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Research Guide: Edison Institute Schools

Even before the Edison Institute (now The Henry Ford) was officially dedicated on October 21, 1929, the Edison Institute schools were open and operating on campus. On September 16, 1929, the Scotch Settlement School opened in Greenfield Village with a class of 32 pupils, the school system would continue to add buildings and students until it reached its peak in 1940 at 300 students.

Henry Ford based the school system around his philosophy of “learn to do by doing.” Students received a mix of academic training (in one room school house fashion), and practical hands-on learning. Students utilized buildings, village grounds, and many museum antiques in their day to day educational experiences. In additional to academic subjects, activities included auto mechanics, pottery, horseback riding, radio, gardening, weaving, music, and glassblowing. A full selection of sports were also available including football, boys and girls basketball, shot put, and swimming. Students were required to take dancing with Benjamin Lovett, first at the Ford Engineering Laboratory, and later at the Education Building on campus. The students also had a newsletter, The Herald, where they shared news, essays, and sometimes interviews with famous visitors. 

In 1934, the Edison Institute High School was added to the system, with classes in the museum. The school system added the Recreation/Educational Building (now Lovett Hall) in 1937 which added indoor recreational facilities as well as laboratories and more classrooms, as well as a full ballroom.

Post-secondary courses were added as well. First in 1935, The Edison Institute School of Home Arts a five-month course in home management and child care operated at the Clara Ford Nurses' Home at Henry Ford Hospital was offered for female students. Later, in 1937, the Edison Institute of Technology was added for both male and female students, based out of the Education Building.  

The following buildings on campus were used for classwork:

• Scotch Settlement (primary grades), 1929
• Town Hall (primary grades), 1930 
• Clinton Inn (primary grades), 1933 only, also used as student's lunchroom
• McGuffey School (primary grades), 1934
• Museum (Edison Institute High School), 1934
• Ann Arbor House (kindergarten), 1937
• Recreation/Education Building (now Lovett Hall) (Edison Institute of Technology), 1937
• Secretary House (primary grades), 1941
• Miller School (primary grades), 1943
• Edison Homestead (kindergarten), 1944

Henry Ford covered every student's tuition as well as a hot lunch each day and any field trips. He played a large roll in decisions about curriculum as well as sometimes selecting specific students to attend. Ford often visited the schools and took an active interest in the students and their education. 

In addition to the school on campus, the Edison Institute school system also oversaw several rural one room schoolhouses in Michigan.

• Town School Macon (Lenawee Co., MI) (1931)
• Willow Run (Ypsilanti, Wayne Co., MI) (September 9, 1931)
• Old Stone Pennington (Macon, Lenawee Co., MI) (September 28, 1931)
• Pennington/Macon High School (Macon, Lenawee Co., MI) (October 12, 1931) (September 7, 1938) 
• Centennial (Tecumseh, Lenawee Co., MI) (September 12, 1932)
• Brownville (Tecumseh, Lenawee Co., MI) (January 23, 1933) 
• Green Lane Academy (Tecumseh, Lenawee Co., MI) (September 18, 1933)
• Pequaming no. 1 (Upper Peninsula, MI) (February 4, 1935) 
• Pequaming no. 2 (Upper Peninsula, MI) (February 4, 1935) 
• Pequaming no. 3 (Upper Peninsula, MI) (September 1935) 
• Pequaming no. 4 (Upper Peninsula, MI) (September 1935)
• Comfort School (Lenawee Co., MI) (September 23, 1935)  
• Pequaming High School (Upper Peninsula, MI) (September 1937) 
• Nankin Mills (Wayne Co., MI) (September 9, 1937) 
• Alberta Elementary (Upper Peninsula, MI) (September 1938) 
• Macon Kindergarten (Macon, Lenawee Co, MI) (September 7, 1938 – merged with Green Lane Academy fall 1941) 
• Saline School (Washtenaw Co., MI) (September 7, 1943) 
• Cherry Hill (Wayne Co., MI) (September 7, 1943) 
• Convalescent School, Henry Ford Hospital (Wayne Co., MI)
• Mills School (Lenawee Co., MI)
• Rawsonville (Washtenaw Co., MI)  
• Waring School (Lenawee Co., MI) 

As Ford began to age, and Henry Ford II became president of Ford Motor Company in 1945, a stricter look at financial accounting was needed. In the mid-1940s all of the rural schools outside the Edison Institute campus were merged into the city or county school systems where they belonged or were closed. The School of Home Arts closed in 1942, and the Edison Institute of Technology closed in 1943 due to WWII. Henry Ford died in 1947, and his financial and personal contributions to the school system were missed. The Edison Institute High School was shut down in 1952, and the K-12 grades ceased in 1969.

