Congressman Ford initially began donating his congressional papers to the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan, his alma mater (B.A. 1935), in 1963. As his presidency drew to a close, Ford offered to donate his presidential materials to a presidential library that would be built on the university's campus and administered by the National Archives. The Library was dedicated on 27 April 1981.
The Ford Library is currently the only National Archives presidential library that is physically separate from its presidential museum, although both sites share a common director. The Gerald R. Ford Museum is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ford's old congressional district and hometown, 130 miles west of Ann Arbor.