congressional_record: CREC-2004-12-07-pt1-PgE2178-5
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| CREC-2004-12-07-pt1-PgE2178-5 | 2004-12-07 | 108 | 2 | 150 | IN RECOGNITION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PUBLIC MUSEUM OF GRAND RAPIDS, MI | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | RECOGNIZING | E2178 | E2179 | [{"name": "Vernon J. Ehlers", "role": "speaking"}] | 150 Cong. Rec. E2178 | Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004) [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. ____________________ |