Photo Gallery
14th Annual Local History Roundtable (74 Photos)
The 14th Annual Local History Roundtable took place at the Richard M. DeVos Center of the GVSU Pew Grand Rapids campus on March 22, 2023.
Thank you to our photographer, Isabel Media Studios of Grand Rapids.
13th Annual Local History Roundtable (97 Photos)
The 13th Annual Local History Roundtable was held on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 on the GVSU Allendale campus. That year's theme, Living with History, explored the direct ways that the present informs how we talk about the past, and how we can bring history out beyond the walls of our institutions.
Great Michigan Read Book Club (33 Photos)
Taking place during February and March of 2020, The Great Michigan Read Book Club was a three-session conversation around Michigan Humanities' 2020 Great Michigan Read selection. GVSU faculty, staff, students, and community members came together to discuss the Flint Water Crisis, environmental justice, and public health as featured in What The Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha.
All photos by Kristina Bird of bird + bird studios.
Kutsche Office 4th Annual Fall Luncheon (65 Photos)
On October 15, 2019, the second conversation concerning our project “Connections Along the Grand River” was held at the Mary Idema Pew Library multipurpose room. The conversation was followed by the project’s exhibition opening. This work was made possible thanks to a Third Coast Conversations grant from Michigan Humanities.
Kutsche Office 3rd Annual Fall Luncheon (74 Photos)
On October 10, 2018, the Kutsche Office of Local History held the third annual fall luncheon at the Kirkhof Center on GVSU’s Allendale campus. The luncheon featured Dr. Matthew Daley and Dr. Paul Wittenbraker.
The World's Greatest Minstrel Show under the Stars: Blackface minstrels, community identity, and the Lowell Showboat, 1932-1977 (39 Photos)
The Lowell Showboat, named Robert E. Lee, entertained thousands each summer with well-known performers including Dinah Shore, Pearl Bailey, Milton Berle, and Louis Armstrong. Alongside these entertainers, minstrels in blackface humored audiences with racial stereotyping. This September 18, 2019 talk featured Drs. Matthew Daley and Scott Stabler, along with George Bayard, executive director of the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archive, and was co-sponsored by the Lowell Area Historical Museum.
Stories of Summer Exhibit Opening at SDHC (86 Photos)
On June 12, 2019 we showcased our Stories of Summer exhibit, which
documents the histories of the twin lakeshore communities Saugatuck
and Douglas, MI in its hometown!
This project is funded by a
National Endowment for Humanities Common Heritage Grant and reflects a
partnership with the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center.
Contemporary Stories of Saugatuck (71 Photos)
The Kutsche Office of Local History along with the Saugatuck Douglas
History Center trained journalism students at Saugatuck High School in
oral history methods, and those students interviewed their peers.
The outcome of this project is a series of portrait boards for
each senior that showcases their photos throughout the year as well as
a quote from their oral histories.
10th Annual Local History Roundtable (127 Photos)
Thanks to a Third Coast Conversations grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, our 10th Annual Local History Roundtable held on Thursday, March 14, 2019 featured over 20 individuals and organizations as part of our project, "Connections Along the Grand River," which seeks to locate the Grand River as a significant driver of West Michigan's growth and shaping communities' diversity in the region.
This was our largest roundtable yet with close to 100 individuals and more than 20 attending for the very first time.
L'dor v'dor: Oral Histories of the B'nai Israel Congregation (56 Photos)
On Wednesday, April 3, 2019, Dr. Marilyn Preston discussed her Community Collaboration Grant project, “L’dor v’dor: Oral Histories of the B’nai Israel Congregation” which documents the histories of congregants at the B’nai Israel Synagogue in Muskegon, Michigan. B’nai Israel has been in operation for nearly 130 years, and the congregation has been shrinking in the last three decades. As the membership ages, the temple itself is at risk of closing completely in a few years.
