Changes

==The Michigan connection==

==The Michigan connection==

A [[Michigan]] native, Colten was the second of four children born to Arthur Lewis Colten (originally Cohen)  (1893-1938) and the former Judith Ginsberg (1894-1934), a wealthy couple engaged in textile manufacturing, first in [[Detroit]] and then in Grand Haven in Ottawa County on Lake Michigan, where the Coltens built a palatial mansion in nearby Spring Lake. Tom's father became  involved in a labor dispute and was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to reinstate employees of their Kiddie Kover Manufacturing Company who had been fired in 1937 for unionization activities. Arthur Colten became so despondent over the directive that at the age of forty-five he took his own life with a .32 caliber pistol on a Sunday afternoon in their  Spring Lake home. Only fifteen at the time, Tom Colten rushed to the scene of the tragedy; his father died two hours later in a nearby hospital. Tom was only fifteen at the time. Colten feared that unionization would bankrupt his children's clothing business.<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Arthur Thomas Colten, Minden's "Best Damn Yankee" Republican Mayor: Biography and Analysis, ''North Louisiana History,'' Vol. 50 (Spring 2019), pp. 39-40; hereinafter cited as NLH.</ref>

A [[Michigan]] native, Colten was the second of four children born to Arthur Lewis Colten (originally Cohen)  (1893-1938) and the former Judith Ginsberg (1894-1934), a wealthy couple engaged in textile manufacturing, first in [[Detroit]] and then in Grand Haven in Ottawa County on Lake Michigan, where the Coltens built a palatial mansion in nearby Spring Lake. Tom's father became  involved in a labor dispute and was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to reinstate employees of their Kiddie Kover Manufacturing Company who had been fired in 1937 for unionization activities. Arthur Colten became so despondent over the directive that at the age of forty-five he took his own life with a .32 caliber pistol on a Sunday afternoon in their  Spring Lake home. Only fifteen at the time, Tom Colten rushed to the scene of the tragedy; his father died two hours later in a nearby hospital. Tom was only fifteen at the time. Colten feared that unionization would bankrupt his children's clothing business.<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Arthur Thomas Colten, Minden's "Best Damn Yankee" Republican Mayor: Biography and Analysis," ''North Louisiana History,'' Vol. 50 (Spring 2019), pp. 39-40; hereinafter cited as NLH.</ref>

Tom's mother, Judith, was the daughter of Bernard Ginsburg; the family later changed the spelling to "Ginsberg." A [[Poland|Polish]]-[[United States|American]], Bernard was engaged in the iron, steel, and heavy metals business in Detroit. Judith graduated Phi Beta Kappa at twenty-one from the [[University of Michigan]] at Ann Arbor.  Judith died when Tom was only eleven years of age. After Judith's death, Arthur Colten soon married Ethel C. Mills (1894-1954), the former wife of the [[Chicago]] industrialist Ellsworth Luther Mills, Sr. (died 1959), and the mother of Tom Colten's two stepsisters. Ethel remarried after Arthur Colten's death; her third husband was a [[New York City]] sports promoter, Arthur "Artie" McGovern (c. 1888-1942).<ref>NLH, pp. 39-43.</ref>

Tom's mother, Judith, was the daughter of Bernard Ginsburg; the family later changed the spelling to "Ginsberg." A [[Poland|Polish]]-[[United States|American]], Bernard was engaged in the iron, steel, and heavy metals business in Detroit. Judith graduated Phi Beta Kappa at twenty-one from the [[University of Michigan]] at Ann Arbor.  Judith died when Tom was only eleven years of age. After Judith's death, Arthur Colten soon married Ethel C. Mills (1894-1954), the former wife of the [[Chicago]] industrialist Ellsworth Luther Mills, Sr. (died 1959), and the mother of Tom Colten's two stepsisters. Ethel remarried after Arthur Colten's death; her third husband was a [[New York City]] sports promoter, Arthur "Artie" McGovern (c. 1888-1942).<ref>NLH, pp. 39-43.</ref>

