Ferris State opens $22 million Jim Crow Museum

The 26,000-square-foot standalone facility houses more than 30,000 artifacts and uses architecture, exhibition design, and research space to expand the university museum’s educational mission.
Oct. 6, 2026
3 min read
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Key Highlights

  • The museum's new building features a 7,500-square-foot exhibition gallery, dedicated archives, research areas, and interactive artifact explorers.
  • Architectural design incorporates symbolism like the steel veil and river-inspired forms to reflect themes of racism and resistance.
  • Large photographs and racist caricatures are integrated into windows, turning architecture into part of the interpretive experience.
  • The expanded space allows for greater preservation, research, and community engagement, supporting the museum's educational mission.
Courtesy of Jason Keen
Curving, rusted-metal colored exterior of museum juxtaposed to glass facade.

Ferris State University has opened a new $22 million home for its Jim Crow Museum of Racist Imagery, replacing a much smaller space with a 26,000-square-foot standalone facility designed to make the building itself part of the museum’s educational experience.

The university formally opened the museum on Sept. 30 on its Big Rapids, Mich., campus at 630 S. Michigan Ave. The new facility houses more than 30,000 artifacts and significantly expands the space available for exhibitions, research, education, and collection preservation, according to a press release.

The project represents a major expansion for a collection that began more than three decades ago in a 500-square-foot teaching space, the university described in an announcement promoting its grand opening. In 2012, the museum moved into about 3,500 square feet in the lower level of Ferris State’s FLITE library, but that location provided limited room for exhibits, seminars, community engagement, storage, and preservation.

The new building’s centerpiece is a 7,500-square-foot exhibition gallery. It also includes a dedicated archive and research area, library reading room, seminar space, interactive artifact explorers, and a recording studio where visitor stories and reflections can be preserved.

Architecture becomes part of the exhibit

Neumann/Smith Architecture served as the building architect and interior designer while Howard+Revis Design led exhibition design, and Rockford Construction served as construction manager. The design elements of the space were developed around the museum’s guiding themes of “Witness, Understand, Heal,” according to the university.

A steel veil wrapping portions of the exterior draws from W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of “the veil” in The Souls of Black Folk. The motif represents the barrier through which Black Americans historically have been viewed through racism and stereotypes rather than as individuals.

Courtesy of Jason Keen
Exterior of new Jim Crow Museum at night featuring lighted glass wall containing historic photography from the collection.
River-inspired forms appear throughout the building, landscape, lobby flooring, and exterior circulation. Red and citron yellow are used to distinguish themes associated with Jim Crow oppression from African American resistance and achievement.

In the museum’s reflection space, a domed mosaic takes inspiration from Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas. Large photographs of Black Americans also are incorporated into windows where corresponding racist caricatures become visible only from inside the building, turning the architecture into part of the museum’s interpretive experience.

Why this matters

The Ferris State project demonstrates how a higher education capital project can do more than provide additional square footage. The university moved a collection from 3,500 square feet in an existing library to a purpose-built 26,000-square-foot facility in which architecture, exhibition design, research, preservation, and educational programming were planned together.

The project also illustrates how building design can support an institution’s academic and cultural mission rather than simply house it. The expanded archive, research spaces, seminar areas, and visitor capacity give Ferris State infrastructure that can support the museum’s work well beyond the exhibition gallery.

Museum founder David Pilgrim, Ferris State’s vice president for Diversity, Inclusion, and Strategic Initiatives, said the larger facility enables the museum to present not only the artifacts of racism but also the stories of people who resisted it through achievement, activism, and everyday life.

“Our mission is to educate and inspire,” Pilgrim said. “The very building itself is a powerful tool to spark discussion and tell the story.”

More room for research, preservation, and education

Beyond expanding exhibition space, the project also addresses practical collection-management needs. Ferris State says the larger standalone facility provides more appropriate space to preserve its collection while increasing capacity for scholars, school groups, community organizations, and other visitors. The archive and research component also extends the museum’s role beyond public exhibitions.

The museum describes its collection as the nation’s largest publicly accessible collection of artifacts of intolerance. Its mission is to place those objects in historical context and use them to educate visitors about racism, resistance, and African American resiliency.

This piece was created with the help of generative AI tools and edited by our content team for clarity and accuracy.
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