Detroit’s Jewish community will play a prominent role in the festivities climaxing Detroit’s 250th birthday festival this month. High point of the celebration will be the presentation of a spectacular pageant, “City of Freedom,” telling the story of Detroit.
The late Fred M. Butzel, Jewish philanthropist and communal leader, was selected to symbolize Detroit Jewry in the depiction of the city’s history. A Catholic and a Protestant are cast in comparable roles as Catholic and Protestant leaders. Three Detroit rabbis, Leon A. Fram, Moses Lehrman and Israel I. Halpern, will act as narrators for the pageant on three successive nights. Catholic priests and Protestant ministers will serve as narrators during the other performances.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.