Women’s Philanthropy, NEXTGen Detroit…you know them, you love them, but which came first? Test your knowledge with these three clues and find out if you’re the ultimate Federation history buff (or if you really need to schedule a visit to the archives)!
- Women’s Division, Junior Division, Women’s Department, Young Adult Division—the names might change but it’s still the same groups we call (in text-speak) WP and NG.
- They both formed in proximity to a World War.
- Dorah Ehrlich, the first WP president, was born in 1881. Maurice A. Glasier, first chair of NG was born in 1911.
And the answer is…
NEXTGen Detroit! Or, Junior Section of the Detroit Service Group, as it was called back then. On November 6, 1938, 700 young men and women gathered at the Statler Hotel and officially voted to organize the group in order to participate with greater effectiveness in Jewish Communal life. Committees formed at that time included Campaign Planning, Dramatics, Publications, Radio, Club Leadership, Programming, Social Events, and Public Speaking. Junior Section was open to men and women under the age of 30. The groups activities were brought to a halt because of WWII, but resumed thereafter.
Women’s Division (aka Women’s Philanthropy) was founded in February of 1946 at the urging of United Jewish Appeal. It was born in the wake of the Holocaust, promoting the idea that every Jewish individual needed to be involved in philanthropic work, not just men. Creating this official division wasn’t a big leap—there were already a large number of women in Detroit active in Federation and the Allied Jewish Campaign. But it gave women a space to contribute their gift in their own name, rather than their husband’s, and to have a voice at the proverbial table. Discover more about the history of both NEXTGen Detroit and Women’s Philanthropy by exploring our digital database.
