HISTORY
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Books
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The Grand Rapids Public Library has a large collection of books relating to local, Michigan and Great Lakes history, as well as genealogy. The following are a selection of titles pertaining to immigration.
- Discovering the Peoples of Michigan A book series from Michigan State University Press examines the rich multicultural heritage of Michigan.
- Stealing Buddha's Dinner a memoir of growing up in Grand Rapids by Bich Minh Nguyen
- Growing Up in Old Lithuanian Town a memoir by Edward Gillis
- We the People: An Atlas of America's Ethnic Diversity shows the geographic distribution of various ethnic groups in the United States
- Flight to Freedom: The Story of the Vietnamese of West Michigan published by the Grand Rapids Historical Commission
- Grand Rapids' Greek Heritage by Paul Chardoul
- Ethnicity in Michigan: Issues and People by Jack Glazier
- The Sesquicentennial of Dutch Immigration: 150 Years of Ethnic Heritage compiled by Larry J. Wagenaar and Robert P. Swierenga
- Dutch Immigrant Memoirs and Related Writings by Henry S. Lucas
- Settling the Great Lakes Frontier: Immigration to Michigan, 1837-1924 by C. Warren Vander Hill
- Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups by Stephan Thernstrom, editor
- Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America edited by Judy Galens, Anna J. Sheets, and Robyn V. Young
Census
Census – Both Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest have the U.S. Census information available on-line. Ancestry Library Edition does not allow remote access, so it is only available at a library location. Besides the library, Heritage Quest is available by remote access with a Grand Rapids Public Library card. Censuses for Michigan is also available on microfilm from 1840 to 1930, including Soundex and paper indexes for all but the 1930 census.
Genealogy
The History and Special Collections Department of the library houses published family genealogies, local genealogical publications, obituary files, a cemetery index and a surname file.
- Western Michigan Genealogical Society Church Records are organized by church, which often have an ethnic connection.
- Obituary Index An obituary index is available on-line from the West Michigan Genealogical Society.
- Passenger Search The Ellis Island Foundation offers online access to immigrant records.
- Dutch Passenger Lists Robert Swierenga has compiled several volumes of Dutch immigrants in U.S. ship passenger lists. Available at the library.
Manuscript Collections
The Grand Rapids Public Library has over 350 manuscript collections. Several are ethnic collections:
- Latzek Funeral Home Records Collection #157
- The Lipczynski Family Papers Collection #179(Polish)
- Vietnamese History Project & Resettlement Collection #247
- Lucia Erins Latvian Americans of Grand Rapids Collection #266
- Hellenic Horizons Collection #277(Greek)
- Hispanic American Oral History Collection #292
- Eduard Skendzel Polonian Historical Collection #299(Polish)
- Latinos in Western Michigan Collection #321
- John McGee's Collection (Irish)
Newpapers
Back issues of the Grand Rapids Press and the Grand Rapids Herald are available on microfilm. Indexing is limited for the time period before 1985. There is an index of the Grand Rapids Press that covers the years 1957-1983, but it is not comprehensive. The Lydens index serves as a partial index to the Grand Rapids Press from the late 1800s to the mid 1950s. GRHSC is working on creating an on-line version of this index, and limited indexing is currently available. (Add link here.)
- The Grand Rapids Press Index compiled by the staff of GRHSC is available on-line.
- ProQuest also provides an on-line index for GRPL cardholders.
- The Grand Rapids Public Library also has some issues of the German newspapers Germania and Der Sonntagsbote, but no translation or indexing is available.
- The Carl Bajema Newspaper Clippings Collection has gathered articles relating to African-Americans and women, as well as Arab-Americans, Armenians, Chinese, Jewish, Polish, Syrian, and others.
Pamphlet and Article Files
The Grand Rapids History and Special Collections department of the library maintains a collection of vertical files by subjects of local interest. These mostly consist of newspaper and magazine articles. Examples include “Germans in Grand rapids,” “Italian Americans in Grand Rapids,” and “Irish – Grand Rapids.”
Periodicals
Local historical magazines feature many stories on area immigrant groups. Limited indexing available.
Origins - A biennial publication pertaining to Dutch settlers in Michigan.
Photographs
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The History and Special Collections department of the Library offers a vast selection of photographs covering various aspects of immigration history. To view more images visit the Photo Gallery, and look for the photo displays coming to each branch library in January, 2008. More Photos!
Oral History
The Grand Rapids Public Library has several oral history collections which contain audio tapes (sometimes including a written outline or full transcript) of interviews with local people from all walks of life. Of special interest to the topic of immigration are Coll. #277, the Hellenic Horizons Collection which contains over sixty interviews with members of Grand Rapids' Greek community recorded in the late 1970s and early 1980s and Coll. #292, the Hispanic Collection of interviews with Hispanic immigrants to Grand Rapids arriving here from a variety of places and over a broad span of years from the 1950s to quite recently. Other oral history collections also include some examples of immigration stories, such as the account of Stephania Mroz who came from Poland in 1909 that is found in the interview with her daughter in Coll. #164.
Learn how to produce your own oral histories. Here is a great instructional guide from NPR's StoryCorps.
Community Resources
Grand Rapids Historical Commission Photo essays, classroom resources, and digital image archives
Grand Rapids Historical Society
Heritage Hall Calvin College's extensive collection of documents pertaining to Dutch migration
Kent county Michigan GenWeb Project Online site providing genealogical and historical resources
Public Museum of Grand Rapids Don't miss the exhibit on Grand Rapids immigration opening in January!
Web Resources
American Memory The Library of Congress has digitized some of its most remarkable collections. Browse the many collection pertaining to immigration and American expansion.
