Links to the Local: Building a National Women’s Elective History

GVSU, Allendale Campus, Kirkhof Center, RM2270

The historical charting of Grand Rapids women's runs for public office upends conventional wisdom and offers surprises about dates, the numbers of races, and the identities of women who participated in local politics beginning in 1887. Julia Bouwkamp and Jo Ellyn Clarey will report on how the national crowdsourcing project Her Hat Was in the […]

Atmosphere of Distinction

Holland Museum 31 W. 10th Street, Holland, MI, United States

Open to the public on March 2!  During the twentieth century, women throughout the country took great strides toward equality and began abandoning their traditional roles, as well as restrictive fashions, in search of greater opportunity and comfortable clothing.  “Atmosphere of Distinction” displays how the emergence of the women’s rights movement impacted West Michigan fashion trends […]

Author Lecture with Rebecca Traister

GVSU, Allendale Campus, Kirkhof Center, Grand River Room

Community Reading Projects Author Lecture with Rebecca Traister, author of All the Single Ladies! Door open at 6:00pm, book signing will follow the lecture.  Free and Open to the Public!

The GGRWHC Annual Reception

John F. Donnelly Conference Center at Aquinas College

The annual reception immediately follows author Rebecca Traister's visit to Grand Rapids on March 13 discussing her book All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation. The GGRWHC will add to the conversation by complicating the relationship between singledom and progress for women. To Traister's examples we will add vivid anecdotes […]

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Rediscovering Emma Cole’s 19th-Century Grand Rapids Flora

Bunker Interpretive Center at Calvin College

 In 1901 Emma J. Cole published Grand Rapids Flora, a catalogue of plants growing without cultivation in the vicinity of Kent County. Enormous changes have taken place since those “horse and buggy” days, yet her book remains the most complete account of plants specific to our area. Who was this remarkable high school teacher, world traveller and Kent Scientific Institute botanist? […]

Who in the World is Merze Tate?

Grand Rapids Public Library 111 Library NE, Grand Rapids, MI, United States

Author Sonya Bernard Hollins will update us on her research into the amazing life and mysteries of Merze Tate. An African American girl born in 1905 in rural Michigan, Tate graduated first in her class from Western Michigan University in 1927, earned a doctorate from Oxford University, worked for the State Department, and traveled around the […]

Votes for Women: Untangling Michigan’s Suffragist History

Join us at the Historical Society of Michigan's Local History Conference in Detroit! Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council board members Jo Ellyn Clarey and Ruth Stevens will lay out Michigan's history of local legislation initiatives and court decisions revealing the crucial role played by local school board elections as both a testing ground for […]

In Step with Betty Ford: In Celebration of Her Centennial

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum

Grand Rapids' Central High graduate, student of dance, New York model, proud mother, and Congressman's wife. First Lady Betty Ford spoke openly about personal and political issues near and dear to her heart; her courage endeared her to the American people as she found herself in step with the times. The exhibit run from April 10, […]

Treasures Of Your Library – A White Glove Event

Grand Rapids Public Library 111 Library NE, Grand Rapids, MI, United States

The Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation will celebrate women–past, present and future–who make Grand Rapids great. Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at treasures from GRPL’s archival collection, a silent auction, appetizers, and craft cider, beer and wine. Tickets are $75 per person and are available at grplfoundation.org or by calling 616-988-5399.

National Genealogical Society 2018 Family History Conference

Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

GGRWHC at NGS Society Night! The national gathering of over 2000 family historians and genealogists will open its conference in Grand Rapids with "Society Night," where the GGRWHC will join other groups showcasing their organizations on the Center Concourse of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. This event is open to the public, as will be the […]