,men ,who ,made ,history                
,,henry ,,ford3                         
,highlights of ,his ,life               
,a ,publication of               ,the   
,henry ,ford ,museum and ,greenfield    
,village                                
,,dearborn1 ,,michigan                  
,copyright #aifd                        
,the ,edison ,institute                 
,dearborn1 ,michigan   ,henry ,ford     
spent his early life on a farm4 ,he was 
born in a small frame house that stood  
in a grove a few miles from ,detroit1   
near the ,river ,rouge4 ,on each side of
 the river were the farms of people who 
had come to the ,middle ,west to get    
land of their own4 ,henry's father1     
,william ,ford1 was one of these early  
settlers4  ,the elder ,ford came to     
,america from ,ireland in #ahdg1 the    
year of the great potato famine in that 
country4 ,he made his way to southern   
,michigan where he found work4 ,at      
first1 he labored on the railroad and   
then at the arsenal in ,dearbornville4  

,later1 he was a hired hand on the farm 
of ,patrick ,o',hern in ,springwells    
,township4 ,here ,william ,ford settled 
down4 ,he purchased forty acres of land1
 and with his employer1 ,patrick        
,o',hern1 built a farmhouse4 ,in #ahfa  
he married ,mary ,litogot1 the foster   
daughter of ,o',hern4  ,henry ,ford1 the
 first son of ,mary and ,william1 was   
born in #ahfc4 ,soon there were brothers
 and sisters4 ,their life on the farm   
was a round of doing chores1 working in 
the fields1 and taking trips to town4   
,in the winter1 the children went to the
 one-room school over at the ,scotch    
settlement4  ,henry ,ford might well    
have remained on the farm and followed  
in his father's footsteps4 ,the soil    
around ,dearborn was fertile1 and the   
products of the land found a good market
 in nearby ,detroit1 a busy lake port4  
,although farming meant hard work and   
long hours1 it was an honorable trade4  
,william ,ford was not rich1 but neither
 was he poor4 ,he held a position of    

respect in the community4  ,but ,henry  
,ford had other ideas4 ,he wanted to    
have something to do with machinery4 ,he
 was interested in the tools of the farm
 rather than in the farm itself4 ,he    
also tinkered with watches2 at the age  
of thirteen he was repairing the        
timepieces of his friends4 ,it was a    
real thrill for him when ,fred ,reden1 a
 neighbor1 brought the first portable   
steam engine to ,dearborn4 ,henry was   
permitted to fire its boiler4 ,on the   
trips to town with his father1 he saw   
other machines1 road engines1 carding   
mills1 and grist mills4  ,when ,henry   
finished school at the age of sixteen1  
he did what thousands of other farmers' 
sons were doing--he left for the city4  
,detroit was a bustling town of one     
hundred thousand people4 ,it was a      
commercial center for the ,great ,lakes 
shipping trade1 and it was also an      
industrial center4 ,it was to the shops 
and factories of ,detroit that ,henry   
,ford came to learn a trade4  ,his first

 job1 at the ,michigan ,car ,works1     
lasted only six days1 but he soon found 
another one at the machine shop of      
,james ,flowers and ,bros41 where he    
became a machinist's apprentice4 ,in    
this shop he learned about engines1 and 
about the tools and machines that made  
parts for other machines4 ,at night he  
repaired watches in the jewelry shop of 
,james ,magill4 ,a few months later1 he 
left the ,flowers' shop to work at the  
,dry ,dock ,engine ,company where he had
 greater opportunity to learn about     
steam engines4 ,when his apprenticeship 
was over1 he became ,henry ,ford1 the   
machinist4  ,instead of continuing to   
work at his trade in the shops of       
,detroit1 he went back to ,dearborn4    
,william ,ford lent his son eighty acres
 of timbered land1 and ,henry ,ford set 
up a saw mill4 ,during the harvesting   
season1 he operated an engine for a     
group of threshers4 ,he also found time 
to travel about southern ,michigan      
repairing ,westinghouse portable steam  

