Public Museum: Grand Rapids, Michigan

The Public Museum is a collections-based educational organization that explores and celebrates the world and our place in it. The Museum does this by collecting, preserving, interpreting, exhibiting and providing access to authentic objects of significance to the community. These “real things” bring history and science alive in ways that would be impossible with printed pages or electronic screens alone. The Museum’s collections are interdisciplinary, encompassing specimens, artifacts and preserved historic structures and sites. They include, but are not limited to Anthropology, Decorative and Fine Arts, History, Material Culture, Natural and Physical Science.

On-line Catalog

For online access to a database of the Museum’s collections, Click here http://www.communityarchive.org and select “SEARCH” on bottom menu bar.

Historic Sites and Properties

In addition to nearly 1 million artifacts in 350,000 record groups, the Museum has two historic buildings in its collection. The (1895) Voigt House Victorian Museum carriage house and grounds is situated in Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill Historic District, just east of downtown, and is a time capsule of the late Victorian period with intact original family furnishings. The Voigt House is open to the public on a limited schedule.

The Calkins Law Office (1835) is the oldest extant frame building in the Grand River Valley. It is located at the corner of Washington and State Streets in southeast Grand Rapids. The building is not currently open to the public.

The 55 acre Norton Mound National Historic Landmark is one of only a few surviving Hopewellian burial mound groups that were once present in the lower Grand River Valley and the only one of which the mounds themselves are still in existence. Originally consisting of 17 burial mounds, it is located on a flood plain of the Grand River a short distance south of the city limits of Grand Rapids. The historical significance of this site was recognized in 1957 when it was listed on the Michigan Register of Historic Sites, and then again in 1965 when it was designated as a National Historic Landmark, and then listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Museum is currently working with its Norton Mounds Advisory Council to develop specific policies and procedures that will ultimately guide, manage and support the Museum’s educational mission and define parameters for further study of the important Norton Mounds National Historic Landmark Site and its Cultural Resources. Until this important planning and administrative work is completed, all scientific studies throughout the entire Norton Mound Group and its related cultural resources collections will be restricted.

Collection Questions

The Museum staff may not be able to answer all of your general reference and research questions, but if you have questions that relate to specific artifacts, specimens or topics that are covered in our collections or exhibitions – we’ll be happy to share what we know. If we can’t provide answers, we’ll try our best to give you some idea of what resources may be able to help you.

Research

The Museum’s on-line catalog will provide you with a great deal of information about specific items in the Museum’s collection. However, the Public Museum also makes historical and scientific material in its collections available to qualified persons under circumstances that ensure preservation of the material and appropriate dissemination of the resulting information.

If you are interested in obtaining access to the Museum’s collections or collection records, you will need to make an appointment in advance to visit the Museum’s off-site facility known as the Community Archives and Research Center, which is located about three-quarters of a mile from the Museum’s downtown Van Andel Museum Center exhibition facility.

For collection questions, or to schedule an appointment to obtain access to the research center, please call the Museum’s collection management office at (616) 456-3973 or email your request to the Museum’s curator of collections and preservation.

When you contact us, you’ll be sent research guidelines, a research & access agreement form, directions, and a fee schedule that outlines potential costs that may be associated with photocopying, photographic duplication, publication, etc.

Donations to the Collection

Have something that you would like to give to the Museum? Our curatorial staff will be happy to talk with you about it. Please do not bring any items in to the Museum before speaking with one of the curators. You can do that in one of three ways:

1. Send a letter addressed to “Curator”, Public Museum, 272 Pearl St NW, Grand Rapids MI 49504. Describe what you have, include pertinent information such as the manufacturer, material, date (if known), approximate measurements, and a photo or picture of the article if you have one.
2. Call one of our curators at (616) 456-3538, who will be happy to help you.
3. Or Email us. Send your message to our curator of history.

Caring for your artifacts

The museum community collaborates with our peers to provide expert resources. For excellent information on caring for a variety of artifacts, we recommend that you consult the Henry Ford Museum.