Every month our curators spotlight an item from our collections in our Pic of the Month feature.
This month, in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, curator Cynthia Read Miller looks at images from The Henry Ford’s wonderful, eclectic collection of Lincoln-related photographs. These images span the years from Lincoln’s career as an Illinois legislator during the 1840s to his tragic death in 1865. Visit November’s Pic of the Month.
We’re excited to announce our newest collection on Flickr: photobooth portraits, which joins our other historic photos on Flickr in giving new access to our deep photographic collections. These photobooth shots give insight into the use of photography in everyday life in the twentieth century, from the 1930s to the 1970s. The collection includes shots of Harvey Firestone, Jr. and Elizabeth Parke Firestone.*
We’re excited about these photos: look for a post on the cultural history of the photobooth portrait, coming soon from Cynthia R. Miller, our Curator of Prints and Photographs–and the next time you’re at Henry Ford Museum, take a picture of your own in our photobooth near the IMAX entrance.
*The Henry Ford holds a great deal of Mrs. Firestone’s couture clothing, as well as the Columbiana, Ohio, farm where Harvey Firestone, Sr. was born, among other Firestone artifacts.
In 1929, Henry Ford sent a questionnaire across the country to men and women aged 75 years or older that asked about their childhoods in the early 19th century. Over 100 people responded with detailed accounts of their lives and so collectively created a wealth of memories of one of the most transformative periods of American history.
Historical Resources intern Christine Driscoll has written a series of guest posts on the 1929 questionnaire.
In the 19th century, politics and campaigns were the focus of debate and discourse in small towns. Naturally, the election of 1860 was particularly exciting as the future of the Union seemed to hang in the balance. Those who saw Lincoln speak recalled feeling an instant connection. At the same time there was vicious contention – some did not believe Lincoln would even survive the election. As it turned out, Lincoln survived, but the Union did not.
Although the 1929 Historical Questionnaire did not explicitly inquire about the Civil War or life during the Civil War, it made an enormous impact on the children in the frontier of Michigan – financially and emotionally, as prices for food increased and fathers or brothers went to war and sometimes did not return. As children, their memories were shaped by what affected them. For instance, one woman recalled that only three days into the school term, the teacher quit to enlist in the Union Army.
The bulk of responses came from Midwestern states and consequently few responses contained any mention of slavery. Virginia Parsons was one of the few respondents born in the South, and her family moved to the North deliberately to leave the environment in which women and children were kidnapped and sold.
Mattie Ford Swope, whose family owned slaves, remembered some men deviously took advantage of the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation:
When the Negroes were freed they were told that they must pay so much to obtain their freedom and I recall plainly how Northern men would set up a little office and how the negroes would line up even down the road to try to get a chance to purchase their freedom. My mother told our people that they need not pay, that Abraham Lincoln had issued the command that they be free. Those men may have been Southern men for all I know but of course we thought it could not be.
As we went through the questionnaires, we hoped to find a response from a person whose memory of slavery would be the most accurate – someone who was born a slave. As we neared the last box of responses, we were certain we wouldn’t find one until a man named Dave Williams began his response with “I was born a slave.”
Bob Casey, automotive historian and Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford, offers up some insight into the many books written on auto pioneer Henry Ford. Two of his favorites – both of which can be found in the Henry Ford Museum Store and the Greenfield Village Store – are The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century, by Steven Watts, and Young Henry Ford: A Picture History of the First Forty Years, by Sidney Olson. “Watts’ book is the best one-volume biography of Henry Ford that I have ever read – despite all that has been written about Ford, Watts still manages to find new insights,” said Casey. “Olson mined the Ford family and business records to create a lively, well-illustrated account of Henry Ford’s first forty years, from his childhood to the initial success of Ford Motor Company.”
Jeff Seeno, intern in the Media and Film Relations department at The Henry Ford, asked Casey some questions recently about Henry Ford and these reflections of Ford’s life.
Many books written about Henry Ford either vigorously attack him, or grant him extraordinary praise for his accomplishments. Do you feel these books in any way distort the picture of the true man?
Both of these books are very balanced accounts of the true Henry Ford. These are also very personal accounts of Henry Ford’s life. For example, Ford did not appreciate the talents of his only son, Edsel, who had a great eye for cars. He loved the way cars looked, and according to Watts, Ford Motor Company could have completely dominated the market if they had harnessed Edsel’s insight. But Henry Ford loved to lap up the acclaim and position himself as an incumbent visionary, and he could articulate his vision so well that everyone wanted to jump on board.
How do these books establish the essential Henry Ford – not only as a social visionary, but as a figure who has a controversial personality?
In Olson’s book, he is not afraid to talk about the mean side of Henry Ford. He mentions that Ford was a prankster, and a mean one at that. He tells the story of a time when one of Henry’s employees, George Flint, who was rather sloppy, would leave his shoes lying about when he changed from his work clothes to his street clothes. In an effort to teach Flint to be neater, Ford nailed Flint’s shoes to the floor.