engines4  ,henry ,ford was also         
continuing his education4 ,for several  
months he attended a business college in
 ,detroit1 all the while tinkering with 
machines and learning still more about  
tools4 ,he had an opportunity to repair1
 and thus become familiar with1 a gas   
engine at an iron works in ,detroit4 ,as
 an apprentice1 he had read about such  
an engine1 invented by a ,german named  
,otto1 which received its power from an 
explosion inside the cylinder4 ,several 
,americans were also thinking about this
 internal combustion engine4  ,in #ahhh 
he married ,clara ,bryant1 whose father 
owned a farm near the ,ford homestead in
 ,dearborn4 ,after their marriage1 the  
young couple built a square house       
nearby1 where they lived for nearly     
three years4 ,during this time1 ,henry  
farmed as well as repaired and operated 
steam engines4  ,in #ahia1 ,henry ,ford 
ended his days on the farm by moving    
back to ,detroit1 where he was employed 
by the ,edison ,illuminating ,company1  

one of several companies that furnished 
electricity to the city4 ,detroit was   
changing--in the days of his            
apprenticeship1 there had been no       
electric lights for homes and streets   
and shops4 ,henry's new job was to keep 
the steam engines running at the ,willis
 ,avenue power station4  ,the year #ahic
 was a good year for ,henry ,ford1 in   
spite of the fact that it was a hard    
year of panic for many other people4 ,at
 the ,world's ,fair in ,chicago that    
summer1 he was able to add to his       
knowledge of gas engines and horseless  
carriages4 ,late in the year1 his son   
,edsel was born4 ,shortly after this1   
his pay was raised and he was           
transferred to the main plant of the    
,illuminating ,company4 ,to be nearer   
his new job1 the ,ford family moved to  
#eh ,bagley ,avenue in ,detroit4 ,in the
 back yard of the new home was a brick  
shed2 here ,henry set up his tools and  
continued his tinkering with gas        
engines4  ,his first experiment was not 

long in the making4 ,with a piece of gas
 pipe1 an old wheel1 some wire1 and     
other scraps of metal assembled on a    
long board fastened to the kitchen sink 
in the ,ford home1 he made his first    
model gas engine4 ,although it sputtered
 and jumped1 it worked4  ,during the    
years that ,henry ,ford worked on his   
homemade engines1 other men were also   
experimenting with gas engines1 and they
 were just as determined as he was to   
make them operate successfully4 ,the    
fair in ,chicago had aroused the        
curiosity of many people1 and the       
newspapers began to carry stories about 
horseless carriages4 ,from ,france came 
word of the exploits of ,daimler and    
,benz with their road wagons1 and in    
#ahie1 ,new ,yorkers saw three ,benz    
horseless wagons4 ,henry ,ford traveled 
,east to see them4 ,late in the same    
year1 the ,chicago ,times-,herald       
announced that it would give a #e1jjj   
prize to the winner of a race between   
these new contraptions4 ,only four cars 

were ready at race time1 and only two   
got away from the starting line--a      
,duryea and a ,benz4 ,the ,benz won4    
,one of ,henry ,ford's friends1 ,charles
 ,b4 ,king of ,detroit1 was an umpire of
 the race4 ,back in ,detroit1 the two   
friends probably discussed the merits of
 the cars that ,king had seen in        
,chicago4 ,at any rate1 ,king gave ,ford
 some intake valves for his engines4    
,henry ,ford continued to add to his    
knowledge of gas engines4 ,soon after   
the race in ,chicago1 the ,american     
,machinist magazine told of an engine   
invented by ,e4 ,j4 ,pennington which1  
in a day when most gas engines were     
bulky and heavy1 was light and compact4 
,this idea appealed to ,ford1 and his   
work took a new turn4                   
,the ,first ,ford ,takes to the ,road   
,by the spring of #ahif1 he was ready to
 make a trial run with his own horseless
 carriage4 ,first he had to tear out    
part of the brick wall of his shed in   
order to get his machine into the alley4

