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.