He attended school through the sixth grade and in 1879 at age sixteen, without his father's consent, walked into Detroit and obtained work at the Michigan Car Company Works where streetcars were built. In My Life and Work, Ford predicted that if greed, racism, and short-sightedness could be overcome, then economic and technological development throughout the world would progress to the point that international trade would no longer be based on (what today would be called) colonial or neocolonial models and would truly benefit all peoples.[110]. He was the eldest of six children in a family of four boys and two girls. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. They formed a coalition of Jewish groups for the same purpose and raised constant objections in the Detroit press. [63]:430 Ford was a prominent early member of the America First Committee against World War II involvement, but was forced to resign from its executive board when his involvement proved too controversial. '", Segal, Howard P. "'Little Plants in the Country': Henry Ford's Village Industries and the Beginning of Decentralized Technology in Modern America", Tedlow, Richard S. "The Struggle for Dominance in the Automobile Market: the Early Years of Ford and General Motors", Thomas, Robert Paul. The company was a success from the beginning, but just five weeks after its incorporation the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers threatened to put it out of business because Ford was not a licensed manufacturer. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. For 1932 however, Ford dropped a bombshell with the flathead Ford V8, the first low-price eight-cylinder engine. The remarkable birth rate of Model Ts was made possible by the most advanced production technology yet conceived. Ford also said that he "did not see the use of experimenting with electricity, due to the expense of trolley wires, and "no storage battery was in sight of a weight that was practical." In 1939, he went so far as to claim that the torpedoing of U.S. merchant ships by German submarines was the result of conspiratorial activities undertaken by financier war-makers. Henry Ford is born on a farm to William and Mary Ford in Springwells Township, Michigan, located nine miles outside of Detroit. Ford was reportedly infuriated, but had no choice but to give in. ", This page was last edited on 8 July 2023, at 15:52. ("Every clock in the Ford house shudders when it sees Henry coming," a friend once quipped.) The design was fervently promoted and defended by Ford, and production continued as late as 1927; the final total production was 15,007,034. His brother-in-law, Edward G. Kingsford, used wood scraps from the Ford factory to make the briquets. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Ford stated, "In 1892, I completed my first motor car, powered by a two-cylinder four horsepower motor, with a two-and-half-inch bore and a six-inch stroke, which was connected to a countershaft by a belt and then to the rear wheel by a chain. In 1927, Ford partnered with Thomas Edison and Harvey Samuel Firestone (each contributing $25,000) to create the Edison Botanic Research Corp. in Fort Myers, Florida to seek a native source of rubber. Model T [citation needed], To forestall union activity, Ford promoted Harry Bennett, a former Navy boxer, to head the Service Department. [81] Adolf Hitler wrote, "only a single great man, Ford, [who], to [the Jews'] fury, still maintains full independence [from] the controlling masters of the producers in a nation of one hundred and twenty millions." He describes himself as someone who raced only because in the 1890s through 1910s, one had to race because prevailing ignorance held that racing was the way to prove the worth of an automobile. Speaking in 1931 to a Detroit News reporter, Hitler said "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration," explaining his reason for keeping a life-size portrait of Ford behind his desk. His wife, Clara Bryant, had grown up on a farm not far from Fords. [23], In addition to its price ladder, GM also quickly established itself at the forefront of automotive styling under Harley Earl's Arts & Color Department, another area of automobile design that Henry Ford did not entirely appreciate or understand. [13] In 1902, Murphy brought in Henry M. Leland as a consultant; Ford, in response, left the company bearing his name. [29] The move proved extremely profitable; instead of constant employee turnover, the best mechanics in Detroit flocked to Ford, bringing their human capital and expertise, raising productivity, and lowering training costs. Teaming up with former racing cyclist Tom Cooper, Ford also produced the 80+ horsepower racer "999," which Barney Oldfield was to drive to victory in a race in October 1902. He enthusiastically described his company's adoption of vanadium steel alloys and subsequent metallurgic R&D work. Where was Henry Ford born? Ford's goal was to