish neigh-
borhoods in Detroit and Oak Park, as 
well as near growing Jewish populations 
in Southfield, Farmington Hills and 
other areas of Metro Detroit. In the 
pre-digital era, the JN offices were also 
a meeting place. Readers and contrib-
utors would often visit the JN to drop 
off information, for meetings and inter-
views, or sometimes, just for a coffee 
and a chat.

The JN moved into the Honeywell 
Building at 17515 W. Nine Mile Road 
in Southfield in December 1969. 
There, the newspaper would grow to 
have offices on two floors and its page 
designing department in the basement. 
Staying in Southfield, the JN moved 
to the Control Data Building at 20300 
Civic Center Drive in December 1984, 
and then to 27676 Franklin Road in 
September 1989.
The JN stayed on Franklin Road 
until Sunday, Jan. 27, 2002, when an 
electrical fire destroyed its offices. 
This was a tough day for the JN, but it 
was a time when true friends rose to 
help. Southfield firefighters did their 
work, and Southfield Mayor, now 
Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence was 
one of the first to call Publisher Arthur 
Horwitz to offer help and urge him to 
keep the JN in Southfield.
The ballroom of the Embassy Suites 
Hotel in Southfield became the JN’s 
home for four days. Many local Jewish 
and non-Jewish individuals and organi-
zations offered crucial help, including 
providing such essentials as phones and 
fax machines. The JN was published 
that week, although for the first and 
only time in its history, it was a day late.
After the fire, JARC generously 
offered the JN temporary office space 
in its building at 30301 Northwestern 
Highway, Farmington Hills. The JN
accepted and stayed there for nearly 
a year. The JN then moved to Suite 
110, 29200 Northwestern Highway in 
Southfield on Jan. 3, 2003, where it 
stayed until this year.
The JN and the Jewish News 
Foundation have now moved again. 
Thank you, Southfield, for a half-century 
of warm hospitality and great service! 

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

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

46 | MARCH 11 • 2021 

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

The Honeywell 
Building, as it 
was named then, 
home to the JN,
1969-1984

