Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum

At the core of the Museum is the permanent exhibit, which allows visitors to experience highlights from President and Mrs. Ford's lives. The exhibit teaches democratic citizenship and allows for quiet reflection. In addition to the permanent exhibits, changing temporary exhibits draw artifacts from Museums all over the country. The Ford Museum opened to the public in September 1981 and is part of the Presidential libraries system of the National Archives and Records Administration, a Federal agency. The Ford Museum is in Grand Rapids, Michigan while the Ford Library is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Despite the separation, the library and museum are a single institution sharing one director. The Gerald R. Ford Library collects, preserves, and makes accessible to the public a rich body of archival materials on U.S. domestic issues, foreign relations, and political affairs during the Cold War era, focusing on the Ford administration. It also offers a wide variety of special events, speakers, book signings, forums, educational workshops, films, and other programs. And, in addition to the permanent timeline exhibit on the lives of Gerald and Betty Ford, the Library mounts several small temporary exhibits each year. The Library is part of the Presidential libraries system of the National Archives and Records Administration, a Federal agency. Unlike other Presidential libraries, the Ford library’s library and museum components are geographically separate. The Library is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the North Campus of the University of Michigan, while the Museum is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 130 miles west of Ann Arbor.