The outdoor sculpture project documented by these records grew out of research on cultural properties conducted by Fay L. Hendry for the Michigan History Division in 1976. Unable to locate much information on outdoor sculpture in Michigan but convinced that it did exist, Hendry decided to conduct a pilot study of sculpture in the Lansing area. This was followed in 1977 by an exhibit at the Michigan Historical Museum entitled "Outdoor Sculpture in Greater Lansing: From Tombstones to Titus the Tinner."

With the aid of funds provided by the Michigan State University Development Fund, the Michigan Council for the Arts, the Michigan Council for the Humanities, the Michigan Foundation for the Arts, the Grand Rapids Foundation, the Kalamazoo Foundation, and an anonymous donor, the project was expanded in 1978 to include the Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids areas. Between 1978 and 1980, Hendry located, photographed, and documented free-standing, architectural, and cemetery sculpture in the three cities. The information collected served as the basis for three guidebooks, a traveling photographic exhibit, and public forums. The forums were held in each city in conjunction with the exhibit during 1980.

Photographs for the exhibit and guidebooks were commissioned from Balthazar Korab of Troy, Michigan. Cooperating institutions included Michigan State University, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art (Grand Rapids), and the Michigan Historical Museum, and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

Fay L. Hendry earned a B.A. (1973) and a M.A. (1975) in Art History from Michigan State University (MSU). From 1975 to 1977, she did additional postgraduate studies at MSU and the University of Michigan in art history, computer science, historic preservation, photography, and decorative arts in the museum. Hendry worked for various departments at MSU, including WMSB, Kresge Art Center, the Department of Art, and the University Archives & Historical Collections. In 1976, the Michigan History Division hired Hendry to create a report on cultural properties of the Coastal Zone Management Program. This led to her embarking on a study of outdoor sculpture in Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids. The result was a series of three guidebooks about outdoor sculptures in the aforementioned cities, “with an orientation toward social and cultural history rather than aesthetic merit” (from the Preface of the guidebooks). Additionally, the project led to several lectures and museum exhibitions.