produce a vehicle from scratch without reliance on foreign trade. ", "America's wholesome square dancing tradition is a tool of white supremacy", "Jews and Baseball Is a Film You Should Catch", Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, "The Dearborn Independent, February 20, 1926 Henry Ford", "Ford's Anti-Semitism | American Experience | PBS", "Henry Ford and the Jews, the story Dearborn didn't want told | Bridge Michigan", "The International Jew: 1920s Antisemitism Revived Online | ADL", "Ford and GM Scrutinized for Alleged Nazi Collaboration", "The dark legacy of Henry Ford's anti-Semitism", "Mayor's attempt to censor local article about Henry Ford's anti-Semitism draws national attention", "At Ford-sponsored Auschwitz exhibit, no sign of founder's role in Nazi machine", "Leader in Production Founded Vast Empire in Motors in 1903. Ford attended a one-room school for eight years when he was not helping his father with the harvest. [88] According to some trial testimony, none of this work was written by Ford, but he allowed his name to be used as an author. Alfred Ford, 71, is the great-grandson of American industrialist and founder of the Ford. [citation needed] Not until 1956 would Ford be a publicly-traded company. The original investors included Ford and Malcomson, the Dodge brothers, Malcomson's uncle John S. Gray, Malcolmson's secretary James Couzens, and two of Malcomson's lawyers, John W. Anderson and Horace Rackham. Ford then demonstrated a newly designed car on the ice of Lake St. Clair, driving 1 mile (1.6km) in 39.4 seconds and setting a new land speed record at 91.3 miles per hour (146.9 kilometres per hour). Henry Ford Early Life Henry Ford was born in 1863 on a farm in rural Michigan, near Detroit. Ford claimed that Jewish internationalism posed a threat to traditional American values, which he deeply believed were at risk in the modern world. As the Ford Motor Company sole owner, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. His father, William Ford (1826-1905), was born in County Cork, Ireland, of a family originally from western England, who were among migrants to Ireland as the English created plantations. Fords success in making the automobile a basic necessity turned out to be but a prelude to a more widespread revolution. Henry Ford Is Dead. [111] Ford entered stripped-down Model Ts in races, finishing first (although later disqualified) in an "ocean-to-ocean" (across the United States) race in 1909, and setting a one-mile (1.6km) oval speed record at Detroit Fairgrounds in 1911 with driver Frank Kulick. At age 16 he left home on foot to find work in Detroits machine shops. . Ford had a vacation residence in Fort Myers, Florida, next to that of Thomas Edison, which he bought in 1915 and used until c.1930. Overnight, the Ford Motor Company went from the most stubborn holdout among automakers to the one with the most favorable UAW contract terms. "[99], Robert Lacey wrote in Ford: The Men and the Machines that a close Willow Run associate of Ford reported that when he was shown newsreel footage of the Nazi concentration camps, he "was confronted with the atrocities which finally and unanswerably laid bare the bestiality of the prejudice to which he contributed, he collapsed with a stroke his last and most serious. "[98], The distribution of The International Jew was halted in 1942 through legal action by Ford, despite complications from a lack of copyright. The house became the center of social gatherings with visitations by the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and the DuPonts. His father, William Ford, was an Irish immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1847 during the potato famine. "[38], In addition to raising his workers' wages, Ford also introduced a new, reduced workweek in 1926. [12], Also in 1896, Ford attended a meeting of Edison executives, where he was introduced to Thomas Edison. [44] Up until the apology, a considerable number of dealers, who had been required to make sure that buyers of Ford cars received the Independent, bought up and destroyed copies of the newspaper rather than alienate customers. He opened Ford assembly plants in Britain and Canada in 1911, and soon became the biggest automotive producer in those countries. [53], According to biographer Steven Watts, Ford's status as a leading industrialist gave him a worldview that warfare was wasteful folly that retarded long-term economic growth. By 1896, Ford had constructed his first horseless carriage, but he wanted to do even more! This article is about the American industrialist. The basis of their power was control of a patent granted in 1895 to George Baldwin Selden, a patent lawyer of Rochester, New York. The development of mass-production techniques, which enabled the company eventually to turn out a Model T every 24 seconds; the frequent reductions in the price of the car made possible by economies of scale; and the payment of a living wage that raised workers above subsistence and made them potential customers for, among other things, automobilesthese innovations changed the very structure of society. He was born on his father's farm in what is now Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863. [68] Ford's incompetence led to discussions in Washington about how to restore the company, whether by wartime government fiat, or by instigating a coup among executives and directors.