Supervisors of the school system:

Benjamin Lovett served as superintendent of Edison Institute Schools from their inception in 1929 through 1936.

Carl Hood served as superintendent of the Edison Institute schools from 1936 to 1945.

Melvin Yahnke began as a teacher at the Edison Institute in 1943. He served as principal from 1945-1947, and then Superintendent of Schools until 1952.

Mark Stroebel started as a teacher at the Edison Institute High School in 1936 and later served as principal of Greenfield Village Schools from 1952 until their closing in 1969.

Vernon Dameron was Director of Education from the formal inception of the division in 1951 until 1957. When the Edison Institute High School closed 1952, the remaining grade school system was also placed under his supervision.

[images: THF138716 First Day of School at Scotch Settlement School; THF124036 Edison Institute Schools Students Weaving, circa 1935; THF707355 Edison Institute High School Students in Chemistry Laboratory in Lovett Hall, 1937; THF138738 Last Sixth-Grade Graduating Class at Edison Institute Schools, June 1969; THF97162  Benjamin Lovett; THF707272 Carl Hood; ei1929_SchoolSeries_6 Melvin Yahnke; THF707308 Mark Stroebel; Greenfield Villager 11.1.1956 Vernon Dameron]

Bibliography

Archival

• EI.138 Edison Institute School System Records
  • box 1
    • Artwork; E.I. logo
    • Kindergarten Enrollment Selection Process, circa 1964
    • Awards and Certificates, 1930-1948
    • School Health Reports, 1942, 1945
    • Tests and Scores, 1957-1962
  • box 2
    • Curriculum, 1947-1965
    • Handbook for First Graders, by Abby Joel Roche, 1968
    • Handbook for Greenfield Village Schools, 1952/1953, 1968/1969
  • box 3
    • Faculty and Staff, 1944-1951
    • Students, Enrollment, 1933-1968
    • Student Record Request, 1968-1969
  • box 4
    • Finances, 1939-1970
    • Student Activity Fund Account Book, 1948-1968
    • Annual Reports, 1936, 1943
    • Legal Status Documents, 1936, 1938, 1941
  • box 5
    • Forms, 1934-1964
    • Report Card materials, 1945-1967
  • box 6 History
  • box 7
    • Filmstrip Catalog, circa 1961
    • Inventories, 1946-1969
    • Schedules, 1946-1969
  • box 8
    • Newsletters/Publications
    • E.I. High School Radio Club
  • box 9 School programs, 1930-1969
  • box 10 Scrapbooks, 1931-1949
  • box 11 The Yearbook of the Edison Institute High School, 1937
  • box 12 Phonograph Records; Christmas Chapel Program, 1946
  • box 13 Ann Arbor House, 1939-1943
  • box 14
    • Ann Arbor House, 1944-1969
    • Clinton Inn, 1953-1969
    • Edison Homestead, 1944-1945
    • Grimm Jewelry Store, 1960-1969
  • box 15 Martha-Mary Chapel programs, 1936-1969
  • box 16 McGuffey School, 1939-1960
  • box 17
    • McGuffey School, 1954-1964
    • Miller School, 1947-1969
    • Noah Webster House, 1939-1942
  • box 18 Sarah Jordan Boarding House, 1941-1946
  • box 19
    • Scotch Settlement School, 1942-1969
    • Secretary Pearson House, 1942-1969
    • Stephen Foster Memorial, 1941-1942
    • Stone Mill, 1969
    • Town Hall, 1942-1969
  • box 20 Edison Institute High School, 1937-1951
  • box 21 Edison Institute High School, 1935-1952
  • box 22 Edison Institute High School, 1937-1951
  • box 23
    • Alberta School, 1938
    • Big Bay School, 1938-1940
    • Brownville School, 1933-1946
    • Centennial School, 1935-1946
    • Cherry Hill School, 1943-1946
    • Green Lane Academy, 1938-1946
    • Klein School
    • Macon High School, 1938-1946
  • box 24
    • Macon High School, 1938-1945
    • Macon Town School, 1938-1946
    • Nankin Mills School, 1938-1946
    • Pennington School, 1931-1937
    • Pequaming School, 1937-1938
    • Rawsonville School, 1938-1939
    • Saline School, 1943-1946
    • Ways, Georgia Schools, 1937-1945
    • Wayside Inn Schools, 1938-1946
    • Willow Run School, 1938-1939
  • box 25-29 RESTRICTED
  • box 30 Edison Institute of Technology, 1937-1943
  • box 21 School of Home Arts, 1935-1943
     
