As a U.S. President, Gerald R. Ford is well documented in libraries and museums throughout the country. In particular, in Grand Rapids the Ford Museum provides access to information on Ford’s life and presidency. Other libraries which provide in-depth information on Ford are the Gerald R. Ford Library at the University of Michigan and the Library of Congress.

The focus of the collecting of Gerald R. Ford related materials at the Grand Rapids Public Library is to provide information on his life here in Grand Rapids and to provide basic access to general historical information on Ford to our public library users. Thus, items in this collection, as well as other materials, such as the South High school yearbook during Ford’s attendance there, are valued for the Ford association. Also, several books and periodicals in the Grand Rapids History & Special Collections department, as well as the library’s circulating collections, document Ford’s life.

This small collection collocates various small accessions of Ford related materials, which have been mostly been solicited to provide basic historical information on Ford, and his relationship to Grand Rapids. Several of these items have come from the Ford Museum.