GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An event this week at the Grand Rapids Public Museum looks to recount the history of public health in the city.

The program titled GR Stories – Public Health History in Grand Rapids will take place on Wednesday at the museum’s Meijer Theater starting at 6 p.m. It is part of the museum’s ongoing GR Stories Series.

It will include presentations from students at Grand Valley State University who worked with the museum to research their topics. The presentations will explore public health work conducted and founded in West Michigan, particularly the work of Dr. Pearl Kendrick, Grace Eldering and Loney Gordon.

“There’s so much history too behind public health. It’s something that’s being talked about, you know current day, but in the past, Grand Rapids has been known for making a lot of strides in public health,” the museum’s Collection’s Curator Andrea Melvin said.

One student involved in the seminar, Hannah Krebs, is taking a look into the work female researchers played in the invention of the whooping cough vaccine. She said enjoyed getting to not only learn about something she is personally interested in but also connect different pieces of information from the archives.

“It’s just been a very valuable and fulfilling experience to get all of these pieces and finally be able to put them together into something that makes sense,” she said. “A story rather than just separated pieces of information.”

Other topics of discussion will be Grand Rapids being the first city in the country to put fluoride in its public water system and discuss the city’s importance in the health field today.

The event is free to attend and guests are encouraged to arrive ahead of time. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.