Author Archives: Jeff Smith (GRIID)
Interview with an Anishinaabe working in the the Grand Rapids Public Schools – 1992
This interview was conducted by one of the co-editor’s of the independent newspaper in Grand Rapids during the 1990s, The Fundamentalist. The interview, published in its entirety, was part of an issue of the independent newspaper that was completely devoted … Continue reading
Artwork highlights a People’s History in Grand Rapids – Print #10 – the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement
Last semester, art students in Brett Colley’s class on printmaking, invited me to come talk about the Grand Rapids People’s History Project. The intent of the class was to have students investigate their own part of a People’s History of … Continue reading
High rent and overcrowding was a potential threat of “slum development” for blacks in a 1947 Grand Rapids Urban League study
We would like to thank the staff at the Grand Rapids Public Library in their History and Special Collections sections for assisting us in find the documents needed for this post. Three weeks ago we posted an article about a … Continue reading
Giving til it hurts others: Another look and Rich DeVos & Jay Van Andel’s benevolence – 1998
(Our post last week was in reaction to a Grand Rapids Press article from 1998 that featured some information on the philanthropy of Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel. The article is a critique of the GR Press coverage. Today’s … Continue reading
Responding to the GR Press Pro-Amway Propaganda – 1998
“Our people are seeking inspiration all the time, as most people are. Some people find it in the Rotary Club, some people find it at church and some people like to go to Amway meetings.” Rich DeVos, in, “The Power … Continue reading
State of the Black Community in Grand Rapids – 1940
n 1940, the Urban League conducted a survey of the black community in Grand Rapids . The survey revealed some interesting trends and dynamics and can be instructive for those of us who want to learn from history. The report … Continue reading
W. E. B. Du Bois spoke in Grand Rapids two times in the early part of the 20th Century
The great African American intellectual and author W. E. B. Du Bois came to Grand Rapids on two separate occasions, first in 1917 and later in 1928. On his first visit in 1917, he spoke to the Sunday Evening Club … Continue reading
Housing Segregation as Systemic Racism in Grand Rapids: The Early 20th Century
(The post today was referenced in the book, African Americans in the Furniture City: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids, by Randal Jelks, for which we are grateful.) One of the most contentious issues as it relates to … Continue reading
Booker T. Washington and White Paternalism in Grand Rapids in the early part of the 20th Century
(The post today was referenced in the book, African Americans in the Furniture City: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids, by Randal Jelks, for which we are grateful.) In our last post we looked at how Grand Rapids … Continue reading
19th Century Newspapers in Grand Rapids on the Question of Black Suffrage
(The post today was referenced in the book, African Americans in the Furniture City: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids, by Randal Jelks, for which we are grateful.) Grand Rapids used to have numerous daily newspapers, up until … Continue reading
Grand Rapids People's History Project 