Keynote: Dr. Anna-Lisa Cox of Harvard University 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

In this engaging talk Dr. Anna-Lisa Cox will draw upon her extensive research on early African American settlers in West Michigan. She will highlight the multiracial history of West Michigan and place it in the context of the upcoming 250^th commemoration of the founding of the United States. Michigan’s committee for the semiquincentennial has designated “Unfinished Revolutions” as one of its guiding themes, and Dr. Cox will demonstrate how West Michigan’s diverse past has embodied this ongoing struggle for freedom, recognition, and rights.

Reflections on the AIDS Journey in West Michigan: Public Health and Community Care 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.

This panel will focus on the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in West Michigan. From the beginning of the disease those affected struggled to find medical care and treatments. This was greatly worsened by the social stigma surrounding AIDS as well as discrimination against the LGBTQ community. This panel brings together West Michigan public health workers and LGBTQ community members from 1980s-early 2000s to discuss their experiences. Panelists will include:

• Jan Koopman
• Michelle Johnson
• Aaminah Shakur
• Tommy Allen
• Gary Van Harn

Our moderator will be Harold Clarke-Lopez.

Podcasts and Community Storytelling: Uncovering GRPS' History Together 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.

How have experiences with the Grand Rapids Public School varied between the 1960s and today? What role does that history play in the efforts of current students, faculty, and staff to create change and improvement in their education? This panel features Dr. Leanne Kang’s work uncovering a compelling portrait of Grand Rapids Public Schools’ history through podcast interviews. Dr. Kang will be joined by three interviewees from GRPS’ past, as well as Betsaida Valdivia, the Urban Core Collectives' youth organizer and current GRPS students from the Student Association for Leadership and Transformation. This multigenerational panel will discuss the legacy, present and future of GRPS as an urban school district. Panelists will include:

• Dr. Leanne Kang
• Jermar Sterling
• Dr. Raul Ysasi
• Patrick O'Neal Luster
• Betsaida Valdivia
• Current GRPS Students

Recordings from the 15th Annual Local History Roundtable (March 20th, 2024) are now available on our YouTube channel.

Our keynote speaker, Jennifer Bonnell, spoke about the history of honeybees in the Great Lakes region, including details on how honeybee-driven agriculture have changed the Midwestern landscape, and the threat of Colony Collapse Disorder. Our other panel presentations included:

• Andrea Riley-Mukavetz shared her research on the Anishinaabeg trails of Michigan and the impact settler colonialism has had on the environment, landscape, and cultural traditions of the Anishinaabeg. She also shared how the Anishinaabeg have engaged in land-based practices that adapted from the impact of settler-colonialism.

• Kaya DeerInWater’s work focuses on rebuilding robust Native food systems and building capacity through increased production, distribution, and consumption of nutritious, culturally significant, and sustainably-harvested foods within Great Lakes Native communities.

• Camren Stott’s work reflects their love for food sovereignty and the autonomy and self-determination that comes with identifying your cultural heritage through traditional food systems. Their work seeks to move away from toxic concepts of charitable food and engage in more sustainable models that directly address food insecurity in culturally competent ways.

• Jennifer Tompkins shared histories of Japanese poultry workers in West Michigan.

• Andrew Schlewitz & Jacey Adams shared their ongoing research into the relationship between German POWs and Mexican migrant laborers in West Michigan’s agricultural fields during WWII, and how these groups interacted with each other and with the community at large.

• Eric Gollannek explored the role of forests in the history of the Saugatuck and Douglas area, including the lore of “Michigan’s Pompeii,” the mill town of Singapore. He also discussed the cultural significance of the area’s environmental history, including the rise of West Michigan’s fruit industry and the wooden architecture of steamship and automobile tourism.

• Jeff Smith gave us a look back at Grand Rapids’ first Earth Day Celebration and the direction of the environmental movement since 1970. He addressed the abandonment of confronting the root causes of environmental destruction, the non-profit industrial complex, and lifestyle reformism vs building an environmental justice movement.

