The Small City as an Underexplored Level of Experience: Constructing Civic Identity in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1878–1965
In the decades following the Civil War, leading business figures in the city of Grand Rapids had reason to be both ambitious and optimistic. Striving to pull every last cent of profit out of available resources, they rationalized production workflows and integrated the latest technologies into their factories. They also perceptively discerned that a maturing railroad network connected Grand Rapids to an emerging Victorian consumer economy, empowering the city to achieve new levels of prosperity and fame through an industry on the verge of unprecedented growth: domestic furniture production.
One of several ways in which these entrepreneurs acted upon their visions for a prosperous future in the community was through the establishment of the semi-annual Grand Rapids Furniture Expositions, beginning in December of 1878. At first glance, these expositions might seem to have been a mere manifestation of the community’s recognition as America’s “Furniture City.” However, they actually constituted a fundamental cause behind the construction of this civic identity by local business leaders, who worked together to make the Grand Rapids name synonymous with excellent household furniture on an international scale. With the help of supportive community members, these leaders also resolved to prevent similar efforts in rival cities – including such urban powerhouses as New York and Chicago – from eclipsing their own. The astonishing extent of their success provided the city with a more prominent niche in the national consciousness, and transformed the physical and economic landscape of the community itself. It also prompted the development of dozens of support industries which have left an enduring mark on the city’s self-image.
I would like to present a poster displaying my findings on this topic at the 2017 Meeting of the American Historical Association in Denver. My research is particularly appropriate for the theme of “Linking Levels of Experience,” given Timothy Mahoney’s call for scholarly examinations of small cities and their relationship to the broader regional and national economic forces which influence – and are influenced by – the fate of such cities. (See Timothy Mahoney, “The Small City in American History,” Indiana Magazine of History 99: 4, 311-330.) Grand Rapids fits comfortably into Mahoney’s description of small cities; therefore, my research will also serve as a promising foundation upon which to explore how one small city sought to fuse the more redeeming characteristics of smaller towns and larger metropolises, in hopes of striking an ideal balance between the two.
Considering that the story of Grand Rapids falls somewhere between two more amply populated categories of cultural narrative – very small towns and very large cities – my project is an important contribution to the dialogue which Mahoney and other regional historians of the Midwest have advanced. A diverse array of rich images contained in catalogs and trade publications at the local history archives of the Grand Rapids Public Library will make my presentation visually engaging as well as intellectually stimulating.