Krishna Temple Marks Thirty Years in Detroit

August 20, 2006

Source: Gannett News Service

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060820/LIFE/608200313/1006/L

On August 20, 2006 Gannett News Service reported, "Thirty years ago, two scions of a labor leader and an automotive pioneer gave the seed money to turn a dilapidated Detroit mansion into one of the nation's top Hindu temples. At one point, Elisabeth Reuther, daughter of labor leader Walter Reuther; Alfred Ford, Henry Ford's great-grandson; and Bruce Dickmeyer, who later would become Reuther's husband, were accused of promoting a cult. 'In the early days, we would be outside chanting "Hare Krishna," and sometimes people actually would spit on us,' said Dickmeyer, who just retired as administrator of a Hindu temple and cultural center in Troy, Mich. 'There were very few vegetarians back then, very few people who practiced yoga and very few who thought about the idea of reincarnation,' he says. 'Now, these are all mainstream ideas shared by a lot of Americans, so I think the truth is that we've all come a long way in this country.' Now almost three dozen U.S. cities have Krishna temples, and Krishnas have set up centers in several other rural areas."