Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
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About The Museum
Map & Directions
Use of the Facility
Museum eStore
Staff Directory
Become a Volunteer
Museum History
Special Needs and Accessibility

Exhibits & Programs
Online Exhibits
Permanent Exhibits
Ford Burial Site
Temporary Exhibits & Special Events
Education Programs



Gerald R. Ford Library & Museum  
     
 
About the Gerald R. Ford Museum


Gerald R. Ford Museum Gerald R. Ford Museum
303 Pearl Street NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504-5353

Telephone: (616) 254-0400
Fax: (616) 254-0386



Open daily from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. (Closed New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day).

Admission is $7.00 for adults, $6.00 for senior citizens and military service members, $5.00 for college students with ID, $3.00 for youth ages 6-18, and free for children under the age of 5. Free parking is available.


The permanent exhibits are the core of the Museum's program. They allow visitors to participate in history, not just view it, while reviewing the highlights of the lives of President and Mrs. Ford. In addition to the permanent exhibits, a succession of temporary exhibits draw upon the rich holdings of the entire Presidential libraries system, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, and others.

Not all museum programs revolve around the exhibits schedule. Museum staff organize and host special events, everything from a 1940s fashion show to activities for school children. The Museum also hosts naturalization ceremonies for new citizens and opens the grounds to the community festivities and fireworks on the fourth of July. The Museum Store sells items relating to President and Mrs. Ford and other Presidents and First Ladies, along with a number of souvenirs.

Where the Ford Library offers an analytic approach to our past and our government, the museum provokes emotions that stimulate learning, reflection, and a sense of democratic citizenship. For visitors, the presidency is theirs to see and touch (almost), to use, and to hold accountable.

The Ford Museum opened to the public in September 1981. It is part of the Presidential libraries system of the National Archives and Records Administration, a Federal agency. Unlike other Presidential libraries, the museum component is geographically separate from the library/archives. The Ford Museum is in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Library is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Despite the separation, the library and museum are a single institution sharing one director.