Our Goals And Achievements

Our Mission

The Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council is dedicated to educating the community and celebrating the legacies of local women, preserving knowledge of their past, and inspiring visions for their future.

Our Origin

In 1988 Twink Frey founded the organization, with Jane Idema, Sue Conklin, Mary Alice Williams, Jinny DeJong, Mary Meade Fuger, Jane Henderson, Gwen Hibbard, Lillian Segal, Bunny Voss, and Grand Rapids City Historian Gordon Olson.

In doing research, in 1987, for a paper on the role of women in the history of Grand Rapids, Frey found a dearth of recorded history about the women who had helped to found and shape the city. Knowing that women had an enormous influence in all aspects of the development of the region, Frey felt the need to begin organized, systematic research into the lives and contributions of the women who have been important to the area, and the orderly documenting and preservation of that information.

Our Activities

• Organized a West Michigan conference on women's history, November 1988, titled "An Ear to the Past, An Eye to the Future."
• Sponsors the Legacy series-- a tri-annual, month-long observance of Women's History Month (March). Three such celebrations, Legacy 1991, 1994, 1997, and 2000 have taken place. Legacy seeks to encourage area women's and community groups to present programs, which highlight women, and their contributions to the area's history. The end result has been an increased awareness among the general population of women's contributions to society, plus a remarkable uniting of area women's groups, from social and business organizations to academia to city government, in the endeavor to plan and present programs, celebrate and publicize the achievements of women, young and old, past and present, and to observe Women's History Month annually.
• Published a booklet in 1991, Seven Women Who Made a Difference, about seven area women who have made significant contributions to society.
• Presents programs each year about specific individuals or organizations that have made their mark on the city's history.
• Instituted an ongoing program to gather oral histories from the many contemporary women who have been important to the area's history.
• Has compiled a bibliography of the various materials on local women which is available at the Grand Rapids Public Library--autobiographies, biographies, memoirs, diaries, club archives, oral histories, magazine and newspaper articles and other records and resources; and is preparing to compile like material available from other resources around the city.
• Presents programs on women's history and women's issues aimed at young women in the public schools and colleges.
• Submits nominations to the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
• Jointly presents, with other women's groups and with the Grand Rapids Historical Society, programs of historical, social and/or educational interest.
• Has fostered a relationship with the Michigan Women's Studies Association which has created an awareness within that organization of the achievements and vitality of west state women, and has led to greater inclusion of West Michigan women and organizations in the MWSA's programs and activities.