About the Gerald R. Ford Museum
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Gerald R. Ford Museum
303 Pearl Street NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504-5353
Telephone: (616) 254-0400
Fax: (616) 254-0386
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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.
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