Twenty years after their Grandfather Del Havens died, sisters Lynne Doele and Dr. Deb Havens discovered a secret that stunned their entire family: a box of pictures and post cards from their grandfather’s post-World War I service in Europe. Among them were sad messages from a mysterious woman named Dora Gallner, claiming to be his […]
Once again we will present at the MHA Conference. Admission is free, open to the public, and includes a complimentary lunch on both days - click here to RSVP. Our programs this year conclude a three-year GGRWHC project illustrating women's initiatives to register women for work during WWI and to create a home defense. Most […]
Back by popular demand, the GGRWHC will take to the streets to honor parading suffragists from a hundred years ago. Meet us at the corner of Calvin and Alexander at 8am & join the fun with bands, bicyclists, candy, and placards! To quote a past participant: this event is “oddly exhilarating”!
United States suffragists persisted for over 70 years and four generations organizing referenda, circulating countless petitions, and giving speeches, even though they were frequently harassed and ridiculed just because they wanted the right to vote. Finally on August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment guaranteeing universal suffrage became the law of the land. In order to […]
Melanie Daniel (Canadian, b.1972)Sharing (detail) 2018Oil on Canvas Learn more about these women artists during a docent led tour at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM). Join the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council for an evening of art at GRAM. One of GRAM’s docents will guide us through the gallery featuring Maya Lin: Flow […]
The Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council will join a collaborative event featuring representatives from academics, the community, and the German Embassy. A panel discussion will highlight milestones in women’s history before and after suffrage was achieved in Germany and the United States. There will also be a poster exhibition on the German suffrage movement. […]
Join the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council and architectural researcher Pamela VanderPloeg (grandrapidsbuildings.com) on Saturday, October 5 for a presentation and walking tour on Grand Rapids female architects and their influence on homes and neighborhoods, both locally and nationally, from 1920-1970. We will meet at 1pm in the beautiful Gothic-designed Klise Memorial Chapel at […]
Fleshing out the history of women founders of early Grand Rapids medical institutions, GGRWHC's Julia Bouwkamp will reveal a pattern where they were pushed from the centers of organizations they had created to the more feminine realm of nursing. Despite their marginalization, these nineteenth-century women exploited limiting ideas about gender to continue the expansion and […]
This program will be presented by Ruth Stevens at the Dowagiac Area History Museum