Mugging for the Camera: Mug Shot Book, 1897-1911

by Gina Bivins

I became fascinated with the mug shot book in the early 1980s when I volunteered for the Grand Rapids Public Museum open house, held once a year at the building on Jefferson Street. The recreated shops in the 1850s Gaslight Village were open to the public only at this special time.

The Police Station was my assignment one year. The mug shot book stood on a desk just inside the door, open. Six criminals of the past stared out all day as visitors took a peek into the small room housing a cell with bunk beds, a desk and not much else, as I recall. I am sure there were pictures on the wall, a uniform coat, perhaps a billy club and a set of handcuffs. But for me, the focal point was the book. There was information about each person, and I read every word.

Years later I worked in collections during the construction of the new museum building on Pearl Street. At some point I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the book. Wearing the appropriate gloves, I carefully turned pages and read about the people within.

The most common crime seemed to be larceny. Sometimes the person was charged with both larceny and burglary. There were murderers and assault with the intent to murder. There were counterfeiters and forgers, embezzlers and grand larceny. In fact, I found more than 29 different offenses listed. Continued on page 2...

When I first started working on this project I didn’t know what direction to go. I just knew I wanted to share this interesting piece of local history. The entries begin in the fall of 1897, and although the last entry is in 1915, I stopped my research in 1911. It was just too overwhelming to go any further.

There are people from all over the country. City residents are by far the most common. There were a notable number from Detroit, Toledo and Chicago. The majority of people arrested were under the age of 30. The youngest I found was fifteen and the oldest sixty nine. After a while I decided I didn’t need any more statistical information, I wanted to know what happened. That is when I started looking in newspapers to get the story behind the crime.

The presentation for the Historical Society will take a look at a small sample of crime. There are 1,100 separate cards in the book, with each individual having a story. My talk will focus in on 40 of those people, while giving several others a simple glance.

“Mugging for the Camera: Mug Shot Book, 1897-1911” by Gina Bivins, President, Grand Rapids Historical Society, Thursday, May 9, 2013 at the Women’s City Club Cocktails at 6:00 pm, dinner at 6:45 pm.