Life and Career of the President

Portrait painting of “Pop” Churm by Mathias Alten, 1935. Churm was Gerald R. Ford’s history teacher and track coach at South High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford once wrote, “Pop Churm was the very best. He epitomized character, compassion, leadership and patriotism. Pop was loved, respected and followed because he always stood tall and strong for what was right.”

Accession Number: 1982.8
Dimensions: 42 x 33”
Donor: Gift of the Estate of Percy L. Churm
Donation Date: December 7, 1979

Loving cup trophy won by the 1930 South High School football team, which included a young Gerald R. Ford. The trophy is inscribed, “Herpolsheimers Co Intra City Football Championship Cup Won By South High- 1930.” This trophy attended 30-30 Club (the 30 players of the 1930 South High School football team) meetings every year up to 2001.

Accession Number: 2008.103.1
Dimensions: 19 x 14 x 9”
Donation Date: February 14, 2008
Donor: Gift of Gerry R. Johnson, on behalf of South High Varsity Club

Miniature of the Gerald "Our" Ford billboard displayed throughout the nation during the month of mourning following Ford’s death on December 26, 2006. Silver stand and blue billboard. Design developed by Robert Jackson of Extra Credit Projects, Grand Rapids.

Accession Number: 2007.28.1
Dimensions: 9.75 x 10 x 2”
Donation Date: March 7, 2007
Donor: Gift of Rob Jackson

The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award presented to Gerald R. Ford on May 21, 2001. Senator Edward Kennedy presented Ford with the high honor and remarked:
“At a time of national turmoil, America was fortunate that it was Gerald Ford who took the helm of the storm-tossed ship of state. Unlike many of us at the time, President Ford recognized that the nation had to move forward, and could not do so if there was a continuing effort to prosecute former President Nixon. So President Ford made a courageous decision, one that historians now say cost him his office, and he pardoned Richard Nixon. I was one of those who spoke out against his action then. But time has a way of clarifying past events, and now we see that President Ford was right. His courage and dedication to our country made it possible for us to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us. He eminently deserves this award, and we are proud of his achievement.”

Accession Number: 2005.600
Dimensions: n/a
Donation Date: 2002
Donor: Gift of Gerald R. Ford

Plaster of Paris disc composed of three pieces of bricks from Gerald R. Ford's birthplace in Omaha, Nebraska. The plaster is painted red, white, and blue. Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., on July 14, 1913, in an ornate Victorian house at 3202 Woolworth Avenue.

Accession Number: 1987.702
Dimensions: 2 x 9” diameter
Donation Date:  February 24, 1975
Donor: Gift of Reverend Allen H. Martin

ray/brown fedora owned and worn by Congressman Gerald R. Ford during the 1950s. Made by Caxton Fifth Avenue. Congressman Ford gave the hat to a Grand Rapids, Michigan, charitable fundraiser.

Accession Number: 2007.40
Dimensions: 4.75 x 10.5 x 12”
Donation Date: March 19, 2007
Donor: Gift of Joan Cooper

Leather football helmet believed to have been worn by Gerald Ford while playing for the University of Michigan, 1932-1934. The helmet features the Michigan Wolverines logo. The front is embossed, “MOS / Spaulding,” with “Pat'D No 1.864.104” on back.

Accession Number: 1988.296
Dimensions: n/a
Donation Date: Unknown
Donor: Unknown

Silver Star medal with case, ribbon pin, and lapel button. Lt. James Robert Barnett earned this Silver Star for “gallantry in action” during the Vietnam War. He mailed it (along with his other military medals and commendations) to President Gerald R. Ford in protest over Ford's conditional amnesty program for Vietnam draft evaders.

Accession Number: 1989.1088.5.1-3
Dimensions: 6.5 x 3.5 x 1”
Donation Date: Unknown
Donor: Gift of Lt. James Robert Barnett

Well worn, brown leather briefcase owned and used by President Gerald R. Ford. This briefcase traveled everywhere with President Ford. It was the briefcase he always used.

Accession Number: 1983.146
Dimensions: 13 x 18.25 x 5.5”
Donation Date: 1981
Donor: Gift of Gerald R. Ford

Plaster life mask of Gerald R. Ford. Date unknown.

Accession Number: 1988.1038.33
Dimensions: 13 x 13 x 9”
Donation Date: Unknown
Donor: Unknown

Tennis racket owned and used by President Gerald R. Ford at the White House. Ford played tennis at the tennis court on the grounds of the White House for exercise and stress relief.

Accession Number: 1987.323.7
Dimensions: 1.75 x 9 x 27”
Donation Date: May 22, 1987
Donor: Gift of Gerald R. Ford

Steering wheel from the SS Mayaguez personally presented to President Gerald R. Ford in the Oval Office by the ship’s captain.

