Founded in 1959, Jewish Historical Society of Michigan is committed to preserving and sharing Michigan's remarkable Jewish history, to inspire history enthusiasts of all ages. Our customizable, award-winning bus tours bring the past to tantalizing life. Our Jewish History Curriculum engages tweens and teens in the study of their forebears, drawing out both the uniqueness of the past and its important continuities with the present. Our Speakers' Bureau presentations, given by our extraordinary league of volunteers, bring "armchair tours" of historic Jewish Detroit, Michigan's cemeteries and synagogues, and Michigan Women Who Made a Difference to groups throughout the state. Our publications, including Michigan Jewish History and the MJH Bulletin, document our history for this generation and those to come. Our innovative programming and exciting collaborations, like "The Henry Ford... THROUGH A JEWISH LENS," bring the past and present into fascinating dialogue. In all that we do, we affirm that Michigan's Jewish history is for everyone.
About our Executive Director
Catherine Cangany, PhD is a scholar of colonial and early federal Michigan. Prior to joining JHSM, she was a tenured associate professor of history at the University of Notre Dame. She has received fellowships through the American Council of Learned Societies, the John Carter Brown Library, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Center for French Colonial Studies, the Institut Français d’Amérique, and the Library Company of Philadelphia. She received her doctorate in colonial North American / Atlantic world history from the University of Michigan. She holds BA's in English, history, and classical civilization from Indiana University. She is the author of Frontier Seaport: Detroit's Transformation into an Atlantic Entrepôt (University of Chicago Press, 2014).
* of Blessed Memory
248.915.0114
Monday - Friday
10am - 3pm
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan
33228 West 12 Mile Rd., #349
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
We invite you to join JHSM on our journey as we grow and continue to explore new avenues and pathways. We need volunteers who like to work with people and who want to join our tour program as docents or navigators. We need volunteers who are skilled writers and editors who want to work with us on our fantastic journal, Michigan Jewish History.
Become a JHSM VolunteerThis award honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions to Jewish Historical Society’s mission and to the larger Michigan community. This award honors Mr. Simons’ desire to ensure that the Jewish community of Detroit would retain a sense of pride in knowing who they are and where they came from.
Learn MoreJewish Historical Society of Michigan's Michigan Women Who Made a Difference project seeks to revive, discover and share the names of our community foremothers. Your gift to the MWWMD Fund will help us further our research and documentation.
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