| Object ID |
XXXX.701 |
| Object Name |
records |
| Abstract |
The Leo M. Franklin Collection consists of correspondence; biographical material; clippings; written and published material such as newsletters, speeches, and books; photographs and scrapbooks; and miscellaneous ephemera. The collection primarily covers Franklin's life while he was Rabbi of Temple Beth El from 1899 to his death in 1948, with focus on his speeches and sermons, his membership with various organizations, and his involvement with issues such as Zionism and anti-Semitism.
Abbreviations used in the folder listing are defined as:
corres. = correspondence
UAHC = Union of American Hebrew Congregations
LMF = Leo M. Franklin
n.d. = no date
TBE = Temple Beth El
|
| Admin/Biog History |
Leo Morris Franklin was born March 5, 1870 to Michael H. and Rachel Levy Franklin in Cambridge City, IN. He received his bachelor degree from the University of Cincinnati and was ordained as a Rabbi from Hebrew Union College in 1892. He served as Rabbi of Congregation Temple Israel, Omaha, NE from 1892 to 1899. In January 1899 Leo M. Franklin was inaugurated as the 11th Rabbi of Temple Beth El in Detroit. During his Rabbinate the congregation moved from the building on Washington Avenue to the Albert Kahn designed Temple on Woodward and Eliot (1903-1922); then to the second building Kahn designed for the congregation on Woodward and Gladstone (1922-1973). During Franklin's tenure Temple membership grew from 136 to over 1,400 families.
Dr. Franklin pioneered the unassigned seating system in the Eliot Street Temple (1902) and helped found the nation's first Interdenominational Thanksgiving Service (1902). He organized what are now the Temple's Sisterhood, Brotherhood, and Young People's Society. He
instituted a children's choir, Sunday morning services, and he revitalized the Temple Bulletin. At his urging a number of Jewish philanthropies were combined into the organization now known as the Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation. He was also a founding member of the Detroit Roundtable of Catholics, Jews, and Protestants.
Leo Franklin was president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and was director of the World Union of Progressive Judaism. He served as a trustee of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Civic Theatre. He was also on the boards of the Ford Republic, the League of Nations Association of Detroit, and the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, as well as the Detroit Public Library (DPL). He served as president of the board of the DPL in 1932, 1938, and 1944. Other board memberships included the Fine Arts Society, the Board of commerce, the Greater Detroit Motion Picture Council, the Detroit Historical Society, and the Wrangler's Club. He founded and for several yearsedited The Jewish American, Detroit's first English language Jewish newspaper. In 1914 he established the Jewish Student Congregation at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. This was the forerunner of the Hillel Foundations.
Dr. Franklin retired in 1941, but continued to serve Temple Beth El as Rabbi Emeritus until his death in 1948. Leo Franklin married Hattie Oberfelder in 1896; they had 2 daughters and one son. Leo Franklin is buried at Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit.
|
| Catalog date |
10/04/2002 |
| Collection |
Franklin, Leo M. Collection |
| Container |
17 MS & 4 OS boxes, 1 OS folder |
| Dates of Accumulation |
1867-1997 |
| Finding Aids |
A finding aid is available. |
| Level of description |
Fonds |
| People |
Franklin, Leo M./ Franklin, Hattie O./ Einstein, Mary/ Shapero, Mary/ Oberfelder, Hattie/ Franklin, Margaret/ Franklin, Leo I./ Fleishacker, Margaret/ Franklin, Ruth/ Einstein, Ruth/ Einstein, Ray/ Shapero, David/ Liebold, E.G./ Ford, Henry/ Coughlin, Father/ Franklin, Michael H./ Edgar, Irving/ Einstein, Minnie/ Einstein, Reuben/ Franklin, Bluma/ Franklin, Sophie/ Wineman, Rose Barlow/ Freud, Jerome S./ Friedman, William S./ Glazer, B. Benedict/ Johnson, Irwin C./ Kahn, Albert/ Quaife, Milo M./ Roosevelt, Franklin D./ Rosefeld, Monroe/ Blitz, Louis/ Egelson, Rabbi Louis/ Freund, Adolph/ Goldenson, Rabbi Samuel H./ Guest, Edgar A./ Kanter, Beulah B./ Kessler, Joseph/ Kessler, Eugene/ Lavine, Bernard H./ Lazaron, Morris/ Marx, Rabbi David/ Niebuhr, Reinhold/
Stone, Sylvia/ Tickton, Jason/ Wolf, Sarah/ Wolsey, Rabbi Louis/ |
| Home location |
Rabbi Leo M. Franklin Archives Stacks. |
| Related unit of descrip |
For more information on Rabbi Leo M. Franklin, see the Franklin Memorial Lectures and Awards Collection, the Franklin Exhibit Collection, and the Temple Beth El Burton Collection. |
| Search Terms |
"Our America"/"The International Jew"/"The Man and his Message"/American Committee Against Fascist Oppression in Germany/American Council for Judaism/American Jewish Committee/American Jewish Congress/American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee/American Reform Jewish Congregation/Anti-Defamation League/Anti-Semitic Library/Anti-Semitism/B'nai B'rith/Boston Edison Protective Association/Boy Scouts/Cass High School/Central Conference of American Rabbis/Citizens Housing and Planning Association/Congregation Shaarey Zedek/Congregation Temple Israel, Omaha, NE/Detroit Historical Museum/Detroit Historical Society/Detroit Patriotic Fund/Detroit Public Library/Detroit Round Table/Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Einstein Fund/Four Minute Men of Detroit/Franklin anniversary/Franklin Hills Country Club/Free Thinkers of America/Germany/Hannah Schloss Memorial Building/Hastings Street Merchants Association/Hebrew Union College/Hillel Foundation/Jewish American/Jewish Community Council/Jewish News/Jewish Welfare
Federation/Jewish Woman's Club/Leo M. Franklin Memorial Fund/Liberal Congress of Religion/Mark Twain Society/Masonic Temple/masons/Men's Club/Miller's Association/Palestine/Temple Rodeph Sholem/Union of American Hebrew Union College/United Jewish Campaign/University of Detroit/Wayne State University/Wrangler's Club/WWII/Young People's Society/Zionism/ |
| Title |
The Leo M. Franklin Collection |
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