During the week of April 27th through May 4th 1918, twenty thousand Grand Rapids women, half the city’s female population, registered for the war effort. One thousand registrars were trained to conduct a twenty-to-thirty-minute interview with each woman. Her information was recorded on a 5 X 8 card, designed and printed in Washington DC and […]
Hear Lisa McCubbin discuss her new book, Betty Ford: First Lady, Women's Advocate, Survivor and Trailblazer. It is based on intimate in-depth interviews with family friends and colleagues. McCubbin reveals a fiercely independent woman who had a lively sense of humor, unwavering faith, and an indomitable spirit - the true story behind of the most […]
Attention, educators! In celebration of the centennial birthday of Mrs. Betty Ford, the Gerald R. Ford Foundation is presenting a free, day-long professional development workshop for educators focused on women's leadership. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of both the character and causes of Mrs. Ford as well as her contributions to women’s rights. Following […]
Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council President Melissa Fox will illustrate how in 1917 area women joined the largest wartime mobilization of their young country. Long-time ideas about food, children, and factory life suddenly took off when women were granted a federal mandate by the establishment of Woman’s Committees by the Council of National Defense. […]
Join us for a riveting account of the stories of early local pastors’ wives! When Janet Sjaarda Sheeres was editing a 700-page tome on early synod minutes of the Christian Reformed Church (1857-1880), she realized that she had waded into an all-male world, where women’s concerns were seldom considered and their stories never recorded. Sheeres immediately […]
Calvin College History Colloquium! Upon U.S. entry into WWI, national women's groups transformed their organizational structures for war work. Grand Rapids women were among midwestern leaders whose pioneering efforts have been too long neglected. Get ahead of history--credit them!
The nail-biting climax of one of the greatest political battles in American history; the fight to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote. Following a handful of remarkable women who led their respective forces into battle, along with appearances by Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Frederick Douglass, and Eleanor […]
Discover how to use archival collections to go beyond basic facts and dates and learn more about who your ancestors were. Julie Tabberer will illustrate how to think creatively and find primary sources that may contain unexpected information. Archives hold unique and rich material that can be particularly helpful for researching women and people of […]
A day-long event made up of six programs exploring various aspects of Grand Rapids history. Presented by area historians and members of historical and cultural organizations, topics are varied and reflect the unique heritage of West Michigan. Topics include: Lawrence C. Earle is Grand Rapids’ First Artist African American Women in Turn-of-the-Twentieth Century Grand Rapids […]
Known for its thriving medical institutions, it may surprise many that the very existence of a medical field in Grand Rapids is the result of the efforts of three different groups of charitable nineteenth-century women. Founders and leaders of medical charities in this city’s early history, these women were gradually pushed from the center of […]
