Carol Dodge
Carol Dodge is the historian of the Sweet House and Women’s City Club.
The Mayor, the Maestro, and the Mansion reveals the story of the Sweet House and its two prominent men who contributed significantly to the city’s early development and culture but who are not recognized: Martin Sweet and Ottokar Malek.
Matthew Ellis
Matthew Ellis is an archivist for the City of Grand Rapids. He is the author of a book titled Hidden History of Grand Rapids, as well as several articles on the city’s history. His primary area of interest focuses on how decision-makers access and utilize information. Additionally, he is keen on exploring topics such as data privacy, misinformation, and open data. Matthew is an active member of the Grand Rapids Historical Society and co-hosts a local history podcast in collaboration with the Grand Rapids Office of Communications.
Hidden History of Grand Rapids covers the more than two centuries of overlooked history that flows through Grand Rapids like the river for which it is named. The first city surveyor dabbled in seances while platting out neighborhoods and streets. When a river dredging project left a mountain of stone tormenting residents, the ordeal pitted them against city leaders. Humane Society agents uncovered horrendous conditions at the city pound and successfully brought about reform and much better conditions for the animals.
Jane E. Griffioen
Jane E. Griffioen has published poetry and essays, a graduate of Calvin with majors in English and Theology, born, raised and lives in Grand Rapids.
London Street: A Memoir Jane’s endurance to preserve a loving relationship with her family is an intimate story of triumph over community bigotry and religious zeal gone too far.
Ed Paciencia
Sheila Solomon Shotwell
Sheila Solomon Shotwell is the author of three YA books that are mostly read by adults. Her essays have been published in Lilith Magazine, BUST Magazine, Zeek, Jewish Currents, Kveller, Jewish Women’s Archive and others. She is a long-ago-winner of the Dyer Ives Poetry Contest.
Gone Before Spring is a coming of age story about a teenager in 1967.The story is set in the neighborhoods surrounding Garfield Park in Grand Rapids.
No Doubt In My Mind is the sequel to Gone Before Spring and picks up two months later. In this story, the character Ruth Ann, is faced with even more family dysfunction and conflict.
The Plaid Scarf is the story of three different girls.Two live in Selma, Alabama in 1964, and the other one lives in Grand Rapids in 2018. All three girls struggle with identity and complex social situations. Their stories converge with a surprise ending.
Jeff Smith
Jeff Smith founded GRIID in 1998 and the GR People’s History Project in 2010. He has produced several documentary films, edited a community newspaper, and produced a weekly TV show on GRTV and a radio show on WYCE. Jeff has been doing community organizing and popular education work in Grand Rapids for 40 years. He has lived and worked in Latin America for several years, acting as a non-violent body guard for organizers who received death threats. He co-founded the Koinonia House, which did radical hospitality for the unhoused in the 1980s and 90s, along with being a sanctuary for Central American political refugees. A People’s History of Grand Rapids is Jeff’s third book.
A People’s History of Grand Rapids presents readers with a rich tradition of social movements in West Michigan and properly frames their struggles against the systems of power and oppression that each movement was up against. A People’s History of Grand Rapids is a book that counter the official narrative about this community, and it can inspire people by seeing that they have not been alone in the fight for justice where they live.
Pamela VanderPloeg
Pamela VanderPloeg received the Grand Rapids Historical Society 2023 Albert Baxter Award and the Grand Rapids American Institute of Architects 2021 David D. Smith Humanitarian Award. Her website is GrandRapidsArchitecture.com.
Grand Rapids Downtown Buildings is a brief history of 180 buildings in 14 short walks. “When you finish leafing through the book, I’m sure you’ll be looking to book a weekend visit to Grand Rapids…” —Bill Castanier, Lansing City Pulse “An amazing undertaking and beautifully done.”—Architect Bob Daverman AIA
Ottawa Hills looks at the owners, architects, and builders who constructed the historic Ottawa Hills neighborhood. “Great history and wonderful stories of people who lived here.” – Fred Davison
History Detectives GR 