[69]. His work on the farm and a job in a Detroit machine shop allowed him many opportunities to tinker and experiment. Henry Ford was a great man, who was born on July 30, 1863 in Dearborn, Michigan. After his promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893, he had enough time and money to devote attention to his experiments on gasoline engines. Although Ford fancied himself an engineering genius, he had little formal training in mechanical engineering and could not even read a blueprint. Henry Ford's siblings were Margaret Ford (18671938); Jane Ford (c. 18681945); William Ford (18711917) and Robert Ford (18731934). During this time, Ford constructed a massive new assembly plant at River Rouge for the new Model A, which launched in 1927. So in 1879 . Later, he became a machinists apprentice in Detroit in the shops of James F. Flower and Brothers, and in the plant of the Detroit Dry Dock Company. [10] They had one child, Edsel Ford (18931943). Lewis, (1976) pp. Ford finished eighth grade at a one-room school,[3] Springwells Middle School. They were married in 1888, and on November 6, 1893, she gave birth to their only child, Edsel Bryant. ", "Jan. 5, 1914: Henry Ford Implements the $5-a-Day Wage", "Helpful Hints and Advice to Ford Employes [sic]", "Henry Ford: "Why I Favor Five Days' Work With Six Days' Pay", "May 01, 1926: Ford Factory workers get 40-hour week", "Examining the American peace movement prior to World War I", "WWII and Ford Motor Company Michigan History", "Michigan History: Willow Run and the Arsenal of Democracy. Ford sent his engineers and technicians to the Soviet Union to help install the equipment and train the workforce, while over a hundred Soviet engineers and technicians were stationed at Ford's plants in Detroit and Dearborn "for the purpose of learning the methods and practice of manufacture and assembly in the Company's plants". Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on a farm in Springwells Township, Michigan. In December 1927 he introduced the Model A. "[100] Ford had suffered previous strokes and his final cerebral hemorrhage occurred in 1947 at age 83. New York, Michael Alexander, Review of "Henry Ford and the Jews: The Mass Production of Hate.". There, at 15, he constructed his first steam engine. Convinced by this success, race driver Barney Oldfield, who named this new Ford model "999" in honor of the fastest locomotive of the day, took the car around the country, making the Ford brand known throughout the United States. [121], Ford also had a long-standing interest in plastics developed from agricultural products, particularly soybeans. [22] The original Lincoln Model L that the Lelands had introduced in 1920 was also kept in production, untouched for a decade until it became too outdated. He organized other boys to build rudimentary water wheels and steam engines. Henry Ford was one of six children, is mother and father were great people and they made sure that all six of their children were brought up correctly and healthy. In 1890, Ford started work on a two-cylinder engine. Photo by Bernard Spragg - Wikimedia In the early 19 th century, agriculture, food and all other related industries contributed greatly to America's Gross Domestic Product. "[92] According to Spencer Blakeslee, "[t]he ADL mobilized prominent Jews and non-Jews to publicly oppose Ford's message. He "lined up behind the war effort" when the U.S. entered in December 1941. The first Ford engine sputtered its way to life on a wooden table in the kitchen of the Ford home at 58 Bagley Avenue in Detroit. "[95], In July 1938, the German consul in Cleveland gave Ford, on his 75th birthday, the award of the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal Nazi Germany could bestow on a foreigner. The minute subdivision of labour and the coordination of a multitude of operations produced huge gains in productivity. Henry Ford was the founder of modern American industrial mass production methods, built on the assembly line and the belt conveyor system, which no less an authority than Marshal Josef Stalin testified were the indispensable foundation for an Allied military victory in the Second World War. Ford talked to President Woodrow Wilson about the mission but had no government support. The directors elected him,[115] and he served until the end of the war. [4], His father gave him a pocket watch when he was 12. Born: July 30, 1863 Michigan: Died: April 7, 1947 (aged 83) Dearborn Michigan: Founder: Ford Motor Company: . on average. [62] In early 1940, he boasted that Ford Motor Company would soon be able to produce 1,000 U.S. warplanes a day, even though it did not have an aircraft production facility at that time. "[84] Ford also paid to print and distribute 500,000 copies the antisemitic fabricated text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. December 1879 Henry Ford leaves his family farm to pursue. He believed that international trade and cooperation led to international peace, and he used the assembly line process and production of the Model T to demonstrate it.