Help

If you have any questions about the Ford Museum artifact collections, please contact us at Ask an Expert. For other questions not covered on this page, please use Contact Us.

On the homepage, you can browse pre-curated selections from our collection.

On the Artifact Collections page, you can browse artifacts by sub-collection or National Archives Catalog "series," and link to the series description entered in the National Archives and Records Administration online catalog.

On the Temporary Exhibits page, you can browse artifacts from current, past, and upcoming temporary exhibitions.

On the people page, you can browse individuals and/or organizations related to artifacts in the collection, along with relevant biographies and artifacts.

On the Favorites page, you can manage artifacts you've grouped online – see below for more information.

Enter keywords or names in the search box (Quick Search) to find artifacts in our collection. To search on specific criteria, you can use the advanced search to search within certain data fields. You can search using multiple criteria, such as the term "portrait" in the title + a date range of "1800-1900". If you are not getting any results with advanced search, try broadening your search by removing criteria. Currently, only a selection of items are available to search online. The addition, review, and updating of the Museum's collection data is ongoing. Please check back periodically for new entries.

- You can use an * (asterisk) as a wildcard in searches, to match partial terms (e.g. draw* will return results for draw, drawn, drawings, etc.)

- Use quotation marks to get more exact results - e.g. John Doe will return any results with John or Doe, but "John Doe" will return results with this exact phrase.

There are different types of search results, such as artifact and people records. When there is more than one type of result, you can click on these different tabs to view different types of records.

You can view a set of results in an image grid or list view. Use the dropdown to switch between different types of views.

You can refine a result set by opening the filter panel and using filters to narrow down results. For example, you can filter to see only works that have images within any result set. You can also clear each filter to revert to a larger result set, or clear all filters to get to your original result set.

All images presented on this website are the property of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.

Some images may carry copyright or other restrictions. The field Use Restriction Status will tell you if the collection holding or images of the holding possesses or may possess associated restrictions by indicating that the item is either “Unrestricted,” “Possibly restricted,” “Partially restricted,” or “Restricted.” If the item or images of the item are “Unrestricted,” no further information will be provided. If the item or images of the item are “Possibly restricted,” “Partially restricted,” or “Restricted,” additional information will be provided as a Use Restriction Note.

Neither the National Archives & Records Administration nor the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library andMuseum warrant that the use of restricted materials will not infringe on the rights of third parties holding the rights to these works, or make any representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement, treaty, or protections that may apply. It is the user’s responsibility to determine and satisfy any copyright or other use restrictions.

An image may be shown as “not available” if it is not yet available in our data repository, or if it cannot be displayed for copyright or other reasons.

For additional information about obtaining reproductions of holdings in the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, please visit our reproductions page.

Favorites allows users to create and save your own private sets from the collection objects available on this site for your own viewing.

You can optionally add a description for each Favorites set or add notes to individual artifacts. You can view your sets by going to the "Favorites" page and logging into your account.

To use Favorites, you must first register an account. Once you have completed registration, you can start creating private collection sets and adding artifacts to them. You can add artworks to your sets by clicking on the heart symbol while viewing artifacts, and selecting which set to add the artifact(s). After selection, you can choose to add all selected works on the page to a Favorite. You can also add the entire result set or all artifacts on a page.

Our processed archival collections–textual and audiovisual—are available for in-person research at the library. A portion of those collections have been digitized and are available on our website.