This collection contains the panels from an exhibit “Making a Difference : Outstanding Women in Grand Rapids History.” It was was originally displayed in the Ryerson Gallery at the Grand Rapids Public Library in 1997, in conjunction with the Legacy 1997 celebration. Subsequently, five (5) additional panels were added by the Women’s History Council, and the original board panels were attached to heavier boards. A list of all the women/panels in this collection is given, annotated for this women added after the exhibit.

The scripts on the original panels were written by City Historian Gordon Olson. These scripts have been included in this finding aid, with a copy in the collection. They are given in alphabetical order in the printed collection version, but in no particular order in this finding aid.

Photographs and ephemera items, such as music and music covers, programs, advertising cards, clippings, and documents, were taken from a variety of sources, in the GRPL or elsewhere. Most are unidentified. One section of this finding aid has been created to serve as an information resource on the location and availability of these individual display items, as a sources is determined. For example, on the Pearl Kendrick/Grace Eldering display panel, there is a group photo which includes Eldering, but also including Loney Gordon, who in the year 2000 was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame for her work with Kendrick and Eldering. The copy photo used on the exhibit panel was taken from a photo located in the GRPL Archival Collection #34, Kent County Health Department Collection.

Also included in the collection is a copy of the publication Seven Women Who Made a Difference from the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council. This publication, made in conjunction with the Michigan Women’s Historical Center and Hall of Fame, contains images used on the panels and/or found in the GRPL collections.