 ,once in the open1 the engine was      
started1 and the car bumped down the    
cobblestone street and continued        
successfully on its first short run     
around the block4 ,a few weeks later1 he
 drove it out to the homestead in       
,dearborn4 ,his father was not impressed
 with the contraption4  ,these first    
tests meant more labor2 hours of        
changing1 adjusting1 and repairing were 
ahead4 ,during the day1 ,ford was the   
chief engineer of the ,illuminating     
,company1 but in his spare time1 he was 
,ford the experimenter4  ,the signs of  
the times were encouraging4 ,the great  
inventor1 ,thomas ,edison1 announced in 
the newspapers that the horse was       
doomed4 ,up in ,lansing1 ,r4 ,e4 ,olds  
produced his first ,oldsmobile4         
,alexander ,winton of ,cleveland drove  
his auto from ,cleveland to ,new ,york1 
making what was called a reliability    
run4 ,william ,k4 ,vanderbilt bought a  
car to race4 ,all over the nation1      
people began to read and hear about the 

marvels of the new invention1 of the men
 who were building cars1 and of the     
races they held at fairgrounds and      
parks4  ,a new field was thus opened up 
for sportsmen4 ,in ,detroit1 ,william   
,h4 ,murphy1 a prominent citizen1 heard 
of ,henry ,ford's car4 ,murphy and his  
friends saw an opportunity to get into  
the racing car business2 they formed a  
company1 called the ,detroit ,automobile
 ,company1 with ,henry ,ford as its     
chief engineer4 ,at last he could leave 
the ,illuminating ,company and devote   
all of his time to automobiles4 ,it was 
a bold move for a man with a family to  
give up a good job4 ,some of his friends
 and relatives told each other that he  
should have stayed where he was4  ,the  
original investment of ,murphy and his  
friends was not enough4 ,improvements   
and changes in the model were made4     
,even though #fh1jjj was invested in the
 company1 the hoped for production of   
many cars never materialized1 and in    
,january1 #aija1 ,henry ,ford left the  

,detroit ,automobile ,company4  ,henry  
,ford went to work on a racer which he  
hoped would bring him new opportunities 
to manufacture automobiles4 ,his chance 
came in #aija4 ,it was announced in     
,detroit that ,alexander ,winton would  
race his world champion car1 ,the       
,bullet1 at the ,grosse ,pointe race    
track1 a few miles from the city2 ,henry
 ,ford challenged the champion4  ,when  
the day of the race arrived1 stores and 
shops closed1 and a parade of           
sixty-eight cars moved out to ,grosse   
,pointe4 ,three cars lined up for the   
ten-mile race1 but only ,winton and     
,ford got away4 ,at the end of eight    
miles1 ,ford was trailing ,winton1 but  
then the ,bullet began to sputter1 and  
it limped to the finish line behind the 
racer built by ,ford4 ,the newspapers   
the next day reported that ,henry ,ford 
was now in the first rank of ,american  
chauffeurs4  ,in ,november1 #aija1 the  
,henry ,ford ,company was organized to  
manufacture automobiles1 but the venture

 was short-lived1 and four months later1
 ,ford was working for himself again4   
,in his small workshop1 he went to work 
on two new racers1 the ,arrow and the   
#iii4 ,with the help of a draftsman1 a  
mechanic1 and a retired bicycle         
champion1 the new cars were made ready  
for racing4  ,ford found a bicycle      
champion1 ,barney ,oldfield1 to pilot   
his #iii in the ,manufacturers          
,challenge ,cup ,race at ,grosse        
,pointe4 ,this time his car led the     
field to a new record1 finishing a mile 
in front of his competitors4  ,after the
 race1 ,a4 ,y4 ,malcomson1 a ,detroit   
coal dealer1 became interested in ,henry
 ,ford and his automobiles4 ,the two men
 became partners in a new venture and   
,henry ,ford began work on a pilot model
 for a new car4 ,during the early months
 of #aijc1 more investors were found4   
,by spring1 a new company was organized 
to carry out the plans of ,ford and     
,malcomson4  ,in ,june1 #aijc1 the ,ford
 ,motor ,company was incorporated4 ,in  

