1、HENRY FORD A Hearthside Perspective Donn P. WerlingHENRY FORD A HEARTHSIDE PERSPECTIVEOther SAE books of interest: Edsel Ford and E.T. Gregorie The Remarkable Design Team and Their Classic Fords of the 1930s and 1940s by Henry Dominguez (Order No. R-245) The Birth of Chrysler Corporation and Its Eng
2、ineering Legacy by Carl Breer Edited by Anthony J. Yanik (Order No. R-144) For more information or to order these books, contact SAE at 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096- 0001; (724) 776-4970; fax (724) 776-0790; e-mail: publicationssae.org.HENRY FORD A HEARTHSIDE PERSPECTIVE DONN P. WERL
3、ING Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. Warrendale, Pa. Copyright 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. eISBN: 978-0-7680-4076-0Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Werling, Donn Paul. Henry Ford : a hearthside perspective / Donn P. Werling. p. cm. Includes bibliographical refer
4、ences and index. ISBN 0-7680-0456-X 1. Ford, Henry, 1863-1947. 2. Businesspeople-United States-Biography. 3. Automobile industry and trade-United States. I. Title. HD9710.U52 F6685 2000 338.76292092dc21 B 99-086824 Copyright 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. 400 Commonwealth Drive Warrendal
5、e, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A. Phone: (724) 776-4841 Fax: (724) 776-5760 E-mail: publicationssae.org http:/www.sae.org ISBN 0-7680-0456-X All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Permission to photocopy for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients,
6、is granted by SAE for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), provided that the base fee of $.50 per page is paid directly to CCC, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923. Special requests should be addressed to the SAE Publications Group. 0-7680-0456-X/00-$.50. S
7、AE Order No. R-266 Cover photo: Henry Ford at the hearthside of his 1836 Botsford Inn in Farmington, Michigan, by W.E. Vice, 1925. The Botsford Inn was restored by Ford in 1924. (From the Collections of the Henry Ford Estate, University of MichiganDearborn.)TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword. vii Acknowledg
8、ments .ix Introduction xi Chapter 1 Cornerstones 1 Chapter 2 Fair Lanes Garage 13 Chapter 3 Fair Lane: The Residence 23 Chapter 4 The Tunnel and the Lindbergh Gates 45 Chapter 5 The Upper Peninsula and the Huron Mountain Club 49 Chapter 6 Choosing a Stone: Ft. Myers, Florida 57 Chapter 7 Richmond Hi
9、ll, Georgia: Fords Last Great Vision 61 Chapter 8 Christmas at Fair Lane. 69 Chapter 9 Henry Ford, Home Builder. 73 Chapter 10 Henry Ford, Conservationist 77 Chapter 11 Henry Ford, Pioneer Preservationist 85 Chapter 12 Henry Ford at Play 95 Chapter 13 Selected Ford-Related Schools and Colleges 103 C
10、hapter 14 Memories of Mr. Fords Passing 111 Chapter 15 Ebb Power: The Ford Legacy in the Balance 117 AppendixGreat Ford Stories 133 Bibliography 143 Notes. 147 Index 151 About the Author 159 vThis book is dedicated to the docents and volunteers of the Henry Ford EstateFair LaneFOREWORD T his book is
11、 a wonderful collection of interesting information and is presented in a fascinating manner. Ive learned a lot about Henry Ford which I had failed to recognize prior to reading the book. The unique association of the usual facts, with musings and songs, deserves a medium of presentation beyond merel
12、y that of an ordinary printed book. It has the elements of a play or musical. A CD and school musicale entitled “Henry Ford and His Uncommon Friends“ has been produced to enthusiastic reviews using these songs. I followed the story easily and found it tremendously interesting. Use of the timeline an
13、d chapter headings will help the reader to follow the story of the life of Henry Ford. To completely explain Henry Ford in a few hundred pages is, of course, impossible, but the author has revealed in this book many of Henrys most salient attributes in a delightful manner. Although unorthodox in com
14、position, the book surely will reward the reader. This book was a joy for me to read. There is potential, I believe, for this new and engaging style of presentation. Ford Bryan Ford Bryan is the author of: Beyond the Model T The Fords of Dearborn Henrys Lieutenants Henrys Attic viiFORD MILESTONES 18
15、61-1865 1863 1888 1893 1896 1899 1902 1903 1908 1912 1913 1914 19141918 1915 1916 1917 1918 Civil War Henry Fords birth Marriage to Clara Bryant Birth of Edsel Ford Quadricycle (First vehicle built by Henry Ford) First met Thomas Edison First met Harvey Firestone Detroit Automobile Company founded H
16、enry Ford Company formed Ford Motor Company founded Model T First met John Burroughs Moving assembly line Migratory Bird Act passed $5 a day wage First met Jack Miner World War I Fair Lane completed Bought the bungalow in the Upper Peninsula Bought home in Ft. Myers Fordson tractor Birth of Henry Fo
