JULY 27 • 2023 | 27

Berger. 
“
After the tour of the space, 
we will be doing an ‘Out of the 
Box’ program where we will be 
bringing items in the archives 
that are not often seen, sharing 
them with the group and telling 
the story behind each item. The 
audience will be able to view the 
actual historic material.
”

WORKING TOGETHER
The two directors, who have 
long held a love for knowledge 
of history, associated with 
Temple Beth El in their earlier 
years and earned their mas-
ter’s degrees from Wayne State 
University, where they gained 
work experience. While 
Terman has been employed by 
the Cranbrook archives before 
gaining her present position in 
2013, Gottlieb entered her role 
out of university in 2017.
“Our first program together 
was ‘History Happy Hour,
’” said 

Gottlieb, whose research into 
collection holdings surprisingly 
revealed how her family has 
both benefitted from Jewish 
programs and contributed to 
them.
“Our first public initia-
tive was about Jewish trade 
during the Prohibition era. It 
was for NEXTGen Detroit at 
Federation, and it was clear that 
working together was beneficial 
for both collections. We contin-
ued that trend.
“We regularly appear together 
in co-presentations, co-work-
shops and co-lectures that are 
in our web series ‘Out of the 
Box.
’ We do programs together 
so we can use both collections 
and help get the word out about 
what amazing gems we can find 
in our community archives.
”
One of the favorite findings 
of Terman has been a 1901 sew-
ing book developed by Hattie 
Franklin, late wife of the late 

temple rabbi. It was aimed at 
new immigrants who needed 
job skills and could access sam-
ple pages to learn and master 
stitches. 
“I love the ‘aha’ and ‘wow’ 
moments when people are 
reacting to the materials in 
the archives,
” Gottlieb said. 
“Understanding the history of 
people and organizations can 
help with understanding better 
what we’re doing today and 
give more meaning to organiza-
tions and families. I love these 
moments of connections to a 
legacy.
“‘Out of the Box’ started 
during the pandemic. It was 
a way for me to engage with 
the community,
” she added. “I 
would find an interesting item 
in the archives and research it. I 
would talk about its history and 
the journey of learning more 
and sharing that journey on 
Facebook Live. We’ve expanded 

that for in-person ‘Out of the 
Boxes.
’”
Getting additional items for 
the archives comes from ran-
dom community input and con-
necting with the public through 
presentations. The two women 
point out that usually there are 
many calls after presentations 
to inquire about specific objects 
held, possibly considered rel-
evant to the community and 
appropriate for inclusion in the 
holdings. 
“We also hold the records of 
the Detroit chapter of Hadassah 
among records of some 60 
organizations,
” Terman said. 
“We often bring Hadassah items 
out of the box that people have 
never seen before. It might be a 
great photograph from decades 
ago or a great piece of corre-
spondence. We’ll not only talk 
about an item but also the time 
period and the history around 
it.
” 