• EI.136 Carl Hood Administrative Records
  • box 1
    • Air Raid - First Aid, 1942
    • Alberta Schools, 1943-1945
    • Broadcast Letters, 1944-1945
    • Brownville, 1938-1945
  • box 2
    • Cameron, W. J, 1937-1945
    • Campsall, F., 1941-1945
  • box 3
    • Campsall, F., 1945
    • Carver, G. W. Evening School, 1945
    • Centennial School, 1939-1944
    • Chapel Broadcast Letters, 1942-1943
    • Chapel Broadcasts, 1940-1943
    • Chapel Readings, 1941-1942
    • Cherry Hill School, 1943-1945
    • Clinton Inn Menus, Jan-Sep 1943
    • Columbus Day Speech (R. Lucas), 1938
    • Convalescent School; Henry Ford Hospital, 1937-1940
    • Correspondence, A-C, 1938-1941
  • box 4 Correspondence, C-Z, 1937-1942
  • box 5 Correspondence, A-G, 1943-1945
  • box 6 Correspondence, H-P, 1943-1945
  • box 7
    • Correspondence; Q-Z, 1945-1945
    • Dentists; Correspondence, 1941-1944
    • E.I.H.S., 1941-1944
  • box 8
    • E.I.H.S., 1941-1945
    • E.I. Schools, 1939-1946
    • E.I.T., 1941-1945
    • Gardens, 1943-1945
    • Green Lane Academy, 1939-1945
  • box 9
    • Herald, 1943-1945
    • Industrial Training for High School Graduates, 1941-1943
    • Letters of Inquiry, 1941-1943
    • Macon Schools
  • box 10
    • Macon Schools, 1935-1945
    • Nankin Mills School, 1939-1945
    • Pennington (Old Stone), 1938-1943
  • box 11
    • Pequaming, 1937-1942
    • Richmond Hill, 1944-1945
  • box 12 Richmond Hill, 1937-1945
    • Saline School, 1943-1945
    • School of Home Arts, 1937-1943
  • box 13 Service Department, 1941-1945
  • box 14
    • Wayside Inn, 1940-1945  
    • Willow Run School, 1940-1942
    • World’s Fair, 1939-1940
  • box 15 World’s Fair, 1939-1940
  • box 16 World’s Fair, 1939-1940
  • box 17-18 RESTRCITED
     
• EI.139 Benjamin Lovett Records
  • box 1 Correspondence, 1941
  • box 2
    • High School
    • McGuffy
  • box 3 
    • Schedules, 1935-1936, 1936-1937
    • School Forms
    • Scotch Settlement
    • Town Hall
       
• EI.91 Melvin C. Yahnke Administrative Records
  • box 1 Correspondence, A-S, 1948-1950
  • box 2
    • Correspondence, T-Z, 1948-1950
    • Departmental Communications, 1948
    • Edison Institute High School Commencement, 1947-1951
    • Follow-up Study of E.I.H.S Graduates, 1949
    • North Central Association Report, 1949
    • School Programs, 1949-1950
    • Wayne University Study program, 1937-1950
       
• EI.151 Paul H. Jones Administrative Records, 1945-1947
  • box 1
    • Brownville School
    • Centennial School
    • Cherry Hill School
    • Correspondence; termination of Hospital and Dental Care
    • Edison Institute Schools
    • George Washington Carver Evening School
    • Green Lane Academy
    • Macon Schools
    • Closings
    • Nankin Mills School
    • Richmond Hill School
    • Saline School
    • Water reports
       
• EI.140 Vernon Dameron Records
  • box 1
    • Administrative Files, 1952-1955
    • Child Development Research, 1948-1956
    • Committee on Education for Citizenship, 1953-1954
    • Educational Programs, 1952-1950
    • Helmut Hofmann, Ph.D, 1956-1961
    • Publications, 1953
       