[102]. [37], Ford's incursion into his employees' private lives was highly controversial, and he soon backed off from the most intrusive aspects. (He was determined to have full control over strategic decisions.) The horse disappeared so rapidly that the transfer of acreage from hay to other crops caused an agricultural revolution. A target of much ridicule, Ford left the ship as soon as it reached Sweden. With around 700,000 readers of his newspaper, Ford emerged as a "spokesman for right-wing extremism and religious prejudice. Assembly time reduction contributed to the drastic cut in price of the private automobile. His father expected him to take over the family farm eventually, but he despised farm work. A sit-down strike by the UAW union in April 1941 closed the River Rouge Plant. Agreement Between the Ford Motor Company, the Supreme Council of National Economy, and the Amtorg Trading Corporation, May 31, 1929, Amtorg Records 19291930, Acc. As one German explained, "Automobiles have so completely changed the American's mode of life that today one can hardly imagine being without a car. How Henry Ford''s assembly line revolutionized factory production, Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Ford, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Henry Ford, PBS - American Experience - Chronobiography of Henry Ford, United States History - Biography of Henry Ford, Henry Ford - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Henry Ford - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). that Ford's engineers surreptitiously measured the Fokker plane and then copied it. Subsequently, the Ford company adopted an annual model change system similar to that recently pioneered by its competitor General Motors (and still in use by automakers today). [73] In 1920 Ford wrote, "If fans wish to know the trouble with American baseball they have it in three wordstoo much Jew. At his bedside were Clara Ford and members of their household staff. This copy is by Ford Motor Company in 1931. In 1885, Ford repaired an Otto engine, and in 1887 he built a four-cycle model with a one-inch bore and a three-inch stroke. Henry Ford has not been . Henry Ford was born in 1863 on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan, where his English grandfather had settled after leaving Ireland in 1847. These experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of a self-propelled vehicle, which he named the Ford Quadricycle. [25], Ford did not believe in accountants; he amassed one of the world's largest fortunes without ever having his company audited under his administration. He then started a second car in 1896, eventually building three of them in his home workshop. Before leaving his presidency early in 1921, Woodrow Wilson joined other leading Americans in a statement that rebuked Ford and others for their antisemitic campaign. About the same time, he began collecting materials for his museum, which had a theme of practical technology. By his early teens, he had developed a passion for mechanics and was set on becoming an engineer. Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, was born in Springwells Township, Wayne County, Michigan, on July 30, 1863, to Mary (Litogot) and William Ford. But he was determined that as long as this was the definition of success (flawed though the definition was), then his cars would be the best that there were at racing. A month later Ford was made chief engineer at the main Detroit Edison Company plant with responsibility for maintaining electric service in the city 24 hours a day. Watts pp. He turned over the company to his grandson Henry Ford II in 1945. Ford's Episcopalian pastor, Reverend Samuel S. Marquis, accompanied him on the mission. The grand house, made of Savannah-gray brick, had marble steps, air conditioning, and an elevator. Edsel also managed to prevail over his father's initial objections in the inclusion of a sliding-shift transmission. For other people with the same name, see, Interest in materials science and engineering, Florida and Georgia residences and community, Evans, Harold "They Made America" Little, Brown and Company. He later wrote, "I never had any particular love for the farmit was the mother on the farm I loved. Like other automobile companies, Ford entered the aviation business during World War I, building Liberty engines. The administration of President Franklin Roosevelt had been considering a government takeover of the company in order to ensure continued war production,[69] but the idea never progressed. By 1916, as the price dropped to $360 for the basic touring car, sales reached 472,000. After the war, it returned to auto manufacturing until 1925, when Ford acquired the Stout Metal Airplane Company. GM president Alfred Sloan established the company's "price ladder" whereby GM would offer an automobile for "every purse and purpose" in contrast to Ford's lack of interest in anything outside the low-end market. The design never caught on.