T
he late Dorothy and Byron Gerson
were devoted to Detroit’s Jewish
community and to Israel, a commit-
ment shared by their family for several gen-
erations. They traveled often to Israel and
contributed generously to improve Jewish
life in Detroit and Israel.
Now their legacy is being honored
through a series of grants from the William
Davidson Foundation. Byron and Dorothy
Gerson were the brother-in-law and sister
of the late William Davidson, the founder
of the Davidson Foundation and former
chair, president and CEO of Guardian
Industries. Mrs. Gerson died at age 99 in
2021 and Byron Gerson died in 2013.
The Davidson Foundation has
announced two grants in their honor — a
$5 million gift to the American Friends of
the Israel Museum Endowment and $3.5
million for an Innovation Fund for the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
The grant to the Israel Museum, Israel’s
largest cultural institution, continues more
than a century of support for Israel from the
Gerson and Davidson families. According
to Ralph Gerson, Byron (Bud) and Dorothy
(Dottie) Gerson’s son, his great-grandfa-
ther led the second Zionist Congress in
Switzerland in 1920, and family members
bought land in Jerusalem which they donat-
ed to Hadassah for its first hospital.
“They were a very Zionistic family. There
is a long family legacy for Israel. They trav-
elled to Israel fairly often. They were art
collectors, so they were interested in the
Israel Museum,
” Gerson says. He is treasur-
er and a director of the William Davidson
Foundation.
Byron and Dorothy Gerson hosted the
museum director in Detroit to introduce
the museum to Detroiters. His moth-
er Dorothy and Bill Davidson, who he
describes as very close, shared this interest
in Israel and its archaeology. “The Israel
Museum was a passion of Dorothy’s,”
says Karen Davidson, widow of William
Davidson.
Ethan Davidson, William Davidson’s
son, remembers that his uncle, Byron
Gerson, kept up to date on the latest
archaeological discoveries in Israel. “They
all were involved individually and as a
family,” he says. Davidson is grants com-
mittee chair and a director of the William
Davidson Foundation.
The Davidson Foundation has previous-
ly supported exhibitions at the museum.
In conjunction with this gift, the muse-
um’s Temporary Exhibitions Gallery in
the Archaeology Wing will be named the
Byron and Dorothy Gerson Gallery.
Doreen Hermelin, a long-time friend of
Dottie Gerson’s, describes her as “a very
special lady. She loved Israel very much
and the museum.”
Her daughter, Marcie Orley, said, “Israel
meant so much to her. This is an incredi-
bly meaningful way to honor their legacy.”
“Dottie and Bud Gerson had a long
and loving history of connection with
the Israel Museum. They also engaged a
remarkably committed circle of friends in
Detroit to share their enthusiasm for the
museum, demonstrating importantly the
power of the museum’s embrace across
the Jewish cultural community in the
U.S. Naming the entrance gallery to the
museum’s Samuel and Saidye Bronfman
Archeology Wing in their memory could
not be a more appropriate way to recog-
nize the depth of their commitment to
the Museum and its success,” says James
S. Snyder, Director Emeritus of the Israel
Museum and Executive Chair of the
Jerusalem Foundation Inc.
Davidson Foundation Grants to benefit Israel
Museum and Federation Innovation Fund.
Dorothy and
Byron Gerson
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
18 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022
Honoring the Legacy of
OUR COMMUNITY
Dorothy and Byron Gerson
RON LIEBERMAN, LIBERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY