Jim Crow Museum
Source: https://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow
Archived: 2026-04-23 15:39
Jim Crow Museum
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Jim Crow Museum
The Jim Crow Museum will temporarily close to the public beginning November 26, 2025,
as we prepare for our relocation and the grand reopening in Fall 2026. During this
period, all tours, group visits, and walk-in admissions will be paused. The museum
space will transition into an active workspace, where our team will focus on essential
tasks, including collections preparation, packing, and supporting the development
of the new facility. This temporary closure is necessary to ensure the safety of the
artifacts and allow staff to meet key project milestones. While we recognize the importance
of engaging with campus and community groups, we appreciate your understanding and
support during this transition. We look forward to welcoming you back to a reimagined
and expanded Jim Crow Museum next fall.
Expanding the Museum
For nearly two decades the Jim Crow Museum has used contemporary racist and primarily
anti-Black artifacts to tell the story of African American resiliency. It is a teaching
model which has been wildly successful, and now is the time to expand that story.
As we embark on the construction of a new museum, archive, and research facility,
we need champions who will help us keep our work moving forward.
Together, a better world is possible.
Give Now
Explore Expansion Plans
Groundbreaking!!!
Museum Expansion update
Dec. 12, 2024, BIG RAPIDS, Mich. –
Ferris State University today broke ground on a new Jim Crow Museum, a one-of-a-kind
resource that will be a space for teaching, learning, and meaningful conversations
about race that inspire understanding, healing, and positive change.
Read the Press Release
Telling a Larger Story
Museum Expansion Project
Help the Jim Crow Museum tell a larger story. Support the museum's expansion into
a state of the art facility that will foster critical encounters with artifacts of
intolerance and their dreadful impact.
Support the Expansion
Teaching Tolerance With Objects of Intolerance
The Jim Crow Museum is the nation's largest publicly accessible collection of artifacts
of intolerance. The Museum contextualizes the dreadful impact of Jim Crow laws and
customs. The Museum uses objects of intolerance to teach tolerance and promote a
more just society.
The museum is located on the campus of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI.
Plan Your VisIt
Explore the Museum Virtually
Experience the power of a visit to the Jim Crow Museum virtually. The museum's virtual
tour gives you the opportunity to discover many of the highlights from our collection.
Start Your Exploration
Critical Encounters: Featured Exhibits
What was Jim Crow?
Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not
exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow
was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life.
Explore What was Jim Crow?
The Brute Caricature
The brute caricature portrays black men as innately savage, animalistic, destructive,
and criminal -- deserving punishment, maybe death. Black brutes are depicted as hideous,
terrifying predators who target helpless victims, especially white women.
Explore The Brute Caricature
ATTACKING SEGREGATION
During the Jim Crow period, African Americans were confronted by institutional discrimination
and acts of individual discrimination, and generally treated as second-class citizens.
Nevertheless, black people made significant contributions that enriched the United
States.
Explore ATTACKING SEGREGATION
Jim Crow Museum in the News
01/26/2026
Help move the Jim Crow Museum collection
01/26/2026
Ferris State’s Jim Crow Museum looking for volunteers to help move artifacts
More Museum News
Questions for the Museum
4/2/26
The History of Racist Postcards
3/4/26
The Story of Whipped Peter
2/2/26
Jo Ann Robinson
1/5/26
Who was Bob Moses?
12/1/25
What was the significance of segregated restrooms during the Jim Crow period?
11/3/25
Did Black America save the Cadillac brand in the 1930s?
10/24/25
First Black person to appear in a film
8/13/2025
The Ace of Spades game controversy
2/4/2025
The New Jim Crow Song
More Questions for the Museum
More to Explore
Visit
Learn
Connect
About
Donate
Explore
Support the Museum
Help us keep the powerful experience of visiting the Jim Crow Museum accessible to
all. Consider supporting the museum today.
