For more than a century, the Ottawa County Poor Farm was a place some people called home, and a source of identity in the county’s community. But time has erased memories of its significance. This past summer (2022), Hope College students Chloe Bares, Aubrey Brolsma, and Ty Overhiser along with Wayne Tan, Associate Professor of History, worked together to find new perspectives on the Poor Farm. Using rare historical records and new digital and data analytical tools, this presentation breathes new life into stories about the Poor Farm—its residents and their lives, and its rise and decline in the timeline of the community’s history.

This off-site presentation is a collaboration between the Holland Museum, the Hope College History Department, and the Herrick District Library