[125]. By 1932, Ford was manufacturing one-third of the world's automobiles. He explained his views on unions in Chapter 18 of My Life and Work. As independent dealers, the franchises grew rich and publicized not just the Ford but also the concept of automobiling; local motor clubs sprang up to help new drivers and encourage them to explore the countryside. Ford's most successful aircraft was the Ford 4AT Trimotor, often called the "Tin Goose" because of its corrugated metal construction. Ford started another company, Henry Ford and Son, and made a show of taking himself and his best employees to the new company; the goal was to scare the remaining holdout stockholders of the Ford Motor Company to sell their stakes to him before they lost most of their value. Henry Ford was one of eight children born to William and Mary Ford. [56] He was defeated in a close election by the Republican candidate, Truman Newberry, a former United States Secretary of the Navy. The couple's only child, Edsel, was born in November 1893. He would leave that enterprise, which would become the Cadillac Motor Car Company, in early 1902. He was born on the family farm near Dearborn, Michigan, then a town eight miles west of Detroit. [77][78] The International Jew blamed nearly all the troubles it saw in American society on Jews. Marquis headed Ford's Sociology Department from 1913 to 1921. The gathering of evidence and actual court hearings took six years. The contract was signed in June 1941. In a letter written in 1924, Heinrich Himmler described Ford as "one of our most valuable, important, and witty fighters". x, 37687; Lewis (1976) pp. At 3,500,000sqft (330,000m2), it was the largest assembly line in the world at the time. Ultimately, the company was not successful and was dissolved in January 1901. Henry Ford was one of eight children of William and Mary Ford. Ford would not have a true equivalent of the GM styling department for many years. Henry Ford is best known for founding the Ford Motor Company, but his impact was felt far beyond the world of cars. By the time he was 12, he was spending most of his spare time in a small machine shop he had equipped himself. Henry Ford, (born July 30, 1863, Wayne county, Michigan, U.S.died April 7, 1947, Dearborn, Michigan), American industrialist who revolutionized factory production with his assembly-line methods. [76] The series ran in 91 issues. Hitler was a fan of Ford's antisemitic writing, mentioning the carmaker by name in his own 1925 anti-Jewish . Since he was little he was curious about how stuffed worked. Not until the 1930s did Ford overcome his objection to finance companies, and the Ford-owned Universal Credit Corporation became a major car-financing operation. Distinguished Professor of English, University of New Orleans. When young Ford left his fathers farm in 1879 for Detroit, only two out of eight Americans lived in cities; when he died at age 83, the proportion was five out of eight. The Ford Motor Company was incorporated, this time with a mere $28,000 in cash put up by ordinary citizens, for Ford had, in his previous dealings with backers, antagonized the wealthiest men in Detroit. Because of Ford's volatility, Gray was elected president of the company. [126] Ford was instrumental in developing charcoal briquets, under the brand name "Kingsford". In September, 1945, when he resigned the presidency for a second time, Henry Ford recommended that his grandson, Henry Ford II, be elected to the position. Henry Ford (July 30, 1863-April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist and business magnate best known for founding the Ford Motor Company and promoting the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Other features included 28-inch wire bicycle wheels with rubber tires, a foot brake, a 3-gallon gasoline tank, and later, a water jacket around the cylinders for cooling. Ford was widely known for his pacifism during the first years of World War I. Ford later bound the articles into four volumes entitled The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, which was translated into multiple languages and distributed widely across the US and Europe. At age 16 he walked to Detroit to find work in its machine shops. At age 16 he left home on foot to find work in Detroit's machine shops. He became president and controlling owner in 1906. Ludecke was introduced to Ford by Siegfried Wagner (son