Accession Number: 1981.140
Dimensions: 22 x 40” diameter
Donor: Captain Charles Miller
Donation Date: July 24, 1975

Pair of champagne glasses used by President Gerald R. Ford and Leonid Brezhnev to toast during the Helsinki Accords.

Accession Number: 1987.209.1
Dimensions: 7.25 x 2.75”
Donation Date: March 17, 1986
Donor: Gift of Frank A. Ursomarso

Staircase from the top of the building that served as the American Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam, from the 1960s to 1975. American personnel and Vietnamese allies ascended this staircase to the roof of the embassy during the hectic and turbulent evacuation in the spring of 1975.

Accession Number: 2004.278
Dimensions: n/a
Donor: Gift of Fred Meijer
Donation Date: 1995

Colt 1911 model semi-automatic .45 caliber pistol used by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme to try and assassinate President Gerald R. Ford on September 5, 1975, in Sacramento, California. One side of slide marked “Model of 1911 U.S. Army.” Opposite side of slide marked “Colt's PT.F.A. MFG. Co. / Hartford. CT. U.S.A.” Serial number on the weapon is 94854.

Accession Number: 1989.1055.1
Dimensions: n/a
Donation Date: August 23, 1989
Donor: Gift of U. S. Attorney's Office, Sacramento, California

Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge sash owned and worn by Gerald R. Ford as a scout. It contains 26 merit badges and two rank advancements. Dates to the 1920s.

Note: More information on merit badges earned by Gerald R. Ford here: www.lincoln-highway-museum.org/GRF/GRF-02-Index.html
 

Accession Number: 1981.128.2
Dimensions: 30 x 4”
Donation Date: 1981
Donor: Gift of Gerald R. Ford

Black manual typewriter in carrying case made by Royal Typewriter Co., Inc. New York. Label on case reads, “Property of Congressman Gerald R. Ford.”

Accession Number: 2007.7.20
Dimensions: 6 x 13 x 14”
Donation Date: January 23, 2007
Donor: Gift of Betty Ford

Ink pen used by President Gerald R. Ford to pardon Richard Nixon on September 8, 1974.

Accession Number: 2010.10
Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.5”
Donor: Gift of National Archives and Records Administration
Donation Date: September 15, 1997

Plastic model of a launching U.S. Navy Polaris missile in five parts. Plaque on the front reads, “U.S. Navy Polaris Presented by the Polaris Missile Team  Lockheed  Aerojet-General  General Electric.” Congressman Gerald R. Ford was appointed to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Spending in 1953, and made Chairman of the Army Panel. He observed several experimental missile tests, including those for the early NIKE program. Ford became the ranking Republican on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in 1961.

Accession Number: 2008.231
Dimensions: 16 x 9.75 x 7”
Donation Date: 1981
Donor: Gift of Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense

Telephone used by President Gerald R. Ford to talk directly to the astronauts and cosmonauts during the Apollo-Soyuz mission on July 17, 1975 - the first international space mission. It is housed in a wooden presentation case.

Accession Number: 1988.648.1
Dimensions: 4.5 x 5 x 9.5”
Donation Date: Unknown
Donor: Unknown

Eagle Scout award medal earned by Gerald R. Ford in 1927. Features a metal eagle hanging from a red, white, and blue ribbon. "J.R. Ford" written in black ink on back. Complete with presentation box.

Note: More on Gerald R. Ford’s rank advancement in Boys Scouts of America here: www.lincoln-highway-museum.org/GRF/GRF-01-Index.html

Accession Number: 1981.128.5
Dimensions: 3.5 x 1.5”
Donation Date: 1981
Donor: Gift of Gerald R. Ford

Dark brown, leather football signed by the 1932 University of Michigan football team. Signatures include such notables as athletic director F.H. Yost and future President Gerald R. Ford.

Accession Number: 1984.15.1
Dimensions: 11.5 x 4.5” diameter
Donation Date: January 23, 1984
Donor: Gift of Margaret Savage James

Shadowbox display dedicated to Gerald R. Ford’s service in the Navy during World War II and given to him by Secretary of the Navy, J. William Middendorf II in the 1970s. The assemblage includes an American Campaign Medal, an Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, and a World War II Victory Medal, along with a Philippine Liberation Ribbon and a Navy garrison cap insignia device. The plaque reads, “Presented to LCDR Gerald R. Ford, Jr. / United States Naval Reserve / 1942-1963 / By J. William Middendorf II / Secretary of the Navy.”

Accession Number: 1981.128.4
Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.5 x 1.5”
Donation Date: 1981
Donor: Gift of Gerald R. Ford

One of many pairs of well worn baby shoes worn by orphans evacuated from Vietnam during Operation Babylift. The operation involved a mix of U.S. military and civilian volunteers who airlifted thousands of orphaned children during the final evacuation of Vietnam in the spring of 1975.  

Accession Number: 2007.65.8
Dimensions: 2.75 x 2.5 x 5.75”
Donor: Gift of David Barnes
Donation Date: April 10, 2007