The Leon and Josephine Winkelman Memorial Lecture History

The Leon and Josephine Winkelman Memorial Lecture was created in 1978 at the University of Michigan School of Social Work with an endowed gift from Stanley J. Winkelman and his brothers as a memorial and tribute to their parents. Stanley’s father, Leon Winkelman co-founded Winkelman’s Stores in Detroit in 1928 with his brother Isadore. Stanley’s mother, Josephine Winkelman was a 1919 graduate from the University of Michigan’s Social Work program, she worked at Hull House, a settlement house in Chicago. The Winkelman lecture provides a forum for presenting new and emerging knowledge from the social sciences and helping professions in the field of gerontology, and for discussing the application of this knowledge to developing social policy, the organization and management of social welfare services, and the delivery of social work services. Stanley J. Winkelman was a leader in civic affairs in Detroit. After the 1967 riots sent other retailers to the suburbs, he kept his family’s department stores in the city hoping that their presence could contribute to and sustain an environment suitable for doing business. Mr. Winkelman was deeply involved in social justice issues throughout the city. In 1963, as part of the Detroit commission on community relations, he called upon the Detroit Board of Education to hire more black teachers to further desegregate Detroit’s teaching force. Stanley passed away in 1999, but his legacy lives on in the Detroit community and at the University of Michigan. We are thankful to the Winkelman family for their support of this important annual event that informs our profession and provides an opportunity to honor our alumnae Josephine Winkelman and her husband Leon.