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Recent Posts
- During the Depression, the Grand Rapids City Government provided direct relief and created a public works project for those unemployed
- Some examples of the conditions for blacks in Grand Rapids and what types of discrimination blacks faced on a daily basis in the early part of the 20th Century
- “Maybe America has forgotten how smoke smells”: The state of Black Grand Rapids from the perspective of Paul I Phillips in the mid-1970s
- African Americans from Grand Rapids who were part of the US Civil War
- 1970 document sheds light on the housing crisis in Grand Rapids and the lack of political will to solve it
Category Archives: People’s History Artwork
New Prints celebrate the Animal Rights/Animal Liberation Movement in Grand Rapids
As we have noted in previous posts, there has been an organized effort fight on behalf of animals in West Michigan since the 1980s. One of the first groups that came together was West Michigan For Animals. This group was … Continue reading
New Print Celebrates the Central American Sanctuary Movement in Grand Rapids during the 1980s
A new print from GVSU student Michaela West celebrates the fact that Grand Rapids had a formal sanctuary for Central Americans who were fleeing US-backed death squad violence in the 1980s. The Grand Rapids People’s History Project has several postings … Continue reading
New Print Celebrates First Pride in Grand Rapids – 1988
The annual Pride Celebration is coming up in Grand Rapids, so what better way to celebrate Pride then to post a new print we received. The following print is from L Schippers, a GVSU student, celebrates the first Pride celebration in … Continue reading
New print celebrates the life of Anarchist Voltairine De Cleyre
This new print, created by GVSU student Katie Los, celebrates the life of American anarchist Voltairine De Cleyre. Emma Goldman once referred to Voltairine De Cleyre as, “The most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced.” In the early … Continue reading
New Print Celebrates the legacy of the Womyn’s Action Network in Grand Rapids
A new print from GVSU student Rachael Spring, brings to life the legacy of the 1990s feminist group, the Womyn’s Action Network or WAN. WAN came together in 1992 and began their feminist work with a satirical event that took … Continue reading
New Print demonstrates the hypocrisy of GVSU and LGBTQ Equality
A new print by GVSU student Ciara Pink, beautifully depicts not on the historical struggle to win domestic partner benefits at GVSU, but the hypocrisy of the university, which claims to embrace, equity, inclusion and social justice. Grand Valley State … Continue reading
New artwork looks at the 1967 Riot in Grand Rapids
We have made nearly a dozen posts about the 1967 riot in Grand Rapids in the past several years. Some of these posts have focused on media coverage of the riot, some on internal documents and some of the posts … Continue reading
New Artwork exposes Settler Colonialism as part of the founding of Grand Rapids
Four years ago we wrote two pieces that looked at the foundation of the oppressive politics which led to the creation of Grand Rapids. The first piece was entitled More White Lies: Grand Rapids and Settler Colonialism. In that piece … Continue reading
Print honors the legacy of Cole Dorsey and West MI for Animals
Nearly three years ago we interviewed Cole Dorsey, one of the activist and organizers with the 1990s group known as West Michigan for Animals. This new print, from GVSU student Mackenzie Fox, both celebrates and honors the legacy of Cole … Continue reading
