GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A museum in Grand Rapids has attracted many, including tourists from other countries.
Their work not just at the museum but in the community has grown so much, they plan to move to a bigger facility to expand its history materials with the latest technology.
“Our tours are exploding,” executive director George Bayard III said.
A staple in downtown Grand Rapids for nearly a decade, the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives is on a mission to teach those who come through their doors the history they say many are hungry for.
“We found over the nine years that we've been here that there is a need and a hunger for information about the African American history and culture here in Grand Rapids,” Bayard said.
Wednesday, elementary students from Three Oaks Public School Academy visited the museum to learn about African American history and watched informative videos shared by museum staff. But Bayard says their lesson extends beyond the brick building.
“Our tours this year or this month are ones that are bringing people into the museum, but at the same time, we're going out to the to the community,” Bayard said.
The museum currently maintains its facility downtown at 87 Monroe Center Street Northwest. Though currently modestly sized, the museum plans to relocate to a bigger facility to accommodate more guests. They hope to do it as soon as this year.
“We are looking for a new place and it is definitely going to be larger than this,” Bayard said. "You saw with 30 kids in here, 2,000 square feet cannot hold 30 or 40 middle schoolers, so we're looking at a couple of different buildings. It'll be at a minimum of I’d say easily 14,000 square feet bigger than this.”
The museum is engaging more with the younger generation because they often do not know as much African American history as older people. Bayard says the younger generation is the future of the museum’s lasting legacy.
“Those kids that were in here today, they will be the directors, the education people and the curators of tomorrow, and they will be able to see a museum prospering in 50 years,” Bayard said.
The museum relies on help and support from the community to operate. To make a contribution towards the museum’s relocation to a bigger facility, you can donate here.
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