0101 History of Cranbrook Art Museum

On January 19, 1904, Detroit newspaper publisher and philanthropist George Gough Booth (1864–1949) and his wife, Ellen Scripps Booth (1863–1948), purchased 175 acres in rural Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, setting into motion a vision that ultimately transformed their vacation property into one of the nation’s foremost educational communities. At the heart of what is now Cranbrook Educational Community stands its Art Museum, which is among the first contemporary art museums in America.