addition to ,malcomson1 the original    
stockholders included ,james ,couzens1  
an employee of ,malcomson2 ,john and    
,horace ,dodge1 the owners of a machine 
shop2 ,albert ,strelow1 a contractor2   
,john ,s4 ,gray1 a banker2 ,vernon ,e4  
,fry1 a real estate dealer2 ,charles ,h4
 ,bennett1 an air rifle manufacturer2   
,c4 ,j4 ,woodhall1 a clerk2 ,horace ,h4 
,rackham and ,john ,w4 ,anderson1       
lawyers2 and ,henry ,ford4 ,together1   
they had raised #bh1jjj to start the new
 venture4  ,the new company rented a    
building on ,mack ,avenue in ,detroit   
for #ge a month and prepared to         
manufacture its automobiles4 ,the new   
factory was #bej feet long by #ej feet  
wide4 ,this was adequate space1 since   
the new company did not attempt to make 
any of the parts for its cars4 ,the     
,dodge brothers1 who owned a large      
machine shop1 made the ,ford chassis1 a 
carriage company built the body1 and the
 wheels were purchased in ,lansing4     
,once the parts were brought together1 a

 dozen men assembled1 adjusted1 and     
tested the completed car--the early     
model ,a ,ford4 ,soon this car1 which   
sold for #iej f4o4b4 ,detroit1 was      
advertised as the boss of the road4 ,its
 two cylinders gave it a maximum speed  
of thirty miles per hour4  ,although    
,henry ,ford's first two ventures into  
automobile manufacturing had not been   
successful1 this third attempt showed   
great promise4 ,at the end of the first 
year1 the ,ford ,motor ,company had sold
 over seventeen hundred automobiles4    
,the year #aijc1 which marked a turning 
point in the life of ,henry ,ford1 now  
forty years of age1 was an interesting  
year for all ,americans4 ,the first     
successful transcontinental automobile  
trip was completed in ,august4 ,a       
telegraphic cable was completed across  
the ,pacific to ,manila in the          
,philippines4 ,in ,washington1 ,theodore
 ,roosevelt was clearing the way for the
 building of the ,panama ,canal1 and in 
,new ,jersey1 the ,edison studios       

completed the first full-length motion  
picture1 called ,the ,great ,train      
,robbery4 ,finally1 in ,december1       
,orville and ,wilbur ,wright flew an    
airplane successfully at ,kitty ,hawk1  
,north ,carolina4 ,during the next few  
years1 those who marveled at progress in
 #aijc saw even greater changes in their
 way of living brought about by improved
 transportation and communication4 ,the 
twentieth century had started off well4 
,the ,ford ,motor ,company was also     
experimenting with changes4 ,models ,b1 
,c1 and ,f appeared4 ,when the ,mack    
,avenue plant was no longer adequate to 
house the activities of the company1 a  
new building was erected1 ten times     
larger than the first one4 ,by #aijf1   
the company announced models ,n1 ,s1 and
 ,r1 as well as a six-cylinder ,k4      
,experimentation went beyond the        
building of different models of         
automobiles2 for example1 a tractor was 
planned and constructed1 but never sold4
  ,during this time1 changes were also  