17、rd II, the first of four grandchildren Migratory Bird Treaty with Canada 1918-1924 1919 19191927 1921 1922 1924 1925 1926 1927 1929 19291941 1932 1935 1937 19391945 1940 1941 1943 1947 1948 1950 “Four Vagabonds“ camping trips Ford sole owner of Ford Motor Company X engine (The engine/car that never
18、was) First met Martha Berry Lincoln Motor Company purchased Built first diesel freighters on the Great Lakes Admitted to Huron Mt. Club Began acquiring Georgia land Ford Tri-motor Model A introduced; Model T discontinued Greenfield Village/Museum dedicated The Great Depression Ford V-8 Built Richmon
19、d Hill Battle of the OverpassU.A.W. World War II Henry Ford II and Anne McDonnell marry First plastic car (soybeans) Ford signs with the U.A.W. Birth of Charlotte Ford, first great-grandchild Death of Edsel Ford Death of Henry Ford Edsel Ford II born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford II Death of Clara Ford
20、 viiiACKNOWLEDGMENTS F irst, I wish to thank the University of MichiganDearborn and my many colleagues from the Chancellor downward, who are dedicated to the value of truth and research for what that truth might be. For my position and the support of the position of the direc- torship of the Henry F
21、ord Estate as a National Historic Landmark, I am indeed grateful. Second, I would like to thank the many volunteers from the community who have given so much of their time and money over these many years to place this landmark on the restoration track, and as guides, interpreters, and receptionists
22、have opened it to the public. Similar to Jeffersons Monticello, the restoration of Fair Lane has been and con- tinues to be a challenge. Henry Ford did not believe in endowments. Furthermore, the Estate is complex and the needs are great. There- fore, like Monticello, Fair Lane probably will require
23、 a hundred years in which to find all or most of the furniture and to restore it and the home to a status that is truly representative of what once was. Third, I would like to thank the following individuals. Robert Behrens, Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs, encouraged the writing of this biogra
24、phy from the onset. Ford Bryan, Edsel B. Ford II, Leslie and Lucy Long, Peggy Campbell (a grandniece of Clara Ford), and Bruce Simpson provided patronage and family ties to the Ford family and worked to make the numerous tasks easier in many ways. Mike Skin- ner and Dick Folsom each provided correct
25、ions to and criticisms of the manuscript in its early versions and are especially to be thanked, as are many of their fellow members of the Henry Ford Heritage Asso- ciation. John Berger, the Vice President of the Henry Ford Heritage Association, was both a delightful and insightful research associa
26、te on my southern research trip in 1997. Ron Weary, a retired Ford Motor Company engineer and fellow Valparaiso alumnus, not only proved to be a great research associate but also helped me see Henry Ford through the eyes of an engineer. Thanks also are extended to Steve Pedler and Jan Habarth for th
27、eir tireless editorial efforts that greatly improved the quality of the final manuscript. Finally, I want to thank Diane, my wife of almost 30 years, for the encouragement, support, and inspiration that both she and our son Ben continually provide. I am indebted to Ben particularly for having his pe
28、rspective as I was writing the living history vignette of young Henry Ford exploring the banks of the Rouge. Most visitors who come to Fair Lane want to see the powerhouse and residence. A much smaller percentage sees the gardens around the house. As I have often commented to visitors, the Fords had
29、 25 gar- deners and 5 household servants. Were that ratio taken as represen- tative of what both Fords truly enjoyedthrough winter, spring, summer, and fallthen visitors to the Estate should spend five times as much of their time outdoors as indoors to experience and enjoy Fair Lane as the Fords did
30、. The Fords loved Michigan for its four-season beauty. Although they could have lived and ended their days anywhere in the world, Fair Lane was their home of choice. They were born and died within its walls or within mere miles of its location. I am thankful that for the last decade and a half, it h
31、as been my home and inspiration as well. Donn P. Werling ixHenry Fords life had a global impact. However, the sites identified here were hearth and home because of the time Henry Ford spent in working, resting, recreating, donating, preserving, building, and restoring. Henry Fords beloved mother, Ma
32、ry Litigot Ford, once said that play after work was done was not only well earned but more fun. Although each site has its own unique perspective in relation to Henry Fords life, Henry Ford mixed in full measures of work and play at each of these hearthsides revisited in this book.INTRODUCTION T o m
33、any who know his life only through recent media coverage, Henry Ford should not even be considered as a role model for future generations. Some people in the film and television industries have labeled him as having been more of a throwback and politically incorrect, both during and after his life.
