Creating a Legacy: The Women of Grand Rapids

This exhibit challenges that myth that women had little impact on public life in the city. This exhibit is not intended to showcase the most influential or outstanding women in Grand Rapids history, rather these individuals represent many time periods and areas of endeavor in which women have helped give our community its distinctive way of life. Meet Dr. Pearl Kendrik and Grace Eldering who created headlines across the nation when they developed the vaccine against whooping cough. Read about Elizabeth Eaglesfield, the first women to practice law in Grand Rapids. (She later obtained a captain’s license and ran a Great Lakes shipping company with her son!) Consider the accomplishments of Evangeline Lamberts, the first woman elected to the Grand Rapids City Commission in 1961. These and many others created a living legacy for the City of Grand Rapids.