made in the ownership of the plant4     
,some of the stockholders sold out1 and 
,henry ,ford became the major owner of  
the ,ford ,motor ,company4  ,a real     
danger to ,ford and his company during  
these early years was the threat of a   
patent suit4 ,back at the time of the   
,times-,herald race in #ahie1 ,george   
,selden1 a lawyer in ,rochester1 ,new   
,york1 had patented a self-propelled    
vehicle driven by an internal combustion
 engine4 ,although he never built an    
automobile1 all those who did were      
threatened with infringement suits4     
,this fact made it necessary for the    
makers of automobiles to pay royalties  
to the patent holder4 ,the ,ford ,motor 
,company refused4 ,the result was a long
 and involved battle in the federal     
courts1 lasting until #aiaa when the    
case was finally settled in favor of the
 ,ford ,motor ,company4                 
,illustration3 ,the farmhouse where     
,henry ,ford was born in #ahfc          
stands today in ,greenfield ,village 444

      ,illustration3 444 along with the 
small brick schoolhouse from the        
,scotch settlement where he began school
 in #ahga4      ,illustration3 ,the     
interior of the #eh ,bagley ,avenue     
workshop where     ,ford built his first
 car1 as restored in ,greenfield        
,village4 ,the car     itself is now on 
display in ,the ,henry ,ford ,museum4   
,illustration3 ,the body drop at the    
,highland ,park plant of the     ,ford  
,motor ,company in #aiac4 ,the modern   
automobile assembly line grew     from  
such operations as this4                
,photo courtesy ,ford ,motor ,company   
,archives      ,illustration3 ,henry    
,ford views his first car and the ten   
millionth     ,ford in #aibd4444        
,illustration3 ,by this time the ,model 
,t standing in front of a     farmhouse 
was a familiar sight all over ,america4 
,photo courtesy ,ford ,motor ,company   
,the ,model ,t is ,born   ,in spite of  
experimentation1 reorganization1 and    
patent difficulties1 the year #aijg     

found the ,ford ,motor ,company         
operating successfully4 ,this was a year
 of panic in the nation1 but the company
 made plans to build an even bigger     
factory to manufacture automobiles4 ,in 
#aijh1 it was announced that the ,ford  
,motor ,company had purchased a race    
track in nearby ,highland ,park where it
 would construct the largest automobile 
plant in the world4 ,at the same time1  
draftsmen and engineers were planning a 
new model1 to be called model ,t4 ,in   
,october1 #aijh1 the first model ,t     
appeared1 and before the year ended1    
over three hundred of them had been     
shipped to dealers throughout the       
nation4 ,the ,ford company claimed that 
this new automobile would sound the     
death knell of high prices and big      
profits4 ,its advertisements announced  
that we can devote all our time and     
money to taking care of the orders for  
the car that people have actually been  
waiting for--a family car at an honest  
price4 ,the engine was new and          

get-at-able1 an important feature in a  
day when most automobile owners repaired
 their own cars4  ,while ,henry ,ford   
had been a prominent automobile         
manufacturer before #aijh1 it was this  
new universal car that brought a new era
 in ,america4 ,the automobile was no    
longer intended for sportsmen alone1 but
 for all those who could afford to buy  
one1 and ,henry ,ford intended to see   
that the price of his automobile was low
 enough for millions of people to own a 
,ford car4  ,soon after the success of  
the model ,t was assured1 ,henry ,ford  
was asked about the secret of his       
ability to produce automobiles4 ,he     
divulged his secret in these terms3 have
 a simple design1 use the latest        
machinery1 standardize the parts1 make  
the entire automobile yourself1 and     
always have a good supply of materials  
on hand4 ,throughout the rest of his    
life1 he held to these principles4  ,by 
#aiaa1 ,ford cars were manufactured by  
the hundreds of thousands4 ,the process 

