Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

The JN Turns 80
W

e had a notable birthday 
this week. The Detroit Jewish 
News turned 80 on March 
27. In an age where thousands of local 
newspapers in America, including those 
from Jewish communities, have closed 
their doors, this a great accomplishment. 
The current editors, writers, sales and 
support staff all agree — we are honored 
and happy to continue 
the eight-decade tradition 
of bringing you essential 
Jewish news.
The JN began when 
Philip Slomovitz resigned 
as editor of the Detroit 
Jewish Chronicle. Slomovitz 
was on his way to legend-
ary status and would later be known as 
America’s “Dean” of English-language 
Jewish newspaper editors. In 1942, how-
ever, he was unhappy with the editorial 
direction of the Chronicle and decided 
to publish another Jewish newspaper in 
Detroit.
The Detroit Jewish News was launched 
on March 27, 1942. Its mission was to 
focus on the Detroit Jewish community, 
to fight against antisemitism in all its 
forms and strongly support Zionism. 
The mission still holds true for today’s 
JN. Launched during WWII, the JN 
also closely followed events in Europe 
at the time, including the atrocities 
against Jews that became known as the 
Holocaust. 
For nine years, Detroit had two Jewish 
newspapers until July 13, 1951, when the 
JN acquired the Detroit Jewish Chronicle 
and the Chronicle ceased publication.
Over the past 80 years, the JN has 
evolved and constantly moved forward. 
Slomovitz sold the JN to a Baltimore 
publisher in 1984 but continued to write 
a column until 1995. Arthur Horwitz 
arrived in Detroit as JN publisher in 
1986, a position he held for 36 years 
until Oct. 1, 2020, when the nonprofit 

Detroit Jewish News Foundation became 
the publisher of the JN. 
The Detroit Jewish News Foundation 
was established in 2011 with a singular 
mission, the digitization of the complete 
run of the JN. The online, searchable and 
free archive was launched in 2013. In 
November 2015, the digital Detroit Jewish 
Chronicle was added to the Archive 
resulting in 100 years of the history of 
Jewish Detroit — your history — pre-
served for the future. 
On Jan. 1, 2021, the Detroit Jewish 
News Foundation was restructured to 
manage the publishing of the Detroit 
Jewish News and the William Davidson 
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit 
History. Its current mission is much like 
that of 1942, to “inform and educate 
the Jewish and general community to 
preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish 
people of greater Detroit and beyond, 
and the State of Israel.”
The Archive was renamed the William 
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish 
Detroit History in honor of a major 
grant from the William Davidson 
Foundation. It is one of the premier dig-
ital newspaper archives in America. You 
can now access the Archives from both 
the JN and Foundation websites.
To fully celebrate the JN’s birthday, 
there will be an 80th anniversary edi-
tion on July 14. We’d like your help 
with this issue. We are looking forward 
to featuring the fond JN memories of 
our readership. If you have a anecdote 
or recollecton of how the Jewish News 
impacted your life, please send an 
email to JN Editor Jackie Headapohl at 
jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com. Also, 
if your ongoing business was around 
in 1942, please email your memories 
to Jackie as well. 

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

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

110 | MARCH 31 • 2022 

