Stay at Home Collecting
Please help us build the community collection for the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives. As you stay inside your home to flatten the curve of Covid-19 infections, you probably will get around to cleaning out your closets, attics, or basements. DON'T throw anything away without checking with us first.
Many of the items you have stored away could be valuable after all the Antique Roadshow was based on this premise. Objects in those drawers may help your Museum tell part of the local Grand Rapids story. They may also support GRAAMA to reveal a larger explanation of American history. We are utilizing what is left of 2020 to celebrate the Collector. While the restrictions on opening the Museum are still in effect, we want to make use of this downtime to develop our collection that will someday be displayed in a new GRAAMA facility. We are focused on local history but want to view everything available in private collections from the Black community, no matter the age or condition of your artifact. Some items may not be viewed as collectible or valuable but we have a home for most items as part of an ongoing narrative on local African American history. If you are doing any housecleaning during the stay-at-home period, please keep your GRAAMA in mind. You can take a photograph and send to our email, box it up and wait until it's safe for pick-up or drop it off at the Museum when we open again. Please if you have any doubt, don't throw it out. We'd be happy to appraise your item if you'd like to donate it to GRAAMA for the permanent collection.
So what are we looking for?
CLOTHING, logo teeshirts of local events like the Reggae Sunsplash, Leisure Suits, military, work or sports uniforms, anything from the 1940s,50s,60s. Choir robes, hats, or shoes.
MEDIA, records, tapes, film, photographs, sheet music EPHEMERA, paper items books, magazines, programs, obituaries, bibles, documents of importance, posters, flyers, newspapers, yearbooks, Green Book.
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS, Items with Afrocentric imagery Aunt Jemima, Gold Dust Twins, Afro Sheen TOYS, DOLLS, GAMES, Black Barbies, GI Joes, Rise and Fly game, Super soakers TOOLS, INVENTIONS cotton scale, ironing board ART, from local and national Black artists AFRICAN artifacts, money, music, Coronavirus related items, Afrocentric masks, local stories Due to Covid -19 guidelines, GRAAMA is closed but will open as soon as restrictions are lifted and with social distance and face mask requirements in place.
Send photographs of items to our Facebook page, our website www.graama.org or email george@graama.org or mail to 87 Monroe Center NW Grand Rapids, MI 49503 or call and leave a message 616-649-3778
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