of assembling automobiles received more 
and more attention1 and by #aiad1 a     
,ford car could be put together in an   
hour and a half4 ,by the end of #aiae1 a
 million model ,t's had been produced4  
,it had taken seven years to make this  
many of them1 but in the next eleven    
years1 fourteen million more were placed
 on the market4 ,the model ,t ,ford was 
the universal car in fact as well as in 
name4  ,while model ,t's changed in     
appearance from year to year1 there was 
an even greater and never-ending change 
in the process of manufacturing them4   
,the resulting economies brought lower  
prices1 and this meant more cars for    
more people4  ,henry ,ford was ever on  
the lookout for ways and means to       
produce cars more efficiently4 ,by      
#aiad1 a floor conveyor was in operation
 at the ,highland ,park plant1 so that  
the half-completed cars moved through   
the plant while the workers stayed in   
one place4 ,this assembly line became   
the key to greater production4 ,in order

 to keep the line moving smoothly1      
machinery was continually being         
rearranged and new chutes and conveyors 
were installed4 ,each improvement       
brought new and often unforeseen        
problems in the never-ending task of    
fitting together the pieces of the huge 
jig-saw puzzle of production4  ,although
 the ,ford ,motor ,company did not      
manufacture the parts that were used in 
assembling the first ,ford1 this policy 
was changed through the years4 ,more and
 more of the model ,t was made by the   
company in its own plant4 ,in #aiae1    
,henry ,ford sent an agent out to       
,dearborn to buy farm land along the    
,river ,rouge--thousands of acres were  
purchased4 ,now there would be room not 
only to enlarge the assembly line       
itself1 but to manufacture more of the  
,ford in one factory4 ,here it would be 
possible to begin with raw              
materials--iron ore1 sand1 cotton1      
rubber1 and the countless other         
materials--and convert them into steel1 

glass1 and cloth to make the ,ford4     
,with this in view1 a tremendous program
 of construction was begun along the    
banks of the ,river ,rouge4  ,soon there
 were industries within industries at   
the ,rouge4 ,blast furnaces and coke    
ovens were fed with coal1 iron ore1 and 
limestone brought to the plant from     
,ford mines by ,ford railroads and ,ford
 freighters4 ,there were glass mills1   
paper factories1 tire plants1 and saw   
mills4 ,the products of these mills and 
plants flowed into the assembly lines   
not only at the ,rouge plant but at     
other assembly plants scattered all over
 the world4  ,the production of ,ford   
cars rose to gigantic proportions4 ,in  
#aiad1 the year that ,henry ,ford and   
his engineers began to plan for the     
plant on the ,rouge1 over two hundred   
thousand automobiles were produced4 ,but
 in the year #aibc1 over two million    
model ,t's rolled off the assembly      
lines4 ,in #aibe1 nearly ten thousand   
,fords were completed in a single day in

 ,ford plants4 ,the world had never     
before seen such an industrial giant as 
the one ,henry ,ford and his son ,edsel 
had created4  ,the automobiles produced 
by ,ford and his competitors did more   
than replace the horse and carriage4    
,they changed the daily habits of       
,americans everywhere4  ,no longer did  
families in the cities have to live in  
the shadow of the factories where the   
head of the household was employed4     
,some families moved to the suburbs many
 miles away from stores and industries1 
while other city dwellers left the urban
 areas completely to live in the        
country4 ,on the other hand1 those who  
had always lived on farms could come to 
the city with ease in automobiles4 ,the 
farmers were able to enjoy the          
advantages of the city4 ,thus it was    
that ,americans moved about in a way    
unheard of years before4  ,as travel    
increased1 dirt roads were replaced by  
the super-highways4 ,service stations1  
motels1 and garages dotted the          

newly-built concrete and brick roads4   
,in the cities1 people became aware of  
the parking problem1 and of traffic     
jams4 ,the increasing number of         
automobiles also brought death on the   
highways and city streets to hundreds of
 ,americans each year4  ,as the years   
went by1 automobile manufacturers       
changed too4 ,at first1 there were      
dozens of makers of automobiles whose   
names are all but forgotten now4 ,as the
 number of manufacturers decreased1 the 
number of cars made annually by the     
remaining companies grew larger and     
larger4 ,eventually people talked about 
the big three of the automobile         
industry4  ,competition between rival   
makers and ,henry ,ford brought the days
 of the model ,t to an end4 ,from #aijh 
to #aibg1 fifteen million ,fords had    
been produced1 the ,ford ,motor ,company
 had become the colossus of the         
industry1 and ,henry ,ford's name was   
known all over the world4 ,nevertheless1
 in order to maintain this position1 it 

