Last Updated on October 4, 2026
Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI has opened the new Jim Crow Museum of Racist Imagery, a $22 million, 26,000-square-foot museum that gives more than 30,000 artifacts a permanent home while making the building itself part of the story.
The opening marks a major evolution for a collection that began more than 30 years ago in a 500-square-foot teaching space and later grew into a 3,500-square-foot museum in Ferris State’s FLITE library. According to the university, it is now the largest publicly accessible collection of its kind in the United States. The new standalone facility gives the museum room to bring more of the collection into view while continuing the research and educational work that has grown around it.
Neumann/Smith Architecture served as building architect and interior designer. The firm worked with Ferris State and museum leadership to translate the museum’s guiding mission, “Witness, Understand, Heal,” into the building itself. Howard+Revis Design led exhibition design, with Rockford Construction serving as construction manager.
“Our new museum will teach difficult truths, but also lifts up the stories of those who challenged hate through courage, advocacy and lives marked by resilience and dignity,” said Dr. David Pilgrim, museum founder and Ferris State’s vice president for Diversity, Inclusion and Strategic Initiatives. “Our mission is to educate and inspire. The very building itself is a powerful tool to spark discussion and tell the story.”
The architecture begins telling that story before visitors enter. A steel veil wrapping portions of the museum draws from W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of “the veil” in The Souls of Black Folk. River forms carry through the exterior, landscape and lobby, while red and citron yellow distinguish themes of Jim Crow oppression from the resistance and achievement that challenged it. Inside, a domed mosaic inspired by Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas anchors the reflection space.
At the museum’s windows, large-scale photographs of Black Americans are visible from both inside and outside, while corresponding racist caricatures are revealed only from within. The juxtaposition turns a design element into a teaching tool, confronting the difference between individual humanity and the imagery historically used to distort it.
The 7,500-square-foot exhibition gallery is the centerpiece of the museum and gives visitors far greater access to the collection. The exhibits move beyond the objects themselves to tell the stories of the people who lived through this history and fought against it. The building also includes a dedicated archive and research area. A library reading room and seminar space support the museum’s educational programs. Interactive artifact explorers and a recording studio bring visitors into the collection in different ways.
The new museum opened September 30, 2026, on Ferris State University’s campus in Big Rapids.
