William J. Hardy became active in the politics of Gaines Township after African American men were granted the right to vote in 1870.

The "Knockout Polio" drive began in September of 1963. Approximately 320,000 people in Kent County participated, 86% of the population, and took the two drops of vaccine placed on a sugar cube.

Jim Rose began offering swimming instruction at Reed's Lake in 1901. By the time Rose's Beach was closed during WWII, Jim and his family had watched thousands of people swimming there for forty-three years.

The original seal of the city was adopted on June 25, 1850, but seven years later the Common Council decided that since it had passed a new charter, the seal also needed a few adjustments.

Aquinas College has had several names and been in several locations, but it has occupied its beautiful wooded campus since 1945.

Martin Antoine Ryerson's roots go back to the beginning of the city, and the Ryerson Library, now the Grand Rapids Public Library, was his gift to the people of his native city.

The Ramona Theater had stood so long it couldn't be dismantled. Wreckers wanted to salvage the steel roof beams, but the huge wooden pillars supporting them were rotten. How could they finish the project?

When you visit the Grand Rapids Public Library you can read microfilm copies of city newspapers from the 1840s to current times. Have you ever wondered how long microfilm has been available?

In October of 2007 the Grand Rapids Art Museum opened its new building, ninety-seven years after its founding in 1910. It occupies the same corner where 157 years earlier William Preusser began his jewelry and clock business.

The Lear organization was founded in Chicago in 1930 to produce the first practical automobile radio and other radio equipment Bill Lear had invented.