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Photographs
Photo Game ➔ Photograph, Urban Renewal
Identifier:
1987.92.535Description:
Stamped on the slide mount Aug 1967 and Downtown.View looking north on Monroe from Lyon Street. The Michigan Consolidated Gas Company building is on the right. City Hall and the County buildings are under construction. The Grand Rapids Press building located at the northeast corner of Michigan and Monroe is beyond the construction.
This collection is made up of almost 1,000 color, 35mm slides, taken by Grand Rapids resident Seymour Beiboer to document Urban Renewal in downtown Grand Rapids. The slides depict the demolition of many historic buildings including City Hall and the County Building, as well as the construction of their replacements. This remarkable collection provides a firsthand look into a very significant event that shaped modern Grand Rapids.
Date:
August 1967Materials:
35mm SlideCurrent Location Status:
In StorageCollection Tier:
Tier 2Source:
Gift Of Elvin J. HofstraRelated Entities:
Seymour F. Beiboer (creator)Seymour Beiboer was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on May 25, 1922, to Frank and Rena Meyer Beiboer. The earliest that Seymour appears in city directories is 1941 where he is listed as a toolmaker, living with his parents on Charles SE. The Beiboers moved to London SW in 1945 and he and his father worked at Keeler Brass. Seymour is listed as a custodian at Congress School in 1956 and the family is living on Fairmount SE. He is shown as head custodian at Congress School in 1969. Seymour died on October 2, 1992.
Elvin J. Hofstra, husband of Seymour’s only sibling Jeanne, donated slides and photographs of the building of the 131 and 196 freeways and downtown urban renewal that Seymour took over many years. Elvin J. Hofstra (donor)
