JULY 6 • 2023 | 25

T

he Jewish Historical Society of 
Michigan held its annual meeting 
on June 4 at Congregation Beth 
Ahm. It was a fine affair, with 150 mem-
bers and friends in attendance.
The program featured the JHSM 
President’s Address by Jeannie Weiner and 
a report from JHSM Executive Director 
Dr. Catherine Cangany. Both reported 
great progress over the past year; Cangany 
noted that the JHSM five-year goals were 
met a year early.
The highlight of the meeting was the 
award ceremony. Dr. Mary-Elizabeth 
Murphy received the Rabbi Emanuel 
Applebaum Award; Michael G. Smith 

was named the Outstanding Producer of 
Historical Knowledge; and Elayne Gross 
received the Outstanding Volunteer 
Award (note: Elayne has also been very 
generous to the Detroit Jewish News, 
allowing us to use her great photos on 
many occasions).
The Outstanding Ambassadors Award 
went to the collective efforts of the DIA 
Jewish Connections Tour docents: Barbara 
Cohn (co-director), Sue Kalisky (co-di-
rector), Ron Elkus, Gail Fisher, Anne 
Klisman, Linda Minns, Nancy Raimi, 
Carolyn Tisdale and Rochelle Upfal. 
The Leonard N. Simons History-
Maker Award is the JHSM’s most pres-

tigious honor. This year’s honor went 
to Dr. Howard Lupovitch, professor at 
Wayne State University and director of 
the University’s Cohn-Haddow Center 
for Judaic Studies. Dr. Lupovitch spe-
cializes in modern Jewish history and 
recently completed a history of the Jews 
of Budapest, Hungary. He is currently 
writing histories of both the Neolog 
movement (Hungarian Jewry’s progres-
sive wing) and Detroit’s Jewish commu-
nity after 1967, which will fill a large 
gap in the historical literature of Jewish 
Detroit. 
Mazel tov to the JHSM and all the award 
winners! 

The Outstanding Ambassadors — DIA Jewish Connections Tour 
docents

Outstanding Volunteer Elayne Gross

COURTESY OF JHSM

faces&places

Jewish Historical Society 
of Michigan Annual Meeting

The 2023 JHSM Board of Directors

Outstanding Producer 
of Historical Knowledge 
Michael G. Smith

JN’s Mike Smith, JSHM President Jeannie Weiner and Leonard N. 
Simons History-Maker Award winner Howard Lupovitch

