Category: From The Archives

Snapshot of History Makes YOU the Star of the Show

Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 26, 2026, and get camera-ready!

The Joan Meyers Jampel Center for Michigan Jewish Heritage is hosting Snapshot of History, an interactive photography exhibit at Temple Beth El. The event is open-house style, open from 12pm-5pm.

Walk through the gallery of beautiful photographs, all from the Jampel Center’s archival collection, that span 175 years of Jewish Detroit history. And then take a time machine to different eras of photo technology, where it is your turn to step in front of the camera.

Attendees can get a vintage-style portrait with a professional photographer, pop into an old-fashioned photo booth, pose for a Polaroid, pop behind a Selfie frame, get their face printed on a cookie in an instant and more!

Plus, ten community partners, whose collections are housed at the Jampel Center, will be on hand to share and engage with you with their history and missions. This includes Farber Hebrew Day School, Hebrew Free Loan, Jarc, Jewish Federation’s NEXTGen and Women’s Philanthropy departments, Jewish Senior Life, Jewish War Veterans Michigan, National Council of Jewish Women Michigan, Tamarack Camps and Temple Beth El Brotherhood and Sisterhood.

All of this is included in the ticket price: $10 (13+), $5 (12 and under), or a $25 Family ticket (2 adults and up to 4 children). Friends of the Jampel Center are free.

There is also an option for an amazing add-on—tintype photography. Tintype is a technique from the 1850s and it puts your photo on a metal backing! We will have Detroit Tintype on site with sessions for just $54 (normally $125)! It is truly a special form of photography to have as a keepsake.

This event is one you won’t want to miss. Come for the fun, leave with beautiful and unique photos of yourself and your family.  

Register for Snapshot of History here.

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And the answer is . . . Suzanne Somers!

Suzanne Somers is probably best known as an actress, specifically for her roles on Three’s Company and Step-by-Step (a fan-favorite in ABC’s TGIF lineup!). She was also the spokesperson for the Thigh Master and influenced a whole generation of women as a health guru.

But in March of 1999, she was in Detroit as the keynote speaker for the Women’s Philanthropy program Choices. In this photo, she is standing between Beverly Liss and Paula Glazier.

Here were the clues to this month’s photo:

• Three’s never a crowd for her!
• One of her mottos was  “…squeeze, squeeze your way to shapely hips and thighs,” and she had just the gadget to do it.
• TGIF! If you are a child of the 90s, you’ll know what that means and how it applies here. Think you know who it is? Take a guess!

Suzanne Somers isn’t the only famous face in Jewish Detroit. Search through our collections to find more!  

Image: Jewish Federation of Detroit Photograph Collection, JF.954

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And the landmark is . . . The Fred M. Butzel Memorial Building!

Here were the clues to this month’s photo:

• It was named in memory of a community giant who name is synonymous with distinguished community service.
• Its location was a home run for the community.
• Needed to reach someone in the building? Call WO 5-3939.

Located at 163 Madison Ave. in Detroit, the Butzel Building served as the headquarters of the Jewish Federation from 1951-1991. In addition to Federation, other Jewish organizations, including Hebrew Free Loan, American Jewish Congress, JVS, and Jewish Community Council, once called this building home. Today, 163 Madison Ave. (located next to Comerica Park!) is the Grand Valley State University Detroit Center.

Want to see more beautiful buildings important to the Detroit Jewish community? Explore the Joan Meyers Jampel Center for Michigan Jewish Heritage digital database!

Image: Jewish Federation of Detroit Photograph Collection, HB.5, Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.

The answer is: Senator Edward Kennedy!

In February 1967, Senator Edward Kennedy was the keynote speaker at an Allied Jewish Campaign Pre-Campaign dinner. A black-tie gathering for contributors of $1,000 or more, the event brought the campaign total to more than $2.8 million dollars! In today’s dollars, that’s like $28 million!

Here were the clues to this month’s photo:

Do you recognize the handsome guy seated next to Max Fisher (Max is seated on the right)? Here’s a few hints:

• He was a senator, but not from Michigan.
• Before the Kardashians, his family was as close to royalty as you could find in the U.S.
• Many, many movies have been based on his family, but the one specifically based on an incident in his life was 2017’s Chappaquiddick.

Edward Kennedy isn’t the only famous face in Jewish Detroit. Search through our collection to find more!

Image: Jewish Federation of Detroit Photograph Collection, JF.154.4

And the year is . . . 1985!

Here were the clues to this month’s photo:

• During this year, Chanukah began on Saturday, December 7 and ended on Sunday, December 15.
• On November 19 of this year, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres appealed to U.S. President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev, seeking free emigration for Soviet Jews.
• The short-lived disaster, known as “New Coke,” was launched.

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah or Chanukah, the Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives wishes you the happiest of seasons. To learn more about our collections, please visit our digital database.

Image: Jewish Community Center Photograph Collection, FEDJCC.79.2, Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.

And the year is . . . 1937!

Paul Zuckerman first went into the peanut butter business after working as a buyer for a wholesale grocery firm. He noticed that the peanut butter being purchased was not good quality and thought he could do better. He sure was right! Detroit’s own Velvet Peanut Butter would go on to be a huge success.

If you want to learn more about Velvet Peanut Butter, check out the Paul Zuckerman papers at the Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.

Here were the clues to this month’s photo:

If you love peanut butter as much as we do, then you’re going to love November – it’s National Peanut Butter Lovers Month! In its honor, we are looking back at our local favorite – Velvet Peanut Butter. This month, instead of guessing the month the photograph was taken, you are tasked with guessing the year that Velvet Peanut Butter founder, Paul Zuckerman, got into the peanut butter business.