On the other end, Watts’ book shows that Ford had much strength in regards to charity and the growth of the Ford Motor Company. He was very philanthropic in a quirky way, but after executing his “Five Dollars a Day” plan, his forthright genius and creative power went to his head.
Continue reading ‘The Two Best Books You’ll Ever Read on Henry Ford’
Today’s guest poster is Hanan Saab, promotions assistant for The Henry Ford IMAX Theatre.
I was first attracted to The Henry Ford because it is important for me to work with products and people that enrich lives. Now that I am here, it is wonderful to walk through Henry Ford Museum or Greenfield Village and see children’s faces light up with curiosity, or pass a family posing together for a photo. People make memories here, and I am privileged to be a part of it. For these reasons, I am pleased to tell you about a film currently playing here at The Henry Ford IMAX® Theatre.
Many of us remember Ibn Battuta from our history classes, but few know the real extent of his travels. In the film Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta, we learn of this extraordinary traveler’s first pilgrimage to the Hajj. As a young man, Battuta felt compelled to leave his home in Morocco and travel to distant lands. In 1325, he began his journey by traveling to the destination considered the most sacred by Muslims throughout the world, both then and now: Mecca. Battuta would not return home to Morocco for nearly 30 years. We often see images of the white-clad masses gathering in Mecca, but only some understand the spirit that motivates the more than three million pilgrims who make this trip each year. This film brings that spirit into focus. Through the story of Ibn Battuta, we learn of each ritual’s origin, see how they were performed nearly 700 years ago and how they are still practiced today.
In Battuta’s time, the journey took much more commitment. Just getting to Mecca took over a year – but now, people arrive by planes, trains, ships, and even automobiles. . Through the film, we’ll follow Battuta as he travels across the North African desert, visits the splendid city of Cairo, and how he is thwarted by war at the Red Sea, turning back and heading north to join the legendary Damascus Caravan with thousands of pilgrims, camels, water carriers, beekeepers, bankers, soldiers, and musicians.
Journey to Mecca marks the first and only time an IMAX® camera has captured an aerial view of the Hajj – from a helicopter hovering 200 ft above Mecca – and the first time an IMAX® team has been admitted to this most sacred sanctuary of Islam. The permission process alone lasted nearly two and a half years. It took 85 permits for a team of 80 people drawn from 30 nations to embark on the largest and most ambitions production ever to take place in the Gulf region. The result of these efforts is a fantastic voyage from Morocco to Saudi Arabia. You’ll fly above the desert as aerial shots capture the largest caravan caught on film since Lawrence of Arabia.
Narrated by Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, this remarkable and dramatic story begins and ends in modern day Mecca. When we first see the pilgrims, we are unfamiliar with their motivations; but after travelling with Ibn Battuta, we better understand the reasoning behind each pilgrim’s journey. Remarkable time lapse footage captures the constant activity at the Grande Mosque, from sunrise to nightfall. We see first-hand the tremendous scale of the Hajj and how many people are involved. And it really hits you that while Ibn Battuta’s story is compelling, he is only one of billions of pilgrims who have made this same journey over hundreds of years.
If you have not yet experienced an IMAX® film or are simply looking for a reason to experience it again, this film is your chance. Journey to Mecca encompasses all that IMAX® has to offer: thrills, drama, action, adventure, emotion – and yes, you might even learn something. Join us here at The Henry Ford for one of our daily screenings; you will not be disappointed.
For more information on the film please visit:
http://www.journeytomeccagiantscreen.com/
And for a behind-the-scenes look at how this film was made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o79jlw8HtDA
Hope to see you soon!
This is a guest post by Judy Endelman.
Henry Ford may have said “History is bunk,” but he founded one of America’s premier history museums–The Henry Ford
Eighty years ago this month, as the world teetered on the brink of depression, Henry Ford hosted a grand party. To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb, he assembled an international audience of the “best and the brightest” to celebrate “Light’s Golden Jubilee” and dedicate The Edison Institute of Technology, known today as The Henry Ford.
In 1921, Henry Ford posed by a Model T, the car that changed America and made his fortune
The Model T, which first rolled onto the streets of America in 1908, had made Ford a very rich man. By 1920, nearly half of all cars on America’s roads were Model T’s. Ford now turned his tenacity, his attention to detail, and his fortunes to creating a museum that would “show people what actually existed in years gone by.”
The Menlo Park buildings under construction in Greenfield Village
Henry Ford had considered Edison his hero ever since he had met him at an electrical convention in 1896. Not only did Ford dedicate his new museum to his great friend, but Ford had Edison sign the cornerstone, and the centerpiece of The Edison Institute was Edison’s lovingly reconstructed Menlo Park Laboratory, complete with seven train carloads of New Jersey dirt!