   

   

   

   

   

   

Past Roundtables

• 2023 (Our West Michigan Histories): The 14th Annual Local History Roundtable discussed migration and political activism among Grand Rapids' Latino communities. Other presentations discussed the history of County Poor Farm properties in West Michigan, as well as ongoing projects from Grand Stand Pictures and the Michigan State Historic Presentation Office to document Civil Rights history in Grand Rapids and Muskegon. Presenters included Charlie Brock, Nancy Brock, Rodney Brown, Rev. Melvin Burns, Dr. Delia Fernandez-Jones, Kathrine Kolokithas, Adam Oster, and Marjorie Viveen.
• 2022 (Living with History): The 2022 Annual Local History Roundtable explored how the present informs how we talk about the past, and how we can bring history out beyond the walls of our institutions. Presenters included Afua Ofori-Darko, Kate Crosby, Rebecca Hopp, Kimberly Van Driel, and Matthew Vriesman. Recordings of the keynote presentation and panel discussion are available on our YouTube channel.
• 2021 (Leading the Charge for Change): The 12th Annual Local History Roundtable took place entirely online out of concerns for the health and safety of our community. Presenters included Katelyn Bosch VerMerris, Liette Gidlow, Allison Lange, Sophia Brewer, David McCord, Brenda Nemetz, and Kristen Wildes. Recordings of all 2021 sessions are available on our YouTube channel.
• 2020 (Women as Changemakers): The 11th Annual Local History Roundtable, scheduled for March 2020, was cancelled due to COVID-19. The 12th Annual Local History Roundtable will have a similar theme and feature some of the presentations that had to be cancelled in 2020.
• 2019 (Connections Along the Grand River): Held at GVSU's L. William Seidman Center; featured speakers included: Jan Brashler (GVSU) and the following local history organizations and historians - Ada Historical Society, Allendale Historical Society, Boston/Saranac Historical Society, Cascade Historical Society, Grand Rapids City Archives, Eastmanville History, Grand Rapids Historical Society, Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids Public Library, Grandville Historical Commission, Ionia County Historical Society, Jenison Historical Association, Lamont History, LGROW, Lowell Area Historical Museum, Ottawa County Parks and Recreation, Plainfield Historical, Portland Area Historical Society, Tri-Cities Historical Museum, Wallace and Jane Ewing, and Paul Trap
• 2018 (Returning to our Roots: Explorations of Western Michigan's Diverse Communities): Held at GVSU's Kirkhof Center; featured speakers included: Ronald J. Stephens of Purdue University, Kathryn Remlinger (GVSU), and Andrea Riley-Mukavetz (GVSU)
• 2017 (Reconstructing Home): Held at GVSU's Mary Idema Pew Library and Information Commons; featured speakers included Professor Bich (Beth) Minh Nguyen (author of Stealing Buddha's Dinner), Julie Tabberer, Head of the Local History Department and Special Collections at Grand Rapids Public Library, and Nathan Nietering of Saugatuck-Douglas History Center. 
• 2016 (Changing Communities): Held at GVSU's Mary Idema Pew Library and Information Commons; featured speakers included Todd Robinson (author of City Within a City), Tim Gleisner (now of Herrick District Library), and Delia Fernandez (Michigan State University)
• 2015 (Food, Farm, and Table): Held at the Grand Rapids Public Library, featured speakers included Hank Meijer (Meijer, Inc.) and Ellen Messer (Tufts University).
• 2014 (Immigration and Civil Rights): Held at the Holland Museum, featured speakers included Bing Goei (State of Michigan) and Nora Salas (GVSU)
• 2013 (Natives, Settlers, and Founders: Our Shared Community History): Held at the Grand Haven Community Center, featured speakers included Eric Hemenway (LTBB), Wallace Ewing, and Marjie Viveen
• 2012 (Transportation and Waterways): Held at the Annis Water Institute in Muskegon, featured speakers included Kevin Finney (Jijak Foundation), Carl Bajema (GVSU), Daniel Yakes (MCC), Christine Byron (GRPL), and Tom Wilson
• 2011 (Meaning of the 150th Civil War Commemoration): Held on GVSU's Allendale campus
• 2010 (General meeting): Held on GVSU's Allendale campus