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