The two donors of this collection, George Irving Quimby Jr. (May 4,1913 – February 17, 2003) and Thomas H. E. Quimby (June 20, 1918- November 20, 1998) were sons of George Irving Quimby. At birth George Irving Quimby (1886-1950) was named Irving Leo Quimby, changing his name as an adult. He was the grandson and heir of the Ichabod Quimby lumberman family, grew up in the Ichabod Quimby family home on the north side of Grand Rapids after his father George died at a young age. He was raised by his grandmother, Emeline, and his aunt, Clara S. Morley. In high school, he was active in the local theater and later worked professionally in New York and with a traveling troupe. He settled in Grand Rapids and, in 1911, married Ethelwyn Sweet, a daughter of Frank Sweet and Mabel Mary Lowe. He bought the Raymer's Book Store and was in that business for 25 years. He continued his interest in theater and the arts, and the Grand Rapids Herald, upon his death in 1950, claimed he was a founding member of Civic Theater.

The two donors, George Irving, Jr. and Thomas H. E., grew up in the family home at 21 Union Avenue SE (a house often referred to as the Quimby House). George, Jr. attended the University of Michigan, graduated in 1936 and became a noted anthropologist, focusing on ethnohistory. He ended his career at that University of Washington where for 15 years he served as Professor of Anthropology and Curator of Ethnology at the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum.

Thomas H. E. attended Harvard College, graduated in 1940, married Lucy Foster Williams in 1941, and spent part of World War II serving in the Navy. He moved back to Grand Rapids in 1946, worked for Doehler Jarvis and was active in Democratic party politics. He died in Maine, in 1998.