was necessary to keep pace with the     
times4 ,in order to do this1 the ,rouge 
plant was silenced until a new ,ford    
could be designed and put into          
production4 ,machine tools had to be    
replaced1 and new dies and fixtures     
made4 ,to accomplish this in the largest
 factory in the world was a herculean   
task4 ,industrial leaders all over the  
nation watched with eager eyes for news 
from ,henry ,ford at ,dearborn4         
,finally1 in ,december1 #aibg1 the new  
model ,a was shown to the public4 ,this 
new ,ford was front page news over the  
nation4 ,at the ,madison ,square ,garden
 in ,new ,york ,city1 attendance records
 were broken when crowds came to see the
 model ,a4  ,this new ,ford bore little 
resemblance to the model ,t4 ,it now had
 a gear shift1 four-wheel brakes1 and a 
foot throttle4 ,it offered many         
variations in body styles and color1 and
 it was the first automobile to have a  
safety-glass windshield4  ,the ,river   
,rouge plant once again hummed with     

activity4 ,thousands of model ,a's were 
produced each day4 ,by #aicb1 five      
million of the new ,fords were on the   
highways of the nation4 ,that year1 the 
,ford ,motor ,company introduced the    
,v-#h engine1 which was unique in its   
field4  ,the transition from the        
gas-pipe cylinder on the kitchen sink   
back at #eh ,bagley ,avenue in the      
#ahij's to powerful eight-cylinder      
engines that were turned out by the     
thousands each day at the largest       
industrial plant in the world had taken 
a long time to accomplish4 ,during these
 decades1 ,henry ,ford relentlessly     
pursued his idea--more cars for more    
people4                                 
,new ,fields ,beckon   ,automobiles1    
however1 were not the only thing that   
interested the man who put ,america on  
wheels4 ,he had many other ideas1 some  
of which failed while others succeeded4 
,there was1 first1 the matter of his    
interest in farming1 and in the land4   
,he had experimented with a gasoline    

farm tractor early in the #aijj's1 but  
he was unsuccessful in developing a line
 of farm engines4 ,in #aiae1 a tractor  
plant at ,dearborn was begun4 ,some of  
the first tractors were sent to ,british
 farmers during the first ,world ,war4  
,out of this experience grew the        
,fordson tractor1 which1 like the model 
,t1 was light in weight and had a low   
selling price4 ,much more important to  
the farmers than his tractors was the   
effect that the model ,t ,ford car had  
on the life of the people in rural      
areas4 ,it had1 in fact1 been called the
 farmers' car4 ,eventually ,henry ,ford 
became interested in farming itself4 ,he
 had thousands of acres put under       
cultivation on ,ford farms4 ,in the     
#aicj's1 with the world burdened under  
an economic depression1 ,ford revived   
his interest in a program which he had  
begun in #aiai of establishing small    
factories in the rural areas of         
,michigan4 ,he hoped to reverse the tide
 that saw farmers rushing to become city

 dwellers1 thereby bringing about a     
decline of agricultural areas4 ,he also 
became interested in the products of the
 soil that could be used in the making  
of automobiles4 ,the agricultural       
laboratories he established discovered  
many substitutes for metals1 and ,ford  
cars began to appear with parts made    
from soybeans and other agricultural    
crops4  ,he also had an idea about      
transportation in the air4 ,the idea    
ranged from flivver planes to all-metal 
three-motored transport ships4 ,the     
,ford tri-motor played an important part
 in the development of commercial       
aviation4 ,pilots called it the tin     
goose1 and it became known far and wide 
as a safe airplane in a day when flying 
was hazardous4 ,aviation safety was also
 aided when a radio beacon system was   
first perfected at ,dearborn4 ,then for 
a period of years1 ,ford dropped the    
manufacture of airplanes1 but in #aida1 
with the coming of ,world ,war ,,ii1    
airplane production became a necessary  

