K-12 Research Guide: The Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village
Introduction
Henry Ford was interested in every aspect of life around him. He explored innovative forms of education which, in time, led to the founding of the Edison Institute, known today as The Henry Ford. In a single location, Ford brought together dozens of buildings and millions of artifacts. It was one of the largest collections of its kind ever assembled, as well as a bold and ambitious new way for people of all ages to discover and explore the richness of the American experience for themselves.
Background
Although Henry Ford had developed from a farm boy with a mechanical bent into one of the world’s most powerful and wealthy industrialists, he and his wife, Clara, never forgot the values of the rural life they had left behind. As the inventor of the Model T and champion of the assembly line, Henry Ford was aware of the changes that the automobile and growing industrialization could and would bring to the way of life in rural America. Collecting the tangible evidence of America’s pre- and early industrial history eventually became Henry Ford’s passion. In the early 1900s he began accumulating items associated with his lifelong hero, Thomas Edison.
He started storing a few miscellaneous items picked up through the years in a spare office at the Ford Motor Company’s Highland Park plant as early as 1906-07. By the 1910s, the clocks and watches he had loved tinkering with and repairing since childhood had grown into a collection. He had also accumulated many other “artifacts” along with inventions and tools that he felt exemplified ordinary Americans’ day-to-day lives.
This collection evolved into plans for a new museum. Ford envisioned two separate facilities linked by his theories of education. An indoor museum would tell the story of man’s technological progress through comprehensive displays while an outdoor village would show how these types of objects were made and used.
After ten more years of collecting, planning, and finally building this dream, the Edison Institute—the original name of The Henry Ford—opened on October 21, 1929. Henry Ford dedicated this institution to his friend Thomas Edison and celebrated with a grand opening known as Light’s Golden Jubilee, in honor of the 50th anniversary of his invention of the electric light.
At its opening, the Edison Institute was comprised of the museum, Greenfield Village, and the Edison Institute School System. However, the institution remained a work in progress as more exhibits and historic structures were added to the collection. The institution has continued to evolve to include the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, the Giant Screen Experience, and the Benson Ford Research Center. True to Henry Ford’s original vision for education, the institution is also home to an onsite charter school, Henry Ford Academy.
[Adapted in part from Popular Research Topics: Origins of The Henry Ford]
Our Mission
The Henry Ford provides unique educational experiences based on authentic objects, stories, and lives from America’s traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness, and innovation. Our purpose is to inspire people to learn from these traditions to help shape a better future.
Online Resources
America’s Stories Come to Life
Light’s Golden Jubilee Honors Thomas Edison and Dedicates a Museum
Expert Sets
The experts at The Henry Ford have carefully curated artifact sets from focus areas of our collection.
Henry Ford: Founding of the Edison Institute
Example Primary Sources Available on Digital Collections
Thomas Edison Signing the Edison Institute Cornerstone, September 27, 1928
September 27th, 1928, on the future site of Henry Ford's new museum, famed inventor Thomas Edison placed a spade once used by legendary horticulturist Luther Burbank into a block of freshly poured Portland cement. Ford looked on as his friend and personal hero wrote his name in the wet cement, officially dedicating Henry Ford Museum--where this "cornerstone" is now displayed.
Aerial View of Henry Ford Museum under Construction, Late October or Early November 1929
Henry Ford commissioned architect Robert O. Derrick to design the museum building for his Edison Institute. By late October 1929, the front portion of the building -- inspired by Philadelphia's Independence Hall -- was sufficiently completed to host the institute's Light's Golden Jubilee dedication banquet. Construction wasn't fully finished until the mid-1930s.
Articles of Association of The Edison Institute, December 19. 1929
The Edison Institute--now known as The Henry Ford--was incorporated as a non-profit, educational institution in December 1929. Its Articles of Association named Henry, Clara, and Edsel Ford as officers and trustees. Ford believed the everyday objects he loved to collect reflected American progress not recorded in written histories. Ford's intent? To use the best of the ordinary and extraordinary works of America's people to teach and inspire.
Light's Golden Jubilee and Dedication of Edison Institute by Irving Bacon, Painted 1945
Henry Ford planned the dedication of his museum complex to coincide with the 50th anniversary in October 1929 of Thomas Edison's invention of the incandescent lamp. Surprisingly, there were no photographs taken of the Light's Golden Jubilee banquet so, in the mid-1930s, Ford asked his staff artist, Irving Bacon, to capture the event in this panoramic painting, which took over a decade to complete.
Aerial View of Henry Ford Museum, 1934
A series of dark roofs in this 1934 photograph reveals the sheer size and open plan of Henry Ford's Dearborn, Michigan, museum. Ford commissioned Detroit architect Robert O. Derrick to design his museum, which included multiple references to colonial buildings. The most prominent facade was Derrick's detailed replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Pictorial Map of Edison Institute Museum & Historical Greenfield Village, 1934
This 1934 map illustrated Greenfield Village's layout five years after the Edison Institute's dedication and one year after the village opened to the public. Many buildings had already been added, and streets had been named. The steamboat Suwanee was shown at the top center, but the circular Suwanee Lagoon would not be dredged until 1937.
Edison Institute Schools Student Weaving, circa 1935
Henry Ford believed in "learning by doing." Students enrolled in the Edison Institute Schools located on the grounds of Ford's Greenfield Village had ample opportunities for practical, hands-on training. Students, if they desired, could learn to weave. Beginners used small tabletop looms. As they progressed students created woven materials using larger looms located in Greenfield Village's Plymouth Carding Mill and Weaving Shed.
Automobiles on Exhibit at Henry Ford Museum, 1945
For decades, the exhibition philosophy in Henry Ford Museum emphasized quantity over quality. Automobiles were displayed in tightly packed rows with few labels and little context. Not that there was much choice. The museum was built without collections storage spaces, and its first storage facility wasn't constructed until the 1970s.
Books and Secondary Sources
The Henry Ford Official Guidebook, The Henry Ford
Telling America's Story: A History of The Henry Ford, Miller, Jeanine Head,…[et al.],
Online Databases