Programs


Programs

Engage with us and learn about Michigan's rich Jewish history! We offer meaningful and informative programming--from lectures with renowned scholars and amazing bus and bike tours through historic neighborhoods, to our award-winning publications. We have something for everyone! Take a look at some of our signature programming below.

Heirloom Roadshows

Let's unearth the community's hidden treasures together! Our roving band of history experts is in search of your family objects and their stories. Join us as we survey the state, learn about the past through material culture, and talk about tips and tricks for object care.

Some of our finds may even wind up in our April 2024 exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum! Check out our events calendar below to find our next roadshow, and bring your heirlooms or come just to watch the fun.

Check the Calendar

DIA: Jewish Connections Private Tours

Looking to experience our popular DIA: Jewish Connections tours with your school, work, family, or friend group?  Book a private tour! 

Overseen by tour directors Barbara Cohn and Sue Kalisky, our seasoned docents will introduce you to Hebrew writing on artworks, Nazi-looted art rescued by the Monuments Men, Jewish figures in the “Detroit Industry” murals, and more.

This is a tour you will remember.

Click to Connect!

Customized Private History Tours

All aboard for a great group activity!  JHSM’s award-winning bus, car, and bike tours of historic Jewish Detroit are just the ticket.  Tailored to your group's interests and timetable, our tours offer visits to former synagogues and explorations of historic sites of interest. 

Private tours are a meaningful and popular way for families, school groups, organizations, sisterhoods, reunion committees, and more to gain a deeper connection to Detroit’s Jewish roots.  Click below to contact us about booking a customized private tour!

Contact Us

Speakers' Bureau

Let our docents come to you (in person or on Zoom).  Choose from:

  • NEW: Jewish Detroit: Part 1: Experience the early days of Detroit’s Jewish community, from 1761 to its population surge in the 1880s.
  • NEW: Detroit's Kosher Meat Riot of 1910: To feed their families amid rapid inflation, fed-up Orthodox women took on the Gilded-Age robber barons' "Beef Trust."
  • NEW: Homefront & Homeland: Detroit and the Holocaust: What did the Michigan Jewish community know about the Shoah and when, and how did it respond?
  • Reams of Hate: The Legacy of Henry Ford's Antisemitic Newspaper: The Dearborn Independent turned 100 in 2019.  Its hate speech endures.
  • Northwest Detroit: Immerse yourself in Detroit’s postwar Jewish neighborhoods and learn about the transformative changes undergirding the community’s relocation.
  • Synagogues of Michigan: Michigan’s Jewish history is long and wide.  Learn about vibrant and storied communities and religious architecture from across the state.
  • Michigan Women Who Made a Difference: Looking for herstory?   Learn about the women who helped shape Jewish Michigan.
  • Stories from the Stones: We’re on the trail of Michigan’s Jewish cemeteries and their interments, from the first Jewish burial ground (Ann Arbor) to present-day sites.
  • The DIA/Detroit Public Library through a Jewish Lens: Jewish connections abound in these Detroit landmarks--from collections to the buildings.  Choose either or both sites!

Book a Speaker

Insiders' Tours

Think you’ve seen it all?  You’ll love our behind-the-scenes insider experiences.  Go “back of house” to view rarely-seen Jewish collections.  Poke around little-visited Jewish landmarks.  Pick public historians' brains on history-in-the-news issues.

We have your backstage pass to Michigan Jewish history’s most exclusive tickets. Check our calendar for upcoming offerings.

See What's on Tap

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Funding for jhsmichigan.org has been provided by the WILLIAM DAVIDSON FOUNDATION.