of the composer Richard Wagner) and his wife Winifred, both Nazi sympathizers and antisemites. [22], Ford was a pioneer of "welfare capitalism", designed to improve the lot of his workers and especially to reduce the heavy turnover that had many departments hiring 300 men per year to fill 100 slots. Men need counsel and men need help, often special help; and all this ought to be rendered for decency's sake. In one of them, called Sweepstakes, he defeated Alexander Winton on a track in Grosse Pointe, Michigan on October 10, 1901. Bennett employed various intimidation tactics to quash union organizing. The new model enjoyed solid but not spectacular success. In 1919, Henry, Clara, and Edsel Ford acquired the interest of all minority stockholders for $105,820,894 and became the sole owners of the Company. The first car built by the Company was sold July 15, 1903. Henry Ford: An Interpretation. Still, his wife Clara told him she would leave him if he destroyed the family business. On April 11, 1888, Henry married Clara Jane Bryant of Greenfield, Michigan, the daughter of Martha (Bench) and Melvin Bryant, a Wayne County farmer. Efficiency meant hiring and keeping the best workers. Ford started buying land in this area and eventually owned 70,000 acres (110 square miles) there. This made cars affordable to the growing American middle class. [89] On the other hand, court testimony in a libel suit, brought by one of the targets of the newspaper, alleged that Ford did know about the contents of the Independent in advance of publication. "Arnstein & Lehr, The First 120 Years" (Louis A. Lehr, Jr.)(Amazon), p. 32. In 1999, Fortune magazine named Henry Ford the Businessman of the Century. [44]:311The following day photographs of the injured UAW members appeared in newspapers, later becoming known as The Battle of the Overpass. Finally, in 1903, Ford was ready to market an automobile. A public viewing was held at Greenfield Village where up to 5,000 people per hour filed past the casket. Reuther inquired, "What do you mean?" It was a few years before this time that Ford first experienced automobiles, and throughout the later half of the 1880s, Ford began repairing and later constructing engines, and through the 1890s worked with a division of Edison Electric. Although Ford is often credited with the idea, contemporary sources indicate that the concept and development came from employees Clarence Avery, Peter E. Martin, Charles E. Sorensen, and C. Harold Wills. [9], Ford married Clara Jane Bryant (18661950) on April 11, 1888, and supported himself by farming and running a sawmill. [13] They formed a partnership, "Ford & Malcomson, Ltd." to manufacture automobiles. A man of many talents, Ford had a deep passion for science and development and is widely considered to be among the most influential people in history. Ford was a conspiracy theorist who drew on a long tradition of false allegations against Jews. With the production of the Model T automobile, Henry Ford had an unforeseen and tremendous impact on American life. Ford stated two significant events occurred in 1875 when he was 12. He repeated the concept of collecting historic structures with the creation of Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. Early life Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on a farm in Springwells Township, Michigan. It was replaced by the modernized Model K in 1931. With Ford gone, Leland renamed the company the Cadillac Automobile Company.[13]. [82][97], On January 7, 1942, Ford wrote another letter to Sigmund Livingston disclaiming direct or indirect support of "any agitation which would promote antagonism toward my Jewish fellow citizens". [citation needed], He believed that productivity gains that obviated certain jobs would nevertheless stimulate the broader economy and grow new jobs elsewhere, whether within the same corporation or in others. During the trial, the editor of Ford's "Own Page", William Cameron, testified that Ford had nothing to do with the editorials even though they were under his byline. [108] Germans who discussed "Fordism" often believed that it represented something quintessentially American. When he was 13 his dad took him to Detroit to see a self powered engeine. On October 10, 1901, he defeated Alexander Winton in a race car named "Sweepstakes"; it was through the wins of this car that Ford created the Henry Ford Company. [82][77] Steven Watts wrote that Hitler "revered" Ford, proclaiming that "I shall do my best to put his theories into practice in Germany", and modeling the Volkswagen Beetle, the people's car, on the Model T.[83] Max Wallace has stated, "History records that Adolf Hitler was an ardent Anti-Semite before he ever read Ford's The International Jew. Ford was also among the pioneers of the five-day work week. In 1912, Ford cooperated with Giovanni Agnelli of Fiat to launch the first Italian automotive assembly plants.
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