Make a Gift
Donate artifacts to the museum
Proud Members of
Connect with Us
Jim Crow Museum
1010 Campus Drive
Big Rapids, MI 49307
[email protected]
(231) 591-5873
©
Skip to Top Navigation
Skip to Content
Skip to Footer
Visit Museum
Make a Gift
Donate Artifacts
Jim Crow Museum
The Jim Crow Museum will temporarily close to the public beginning November 26, 2025,
as we prepare for our relocation and the grand reopening in Fall 2026. During this
period, all tours, group visits, and walk-in admissions will be paused. The museum
space will transition into an active workspace, where our team will focus on essential
tasks, including collections preparation, packing, and supporting the development
of the new facility. This temporary closure is necessary to ensure the safety of the
artifacts and allow staff to meet key project milestones. While we recognize the importance
of engaging with campus and community groups, we appreciate your understanding and
support during this transition. We look forward to welcoming you back to a reimagined
and expanded Jim Crow Museum next fall.
Expanding the Museum
For nearly two decades the Jim Crow Museum has used contemporary racist and primarily
anti-Black artifacts to tell the story of African American resiliency. It is a teaching
model which has been wildly successful, and now is the time to expand that story.
As we embark on the construction of a new museum, archive, and research facility,
we need champions who will help us keep our work moving forward.
Together, a better world is possible.
Give Now
Explore Expansion Plans
Groundbreaking!!!
Museum Expansion update
Dec. 12, 2024, BIG RAPIDS, Mich. –
Ferris State University today broke ground on a new Jim Crow Museum, a one-of-a-kind
resource that will be a space for teaching, learning, and meaningful conversations
about race that inspire understanding, healing, and positive change.
Read the Press Release
Telling a Larger Story
Museum Expansion Project
Help the Jim Crow Museum tell a larger story. Support the museum's expansion into
a state of the art facility that will foster critical encounters with artifacts of
intolerance and their dreadful impact.
Support the Expansion
Teaching Tolerance With Objects of Intolerance
The Jim Crow Museum is the nation's largest publicly accessible collection of artifacts
of intolerance. The Museum contextualizes the dreadful impact of Jim Crow laws and
customs. The Museum uses objects of intolerance to teach tolerance and promote a
more just society.
The museum is located on the campus of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI.
Plan Your VisIt
Explore the Museum Virtually
Experience the power of a visit to the Jim Crow Museum virtually. The museum's virtual
tour gives you the opportunity to discover many of the highlights from our collection.
Start Your Exploration
Critical Encounters: Featured Exhibits
What was Jim Crow?
Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not
exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow
was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life.
Explore What was Jim Crow?
The Brute Caricature
The brute caricature portrays black men as innately savage, animalistic, destructive,
and criminal -- deserving punishment, maybe death. Black brutes are depicted as hideous,
terrifying predators who target helpless victims, especially white women.
Explore The Brute Caricature
ATTACKING SEGREGATION
During the Jim Crow period, African Americans were confronted by institutional discrimination
and acts of individual discrimination, and generally treated as second-class citizens.
Nevertheless, black people made significant contributions that enriched the United
States.
Explore ATTACKING SEGREGATION
Jim Crow Museum in the News
01/26/2026
Help move the Jim Crow Museum collection
01/26/2026
Ferris State’s Jim Crow Museum looking for volunteers to help move artifacts
More Museum News
Questions for the Museum
4/2/26
The History of Racist Postcards
3/4/26
The Story of Whipped Peter
2/2/26
Jo Ann Robinson
1/5/26
Who was Bob Moses?
12/1/25
What was the significance of segregated restrooms during the Jim Crow period?
11/3/25
Did Black America save the Cadillac brand in the 1930s?
10/24/25
First Black person to appear in a film
8/13/2025
The Ace of Spades game controversy
2/4/2025
The New Jim Crow Song
More Questions for the Museum
More to Explore
Visit
Learn
Connect
About
Donate
Explore
Support the Museum
Help us keep the powerful experience of visiting the Jim Crow Museum accessible to
all. Consider supporting the museum today.
Make a Gift
Donate artifacts to the museum
Proud Members of
Connect with Us
Jim Crow Museum
1010 Campus Drive
Big Rapids, MI 49307
[email protected]
(231) 591-5873
©