• Zuckerman turned 25 years old that year and married his wife, Helen.
• Amelia Earhart went missing while attempting to circumnavigate the globe.
• The Jewish Home for the Aged opened on Petoskey near Burlingame.

Image: Jewish Community Center Photograph Collection, JCC.76, Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.

And the year is . . . 1968!

This photo shows Sharon and volunteer Janet Indenbaum assisting a club member, and it is part of the JCC photograph collection. Overall, the Simons holds more than 25,000 photographs documenting our community organizations and Jewish Detroiters. And that is just one piece of its holdings. As part of the Joan Meyers Jampel Center for Michigan Jewish Heritage, the Simons has partnered with the Franklin Archives at Temple Beth El to collect, preserve, and provide access to the most comprehensive collection of Detroit Jewish history under one roof. See what you can discover on our digital database!

October is American Archives Month, and we are celebrating at the Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives (Simons). In honor of all things archives, each clue in this month’s Guess the Year will have an archival connection. See how well you know the Archives (and Jewish Detroit!) history!

Here were the clues to this month’s photo:

• The lovely lady on the far left is Sharon Alterman. When this photo was taken, she worked at the Jewish Community Center on Curtis and Meyers. Twenty-three years later, she was the founding director of the Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.
  
• At the time, Sharon was staffing the JCC’s Thursday Night Social Club for people with developmental disabilities, a catalyst to the formation of JARC, one year after this photo was taken. And by the way, the Simons holds the JARC Archives.
  
• The Simons also holds the records of the Jewish Community Center. This photo is just a hop, skip, and seven years to the dedication of the JCC in West Bloomfield.

Image: Jewish Community Center Photograph Collection, JCC.76, Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.

September is National Sewing Month. While the art of sewing dates back to 25,000 B.C.E(!), it was well into the 19th century when sewing societies gained popularity. Here in Detroit, the Self-Help Circle was a Jewish aid organization that put sewing at its center. 

Founded by Sarah Krolik in 1889, the school taught young Jewish girls, mainly immigrants, how to sew. This education gave the young women more prospects for employment and reduced the need for charity. Many of the teachers (community volunteers) made books of instructions and samplers, including Hattie Franklin, wife of Rabbi Leo Franklin of Temple Beth El. The book in the above photograph belonged to her. Can you guess the year the book was created? Here are some clues to help:

• Self-Help Circle was one of the four original agencies of the United Jewish Charities (aka Federation),  and Sarah Krolik served on the board of directors of UJC until her death in 1921.
• Hattie Franklin had only been in Detroit for one year when she made this book.
• A needle and thread would be used a year later in an attempt to save the life of ill-fated president William Mckinley. 
• Bonus clue: Sarah Krolik’s daughter, Ernestine, married famed architect Albert Kahn. Less a clue and more a fun fact!

Think you know the year? Make your best guess and see the answer at the bottom of the page!

Thanks to Hattie Franklin signing and dating her book, we can place it in history. While the Self-Help Circle started as a method to teach sewing, it quickly expanded its scope. In Fred Butzel’s eulogy of Sarah Krolik, he said this: “The Self Help Circle was established long before domestic science training was considered an element in our public schools’ curriculum. Mrs. Krolik not only recognized the need for this type of work, but she labored unceasingly to invent and perfect a system of teaching and sewing so that the work could be taught thoroughly in proper stages, could be graded and judged and would come to be regarded not as a kind of drudgery but as an artistic expression.”

Love Jewish Detroit history and want to explore more? Visit our digital database!

And the answer is… 1900!

Image: Jewish Federation of Detroit Collection, FIC.2, Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.

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It’s back to school in a matter of days, but we’re going to stay in denial a little longer! Instead of a classroom, this month we’ll be focusing on another type of class: puppetry! Specifically, the puppetry class at the Jewish Community Center. Can you guess the year?

• They are in the JCC at Woodward and Holbrook.
• The Committee of 21, comprised of Jewish community members, was started this year, leading to the formation of the Jewish Community Council and the building of the Jewish Home for the Aged.
• The Social Security Act was signed into law by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.

Think you know the year? Make your best guess and see the answer at the bottom of the page!

This was a decade of ups and downs. While there were struggles for many people, the Detroit Jewish community rose to meet the needs, and added services and organizations that could provide assistance and lessen the burden.  

Like this photograph? We have lots more you can explore! Visit our digital database!

And the answer is… 1935!

Image: Jewish Community Center Photograph Collection, FEDJCC.7.3, Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.

It’s one hot summer! But we’re going to lean into the heat and feature Camp Tamarack in this month’s Guess the Year photo. Here are some clues: 

• Referring to this photo as “Camp Tamarack” is a bit of a misnomer. The property in Ortonville which inspired the Tamarack name wouldn’t be purchased until the next decade.
• That means, at the time of this photo, it was still Fresh Air Camp. But that water tower in the background should give you a clue as to where this photo occurred! And the car should help to place this in time, as well.
• These young people are enjoying some carefree summer days, but in just a few short months from this photo, the US will be entering a war.

Think you know the year? Make your best guess and see the answer at the bottom of the page!

This beautiful photo is from the Marjorie Mitshkun Acker Photograph Collection. Margie, seen in the photo with her friend Sherman, was born in 1919 in Detroit. She worked as a camp counselor for the Fresh Air Society at their camp in Brighton. There she met fellow counselor, Chuck Acker. They married in 1942 and had three daughters. Margie went  on to graduate from Wayne State University and worked as a health education teacher for Detroit Public Schools. Margie passed away in 1966.

The Marjorie Mitshkun Acker Photograph Collection includes photographs taken at Camp Brighton between 1936-1941. In addition, we have lots of content on our digital database for you to explore! 

And the year is…1941!

Image: Jewish Federation of Detroit Photograph Collection, Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives, Image# JF.762.