Colten's family on both sides were active in the [[Jewish]] faith. The funeral of Tom's mother, Judith, was held at Temple Beth-El, a Reform Judaism congregation. His father was a trustee and usher at Beth-El. His maternal aunt, Golda Ginsberg Mayer Krolik (1892-1985),  Judith's sister, was appointed to the Detroit Mayor's Commission on Race Relations. She was society editor of ''The Jewish Chronicle'' and the first woman editor of the University of Michigan student newspaper. She worked in the United Jewish Charities Campaign to bring to the USA twenty-two of her relatives in [[Europe]] who faced the threat of [[Nazi]]sm.<ref>NLH, p. 48-49.</ref> His maternal grandmother, Ida Esther Goldman Ginsburg (1865-1901), the mother of Judith and Golda, was the founding president of the Jewish Women's Club of Temple Beth El, later named the National Council of Jewish Women. Grandfather Bernard Ginsburg  was affiliated with the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith and was the president of United Jewish Charities of Detroit and vice president of the National Conference of Jewish Charities. Paternal grandfather Israel Cohen (1865-1948), who did not change his name to "Colten," was a trustee of Congregation Beth-El.<ref>NLH, p. 44-45.</ref>

Colten's family on both sides were active in the [[Jewish]] faith. The funeral of Tom's mother, Judith, was held at Temple Beth-El, a Reform Judaism congregation. His father was a trustee and usher at Beth-El. His maternal aunt, Golda Ginsberg Mayer Krolik (1892-1985),  Judith's sister, was appointed to the Detroit Mayor's Commission on Race Relations. She was society editor of ''The Jewish Chronicle'' and the first woman editor of the University of Michigan student newspaper. She worked in the United Jewish Charities Campaign to bring to the USA twenty-two of her relatives in [[Europe]] who faced the threat of [[Nazi]]sm.<ref>NLH, p. 48-49.</ref> His maternal grandmother, Ida Esther Goldman Ginsburg (1865-1901), the mother of Judith and Golda, was the founding president of the Jewish Women's Club of Temple Beth El, later named the National Council of Jewish Women. Grandfather Bernard Ginsburg  was affiliated with the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith and was the president of United Jewish Charities of Detroit and vice president of the National Conference of Jewish Charities. Paternal grandfather Israel Cohen (1865-1948), who did not change his name to "Colten," was a trustee of Congregation Beth-El.<ref>NLH, p. 44-45.</ref>

The oldest of the Colten children,  Mary Colten Glodt (1920–2005), later the wife of a [[physician]] in Pittsfield, [[Massachusetts]], took care of her three younger brothers, Arthur Thomas Colten, Jerrold Lewis Colten (1925-1998), and Richard Lee Colten (born 1931), who was only seven years of age when his father died. The household was moved from Grand Haven to 1414 Longfellow Avenue, a two-story residence in Detroit.  There Tom graduated from Detroit High School and soon served in the [[United States Army]]. He was not assigned outside the USA during his military service from 1942 to 1946. After the war, he received his bachelor's degree from DePauw University in Greencastle, [[Indiana]], and was a lifelong promoter of his ''alma mater.''​<ref>NLH, p. 46-49.</ref>

The oldest of the Colten children,  Mary Colten Glodt (1920–2005), later the wife of a [[physician]] in Pittsfield, [[Massachusetts]], took care of her three younger brothers, Arthur Thomas Colten, Jerrold Lewis Colten (1925-1998), and Richard Lee Colten (born 1931), who was only seven years of age when his father died. The household was moved from Grand Haven to 1414 Longfellow Avenue, a two-story residence in Detroit.  There Tom graduated from Detroit High School and soon served in the [[United States Army]]. He was not assigned outside the USA during his military service from 1942 to 1946. After the war, he received his bachelor's degree from DePauw University in Greencastle, [[Indiana]], and was a lifelong promoter of his ''alma mater.''​<ref>NLH, p. 46-49.</ref>

==From Indiana to Louisiana==

==From Indiana to Louisiana==