part of war preparation1 and ,henry     
,ford made airplanes again4 ,this time  
they were faster1 bigger1 and more      
deadly4 ,bombers moved down the assembly
 lines at the ,willow ,run plant1 which 
was the ,rouge of the bomber industry4  
,when the war ended and production was  
halted1 over eight thousand ,liberators 
had been assembled by the ,ford ,motor  
,company4  ,henry ,ford watched over the
 assembly line at ,willow ,run just as  
he did at the ,rouge4 ,he continued to  
learn from tools and machines and to    
read the story they had to tell4 ,out of
 his own experiences came his ideas     
about education4 ,in speaking of his    
youth1 he once said1 ,i was studying all
 the time1 not only from books but also 
from things4 ,in #aibi he put his ideas 
into practice by establishing a combined
 school and museum1 which he called ,the
 ,edison ,institute4  ,here he brought  
the schoolhouses1 the dwellings1 the    
workshops1 and the stores of other days 
so that the pupils in the schools of the

 ,institute could study not only from   
books but from things4 ,this part of the
 ,institute he called ,greenfield       
,village4 ,he gathered thousands of     
objects to put into ,the ,henry ,ford   
,museum so that they could be studied by
 all who wanted to learn about the past4
 ,i am collecting the history of our    
people as written into things their     
hands made and used1 he said2 444 a     
piece of machinery or anything that is  
made is like a book1 if you can read it4
 ,it is part of man's spirit4 ,he thus  
provided a school not only for children 
but also for workers4 ,henry ,ford once 
called the museum and ,village that he  
had created a people's university4 ,here
 at ,the ,edison ,institute the creator 
of mass production methods--now         
intensely interested in the hand work of
 village craftsmen--spent many hours4   
,he continued to be keenly interested in
 the future of the automobile industry  
while he collected relics of the past4  
,his unusual appreciation of both the   

past and the future is illustrated by   
the description of ,henry ,ford as the  
one man who could spend his time        
collecting old churns while he followed 
the experiments of his chemists         
concerning synthetic milk4  ,from his   
home in ,dearborn1 he kept a watchful   
eye over the ,rouge plant1 now headed by
 his grandson1 and over ,the ,edison    
,institute4 ,it was after a visit to    
,greenfield ,village on the afternoon of
 ,april #g1 #aidg1 that ,henry ,ford    
became ill4 ,he died during the evening 
at the age of eighty-three4 ,this man1  
who had been born into a world of       
horse-drawn carriages1 had left a world 
of powered wheels4     ,while the entire
 ,edison ,institute stands as a memorial
 to ,henry ,ford's interest in the past1
 certain exhibits have a particularly   
close relationship to his life and work4
  ,at the ,henry ,ford ,museum1 visitors
 can see a special exhibition entitled  
,henry ,ford3 a ,personal ,history4     
,this display depicts the important     

stages in ,henry ,ford's busy career4   
,in ,greenfield ,village1 buildings     
which were closely associated with his  
life include3    ,the ,birthplace of    
,henry ,ford4   ,the ,bagley ,avenue    
workshop1 where ,henry ,ford built his  
first           automobile4   ,the      
,magill ,jewelry ,store1 where1 as a    
youth1 he repaired watches and          
clocks4   ,the ,scotch ,settlement      
,school and the ,miller ,school1 where  
,henry ,ford           received his     
formal education4                       
,transcriber's ,notes   --,silently     
corrected a few typos4  --,retained     
publication information from the printed
 edition3 this e,book   is public-domain
 in the country of publication4  --,in  
the text versions only1 text in italics 
is delimited by   underscores4