APRIL 20 • 2023 | 15

PHOTOS BY JAMIE FELDMAN

M

ichigan’s Jewish history began 
during the late 1700s when 
Jewish traders arrived in the 
state. By 1850, a small group of German 
Jews organized Detroit’s first Jewish 
congregation — Temple Beth El. With a 
history dating back more than 200 years, 
it’s not surprising that Detroit’s two major 
Jewish archives hold a vast array of historic 
records. 
 Jewish Federation’s Leonard N. Simons 
Jewish Community Archives (JCA) 
contains 35 collections and more than 
2,000 boxes. Temple Beth El’s Rabbi Leo M. 
Franklin Archives consist of 40 collections 
with about 500 boxes.
Now the two extensive archives have 
moved to a new shared space 
to create the Joan Meyers 
Jampel Center for Michigan 
Jewish Heritage — a new 
archival resource for and about 
the Jewish community. 
For those unfamiliar with 

the term, an archive is not a version 
of the common unorganized 
assortment of family keepsakes 
and paperwork found in many 
basements. According to Aliqae 
Geraci, director of Wayne State 
University’s Walter P
. Reuther 
Library, an archive is “a specific 
collection of materials — paper, 
audiovisual — a variety of 
formats generated by a person, group 
or organization. An archivist’s role is to 
make sense of what we have, to restore 
the original order as they were created 
and to decide what should be preserved in 
perpetuity.
”
The Temple Beth El and Leonard N. 
Simons Archives are a rich source of letters, 
documents, photos, videos and other 
items that tell the stories of Michigan’s 
early Jewish families, organizations, 
congregations and events, ranging from the 
routine to the historic. 
For decades, these archives have been 

carefully preserved and used by students, 
researchers and interested individuals. 
From family histories to records of the 
Jewish War Veterans and photos of 
congregational youth groups, these two 
archives are a rich source of information 
about the Jewish community. The oldest 
items in the Federation collection are from 
the 1800s. The Franklin Archives’ records 
date back to the 1850s.
Temple Beth El’s Rabbi Leo M. Franklin 
Archives were established in the 1980s, and 
the temple is one of the few locally that has 
had a professional archivist for decades. 

continued on page 16

Joan 
Jampel

Archivists Robbie 
Terman and 
Laura Gottlieb

Laura Gottlieb 
examines an old 
photograph from the 
Sisterhood Collection.

FACING PAGE: It’s 
not flashy but the 
Joan Meyers Jampel 
Center for Michigan 
Jewish Heritage will 
make it easier for 
people to access what 
they’re looking for.

