[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2178-E2179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN RECOGNITION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PUBLIC MUSEUM OF GRAND 
                               RAPIDS, MI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. VERNON J. EHLERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2004

  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give recognition to the 
150th anniversary of the founding of the Public Museum of Grand Rapids, 
Michigan, located in Michigan's Third Congressional District, which I 
represent.
  The Public Museum of Grand Rapids is a collections-based educational 
organization that explores and celebrates the world and our place in 
it. It seeks to educate and delight the public, contribute to the well-
being of its community, and enhance the quality of life in west 
Michigan.
  Founded in 1854, the Public Museum has been owned and operated by the 
city of Grand Rapids since 1906, serving a broad regional audience of 
all ages. It is Michigan's oldest museum open to the public and the 
State's third largest museum, hosting visitors annually from every 
Michigan county, U.S. State and Canadian province and many foreign 
countries.
  The Public Museum's beginnings date back to December 17, 1854, when a 
group of amateur historians, scientists, and collectors of antiquities 
gathered to form the Grand Rapids Lyceum of Natural History. By 1868, 
the Lyceum had allied itself with a group of interested high school 
students to form an actual museum with rooms open for ``public 
inspection'' in the city's Central High School. Increasingly, the 
museum shifted away from the display of natural curiosities and 
oddities, and acquired systematic collections that were useful tools in 
teaching about human culture and the natural world. A new name was 
adopted that emphasized the museum's expanded educational role as an 
operation of the Board of Education: The Kent Scientific Institute 
Museum. By 1917, the museum occupied two adjacent mansions in the 
downtown area, was a chartered department of municipal government, and 
had developed a huge lending program of instructional materials and 
mounted specimens and artifacts for use in schools.

[[Page E2179]]

  In 1936, the institution was renamed the Public Museum to better 
reflect its citizen ownership and operation and multidisciplinary, 
program-focused character. It had a professional staff and had seen a 
great increase in historical collections and programs as well as 
permanent installations. In 1938, the museum's board matched a WPA 
grant with a bequest and built an innovative, modern building that 
looked and acted more like a department store than a traditional 
museum. Inspired by the writings of Newark Museum director John Cotton 
Dana, the museum was populist in philosophy and presentation, marketing 
itself in 1940 when it opened as being ``as convenient as your corner 
store, and friendly as your neighbor.'' By 1964, an incredible growth 
in service-oriented programming had necessitated building additions and 
the construction of the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium along with the 
acquisition of the 143-acre Blandford Nature Center. The Voigt House, 
an unusually well-preserved, late-19th century residence, was acquired 
in 1974 with all of its original furnishings and archives. It is a 
house museum that balances the didactic historical displays developed 
in the main museum, especially those focused on furniture design, 
manufacturing and marketing.
  In the late 1970s, even as it became the first museum in the Nation 
to be accredited by the American Association of Museums, 1971, it was 
evident that expansion was necessary again in order to 
maintain standards and better serve a growing audience. In 1982, an 
extraordinary public planning process was begun that resulted in the 
creation of a master plan for the museum's growth on a new site in the 
heart of downtown Grand Rapids. This culminated on the museums 140th 
anniversary in 1994 with the debt free opening of its 155,000-square-
foot VanAndel Museum Center. In total, $42 million was amassed from 
more than 25,000 public and private donors for its completion, with 
major support coming from the VanAndel family.

  Community-based exhibition development, object conservation and 
program development were planned, fabricated and implemented 
simultaneously with the structure, resulting in multiple exhibitions 
exploring regional urban, social and industrial history, ethnology, 
regional art, and environmental education. The museum boasts numerous 
unique features, including a fully operational 1928 amusement park 
carousel and completely restored 1928 Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ.
  With growth came new opportunities. Professional staff was expanded. 
Citizens formed a private foundation in support of museum programs that 
now manages assets of more than $6 million. The city of Grand Rapids 
renewed its commitment to operations, while facilitating and 
encouraging the museum to become entrepreneurial. In response, annual 
institutional attendance climbed to nearly double the city's population 
simultaneous with the Public Museum's third award of AAM accreditation 
(1996). The museum staff manages a collection that now includes nearly 
1 million objects in more than 350,000 record groups.
  A new temporary exhibition program was initiated, which reached new 
heights of success with the organization of a proprietary exhibition of 
The Dead Sea Scrolls, organized in collaboration with the Israel 
Antiquities Authority. Between mid-February and June 1, 2003, the 
exhibition hosted a record 235,541 visitors, having an economic impact 
on the region of $9 million. It was the second-most-attended temporary 
antiquities exhibition worldwide in 2003.
  As 2004 draws to a close, the museum is again poised to expand both 
with new programs and exhibitions as well as a new 140,500-square-foot, 
state-of-the-art Community Archives & Research Center providing 
excellent preservation of the permanent collection and expanded public 
access. The center houses not only museum collections, but also the 
archives of the city of Grand Rapids and the county of Kent, which 
collaborate in its planning and operation.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope you will join me in congratulating the Public 
Museum of Grand Rapids on the occasion of its 150`h anniversary. Its 
long history of service to the west Michigan community is laudable 
indeed and we look forward to its continued work in the future.

                          ____________________