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MAY 25, 2023 Vol. 20, No. 11
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Southfield Historical Society is ‘delightfully out of control’ BY KATHRYN PENTIUK kpentiuk@candgnews.com
SOUTHFIELD — It’s hard to imagine Southfield without its iconic cityscape adorned with skyscrapers that draw thousands in and out of the city daily. However, what many who are beckoned to the “center of it all” might not realize on their daily commutes is that beneath the surface lies a rich history of Indigenous people, ties to the Underground Railroad, a hub for mid-century modern design and prominent figures such as the eccentric Mary Thompson, who sold a large plot of her family’s land to the city, which was used to build the Southfield Municipal Campus, and in her will left the remainder of her es-
tate to the city of Southfield or the well-accessorized Jean McDonnell, Southfield’s first councilwoman, who always said, a woman wasn’t dressed properly unless she was wearing a hat. Since 1965, the Southfield Historical Society has been devoted to “preserving the past in order to guard the future” through initiatives such as the 2021 State History Award winner from the Historical Society of Michigan: a permanent exhibit, the “Potawatomi of Southfield,” which is on display at the Town Hall Museum. The “Potawatomi of Southfield” pays tribute to the Native people who lived on reservations that would later become part of Southfield Township. The city of Southfield was also one of the
LEFT: Mary Thompson is pictured at the City Hall groundbreaking in 1963.
Rabbi and Torah Scribe Levi Kagan, from Oak Park, assists Pennie GoldinMichelin, of Rochester Hills, a member of the Chabad Jewish Community Center in Troy, in adding a letter into the community center’s new Torah scroll at a celebration May 21.
Photo provided by Darla Van Hoey
Jewish community center celebrates dedication of Torah scroll The members of the Chabad Jewish Community Center in Troy gathered in celebration May 21 to
dedicate the completion of their new Torah scroll. Torah scrolls are handwritten on parchment by specially trained scribes and are thus generally both very rare and very revered among the Jewish
community. The center in Troy hasn’t had its own scroll since its opening three years ago. According to Rabbi Menachem Caytak, the director of the communi-
Photo by Brendan Losinski
See TORAH on page 15A
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BY BRENDAN LOSINSKI blosinski@candgnews.com
See HISTORICAL on page 9A