Every month, we feature a video from Film Source, The Henry Ford’s online collection of historic motion picture film shorts. The films were originally produced by Henry Ford’s motion picture department at Ford Motor Company, which began in 1914. These clips illustrate the impact of the automobile, industrial manufacturing and design, and many other aspects of American culture and everyday life, as well as glimpses of Henry Ford and his family and activities and scenes from Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Staff at the Benson Ford Research Center continue to digitize, catalog, and upload more of these clips to our online catalog and to YouTube in order to make them accessible to a wider audience.
In just a little over two weeks, Greenfield Village opens for the season. In celebratory anticipation, let’s look at a film featuring the Village.
In this film from 1937, we see Henry Ford visiting with people in various historic buildings in Greenfield Village. He is shown passing by Cotswold Cottage–my personal favorite among the Village buildings ever since my childhood visits–which was then called Rose Cottage, and visiting Cotswold Forge to watch blacksmiths at work.
Next we see Ford discussing a circle of stones on the grounds with Edward Cutler, chief architect of the village, and examining a rare book (careful with that binding, please, Henry!) with two young women, probably Edison Institute students.
Also shown are Henry Ford and Robert Boyer in the Dearborn Engineering Laboratory, located in the Engine and Electrical Engineering Building (or “EEE Building”), adjacent to The Henry Ford, with a wooden pattern of a machine. The machine, unidentified, was probably related to soybean research. Boyer spent many years working on soybean-related products for Henry Ford.
When you arrive at Greenfield Village (since this clip has surely gotten you ready to visit as soon as it opens on April 15!), you’ll see, to the left of the fountain in the Josephine Ford Plaza, the Benson Ford Research Center (BFRC). Housed at the BFRC is the Greenfield Village Building records collection. Commonly known as the “Building Box” collection, it contains archival information, including text and photographs, about Cotswold Cottage and the other Greenfield Village buildings. In addition, the BFRC holds Ford Motor Company’s historic records, including other archival collections having to do with Henry Ford’s interest in and experimentation with uses for soybeans.
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