34、With the current public scrutiny and execution by the media of almost anyone deemed heroic, this sentiment also is found in a great number of books, as the total number of biographies produced on Henry Ford alone is close to 100 or perhaps more. America likes labels. Although Henry Ford once held th
35、e label of folk hero, this view has faded in America and in the eyes of the rest of the world, even though interest in the man remains strong. Nonetheless, it is undeniable that those in charge of deciding what historic home, event, or site is important to our nations history have already deemed tha
36、t Henry Ford was one of the great figures of Ameri- can history. The number of officially designated historic sites affili- ated with Henry Ford ranks him at the top of the National Historic Register of Historic Places, along with Abraham Lincoln, the emanci- pator of slaves, and Washington and Jeff
37、erson, both slave owners. Chinese delegations regularly visit the home of Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, with near reverence in an attempt to understand who this great American was. Henry Ford remains as one of the few Ameri- cans to have had his biography done in Chinese while he was alive (1929
38、).i Some academics at the University of MichiganDearborn were rather surprised to learn that the first Russian scholar and Fulbright winner came to the Dearborn campus to study the life of Henry Ford. These examples demonstrate that although Ford has been labeled by some as politically incorrect, ev
39、en by those in his hometown, the world still comes to hear his story. Ford was wrong with his anti-Semitic ramblings, which portions of this book trace to a variety of sources. In the politically correct hindsight judgment of history, it is known that Presidents Washington and Jefferson were wrong t
40、o own slaves and to exploit them for financial and per- sonal favors as they both did. The point is that all world figures through- out history were simply human beings with feet of clay, and Henry Ford was no exception. His son Edsel, labor unions, and Jews did not always experience fair treatment
41、from Henry, which is widely docu- mented. This book by no means works to absolve those failings. However, the pendulum swingsfrom truly heroic to tragicof Henry Fords treatment of his own son, his employees, and minorities are certainly worth exploring. To imply that these heroic yet culpable human
42、beings are not worthy of our study is the antithesis of what education should be. Unfortu- nately, this happened in 1996 in Richmond Hill, Georgia, when a local librarian told a school board members daughter precisely this,ii even though Henry Ford literally gave Richmond Hill its name through his m
43、any beneficial actions there. (See Chapter 7.) The life of Henry Ford generated such storm-tossed waves that their last wake still resounds upon the shore. History is the record of those who take the time to write it down or to preserve the artifacts, homes, and monuments that can speak of their dee
44、ds long after they are gone. Henry Fords historic legacy in Richmond Hill speaks for itself today to those who take the time to ferret it out, or to obtain permission to see it as I was so fortunate to do. Henry Ford is labeled with one of the most famous misunder- stood quotes of all recorded time:
45、 “History is bunk!“ That was the media bite that still resounds, but what Ford meant and detailed was xiHENRY FORD: A HEARTHSIDE PERSPECTIVE that history is meaningless when only mouthed as dates and battles, but instead must be connected with action that addresses the needs of the people today. H.G
46、. Cooper was the African American Henry Ford personally selected among seven finalists chosen to be the principal of his newly built George Washington Carver Elementary School, which set a new stan- dard for the education of black Americans in Georgia, or, for that mat- ter, the nation. When asked i
47、f Ford treated the African American community as well as the white, Cooper responded with a twinkle in his eye, “Sometimes a little better.“ Once Cooper refused to shake Mr. Fords proffered hand because his hands were dirty from digging up sweet potatoes. Ford stooped down and rubbed some dirt toget
48、her and then offered his hand again. Ford, the kinesthetic learner and doer, never much with words, spoke volumes in that simple act. Cooper, now a distinguished funeral home director in Darien, Georgia, found such acts repeated throughout his nine years of working for Ford from 1937 to 1946. Ford u
49、sed to tell Cooper that tough times make you stronger. Cooper especially remembered these words that helped him chart a success- ful and respected life: “Dont expect anybody to give you anything. You can do two times as much anyway if you do it for yourself. What I wish is a new attitude free from greed, and the idea that any perma- nent good can come from overreaching others, and above all, to live your life with the expectancy of change.“iii Henry Fords great vision for Richmond Hill, Georgia, as well as this nation, is exemplified by his acts