For Light's Golden Jubilee, Thomas Edison reconstructed his invention of the electric light bulb. This photo was taken during a rehearsal
As Ford’s distinguished guests dined by candlelight in the unfinished great hall of the museum–Marie Curie, Herbert Hoover, and John D. Rockefeller were some of the guests; Albert Einstein spoke to the assemblage by radio from Berlin–Ford and Edison repaired to the Menlo Park laboratory in Greenfield Village where Edison “reconstructed” his great invention of incandescent light. As the successful “experiment” concluded, the millions listening by radio heard NBC broadcast Graham McNamee shout, “It lights! Light’s Golden Jubilee has come to a triumphant climax!”
Independent museum scholar Kiersten Latham is conducting a study on what it means to experience “the real thing” in a museum. Contact her if you’re interested in participating!
Can you think of a time when you visited a museum to see something real? How did it feel? What does it mean to you when a museum object is real? How do you know it is real? Does it make a difference in your experience if it is not? Join me in a research study about the meaning of real things in museums.
In previous investigations on museum objects and visitor experience, I have found that a common explanation for a strong reaction to a museum object is that it is “Real.” It left me curious as to what people mean by this. What is it like to experience something real? The issue about “the real thing” is especially pertinent in today’s digital age where the majority of Americans have joined in a lifestyle that involves a large amount of time in virtual and electronic worlds. With technology supplanting many physical things in our lives, how important is it to see the real thing? If you can think of specific encounters with real things and would like to describe these encounters to me, please contact me, Kiersten Latham, at kierator@yahoo.com to learn more about participating in this study.
From the Department of Failed Research Requests.
In my role as reference and research archivist, I search through archival collections looking for answers to the queries that come across my desk. Some I find the answers to, others I do not, but I never come away from my quests completely empty-handed–even if what I’ve learned isn’t exactly what I was looking for. Here are some of the serendipitous treasures I’ve unearthed during the process.
Best known for his witty yet macabre cartoons, particularly those which gave birth to the cult favorite “The Addams Family” TV show, Charles Addams was also a motor enthusiast–a collector of vintage automobiles and a fiend for the fast “modern speedster.”
The images shown here, from the Henry Austin Clark, Jr., collection, are two of several that depict Charles Addams and other celebrities participating in an antique car meet in New York City, one that looks not altogether different from our own Old Car Festival, coming up this weekend, September 12-13. (Henry Austin, Clark, Jr., it should be noted, was quite the car enthusiast himself, being an automotive historian and collector not only of automobiles but of automobile literature, photographs, and the like–a collection that he donated along with his personal papers to the Benson Ford Research Center.)
This is a guest post by Senior Manager of Creative Programs, Jim Johnson.
It seems an odd notion, but as the days grow shorter and autumn’s colors begin to creep into the trees and hedgerows of Greenfield Village, the geese take wing in to their formations, and the smell of wood smoke fills the air, the connection to the past seems even stronger. For those of us who work in the living history areas of the Village, there is also a strange pressing need associated with this change of the season to begin the preparations for the long winter ahead.
At the two main living history sites in the Village, Daggett Farm and Firestone Farm, the slower pace of the long summer days begins to quicken as the harvest season approaches. For our visitors, it’s a fascinating view of preparations and work with similar goals, but with very different sets of tools and technology available to achieve these goals. The colonial Daggett family and the Victorian Firestones both needed to harvest their crops, store away vegetables and fruits, and prepare and preserve a winter’s meat supply. And, everybody made cider!
Continue reading ‘Fall Harvest at Daggett and Firestone Farms’
Tintype Portrait of W. A. Floyd, aged 17, circa 1859 (29.3170.3)
In 1929, Henry Ford sent a questionnaire across the country to men and women aged 75 years or older that asked about their childhoods in the early 19th century. Over 100 people responded with detailed accounts of their lives and so collectively created a wealth of memories of one of the most transformative periods of American history.
Historical Resources intern Christine Driscoll has written a series of guest posts on the 1929 questionnaire.
The last two years I was in the army there was a price placed on my head.
This statement came from W. A. Floyd, one of the respondents to the questionnaire Henry Ford sent across the country to men and women over seventy-five in 1929. The men and women who wrote back were all born before the Civil War, but few were old enough to serve in the army at the time. Floyd was one of the few men who did and his stories of his time as a scout for the Union Army in Georgia are the sort of war – adventure tales that have provided material for books and movies for nearly a century.
The duty of a scout is to survey the enemy’s location, strength, and size. Any information that could be attained to ensure victory was worthwhile. In this case, Floyd rode around Northern Georgia to gather information about the Confederate Army’s status. At other times, he searched for train robbers and other Confederate spies.
After enlisting in the Union Army, Floyd arrived in Dalton, Georgia and partnered with another scout called Woody. Of Woody Floyd said:
I rode many a day with Woody when he had a man’s ear in his pocket. He was the worst man I ever saw – he would kill a man but if he took him prisoner he would treat him like a brother, but he took very few prisoners.
It was with Woody that Floyd went to capture a band of Confederate men camped in Ellijay, Georgia.
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