2026 Programs

Uncovering Grand Rapids Public School’s History as a Community

The controversial 1968 closing of South High School was pitched as a school integration effort, but two years later the local chapter of the NAACP sued the GRPS School Board for maintaining a segregated school system. Today, the color line in the City’s education system remains. This presentation explores what has happened in the intervening decades and the state of integration in the schools today.

Give Mother the Vote: Images from the Women’s Suffrage Movement

Postcards were a popular form of communication during the women’s suffrage movement.  They were used by both pro and anti-suffrage camps and often had a humorous or satirical bent.  Some are treasured primarily for their eye-catching artwork. Others have photographic images that were used to commemorate parades and to celebrate suffrage leaders.  Learn more about the women’s suffrage movement and view a selection of noteworthy postcards. 

Tracking Down a Local Indigenous Footpath

Like so many roads in the United States, Fulton Street, Lake Drive, and Robinson Road had their beginnings as a Native American trail. To inform visitors of the importance of this footpath, the Eastown Community Association (ECA) applied for an Experience GR Discover Tourism Grant to apply for a Michigan Historical Marker. Awarded the grant in the spring of 2025, the Project Lead, Dr. Stephen Staggs, set out to track down primary source documentation to convince the Michigan Historical Commission that the footpath is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.

Vietnamese in West Michigan

In 2024, educators Matt Vriesman and Le Tran engaged in a unique oral history project, with East Kentwood High School Asian American students, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnamese American community in Grand Rapids. This project resulted in a digital exhibit, as well as performances and history panels at both the Grand Rapids Public Museum and the Gerald R. Ford Museum. Work with the artifacts of the Museum taught the students how to value their own family biography as prospective public historical knowledge. Under Matt and Le’s direction, two dozen students completed oral histories of their parents and grandparents. Le and Matt will share their experiences and the outcomes of their research.

Festival of the Arts – One Perspective

Inspired by the 1969 installation of Alexander Calder’s La Grande Vitesse, the first “Festival of the Arts” was held the following year in the space that came to be known as Calder Plaza.The annual event was a celebration of the arts in west Michigan, providing access to everyone by making performances and activities free. Thousands volunteered over the years, some for decades. This is the story of Festival, now defunct, from the perspective of a long-time member of the Festival family.