• EI.152 Mark Stroebel Administrative Records
  • box 1
    • A.S.C.D. Conference, 1956
    • Correspondence, 1954-1969
    • Correspondence; Re: School Closing, 1969
    • Country Fair, 1961-1975
    • Educational Information, 1955-1968
    • "Follow-Up Study of Pupils Who Attended Greenfield Village Schools During the Period 1946-1963", May 1965
    • Follow-Up Study Synopsis, 1965
    • Reports, 1955-1968
    • Summer Camps, 1955-1968
       
• EI.190 William Clary Ford Edison Institute Records
  • box 9 Village School Closing. 1952; 1957, 1968, 1969
     
• EI.134 Administrative Records
  • box 1
    • Administration and Education Consultant to The Edison Institute, Paul H. Jones; 1946-1947
    • Edison Institute, Schools: general, 1946-1949
    • Edison Institute, Schools: Paul H. Jones, 1946-1947
    • Edison Institute, Schools: Village Journal, 1946-1948
       
• EI.223 Student Letters to Henry Ford
  • box 1 Student Letters to Henry Ford. A-W, 1933-1937
     
• Acc. 00.1334.72 Christmas greetings to Mrs. Ford from the students of the Edison Institute Schools high school album, 1947
   
• Acc. 2008.83 Barbara Baetz Shafer Papers
  • Contains some of her student papers and projects, notebooks, weaving samples, pottery, photographic prints, and report cards, 1958-1965
     
• Acc. 2015.63 Benjamin Brender Edison Institute of Technology Collection|
   
• EI.296 E. Lucile Webster Papers
  • box 1 Scrapbooks, 1933-1937
  • box 2 Scrapbooks, 1952-1982
     
• EI.215 Margaret McAlister Artwork
  • McAlister was a teacher at the Edison Institute and later the Arts and Crafts instructor, her artwork was used on numerous pamphlets.
     
• EI.34 Edison Institute Schools Reunion Records
  • box 1 Correspondence, printed materials, directory
     
• EI.174 Edison Institute Advertising Drawings
  • OS folder
    • Macon School District #2
    • Pennington School; Macon, Michigan
    • Wayside Inn School - Redstone Hill Schoolhouse
    • Willow Run School
       
• Acc. 41 Ford Motor Company Northern Michigan Operations Records
  • box 1
    • "Suggested names of Pioneer Lumber Men and their Biographies of Upper Michigan for Names of Pequaming Schools of the Edison Institute"
    • "The Story of the Pequaming and Alberta Schools"
       
• Acc. 285 Henry Ford Office Papers
  • box 1132 Edison Institute of Technology (see also Greenfield Village)
  • box 1299
    • Edison Institute of Technology - also see Greenfield Village
    • Edison Institute of Technology - Report of Flour Delivered
  • box 1327 HAYS-HAZ (HB-HD) (includes Will H. Hayes, President, Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc. re: Bound volumes of the program of the dedication of the Edison Institute of Technology)
  • box 1432 Edison Institute of Technology, 1932
  • box 1562 The Edison Institute; The Herald - School Paper
  • box 1749 Greenfield Village Schools
  • box 2005 The Edison Institute; Telegraphic Birthday Greetings 1936-1937
  • box 2007 The Edison Institute; Schools
  • box 2032 HARV-HARZ (includes Harvard University re: Reports on The Edison Institute Schools)
  • box 2128 The Edison Institute
    • Students Birthday Greetings, 1937-1938
    • Educational - B.B. Lovett
    • Schools – General
  • box 2269 Greenfield Village - Carl Hood - General, 1939-1940
  • box 2270 Edison Institute; Birthday Greetings to Students from Henry Ford
  • box 2442 Birthday Greetings to Students from Henry Ford 
  • box 2625 Birthday Folder - The Edison Institute Schools
  • box 2798 Birthday messages and telegrams
  • box 2878 PRO-PRY (PRZ-PS-PT) (includes Mrs. William Prueter re: The Edison Institute Schools)
  • box 2946 Edison Institute; School Expense Reports, 1946-1949
  • box 2947 Edison Institute; Schools
  • box 3035 Edison Institute; Schools
     
• Acc. 1 Fair Lane Papers
  • box 123
    • Camp Legion and Willow Run Chapels, correspondence and promotional materials, 1938-1949
    • Macon School and Martha Mary Chapel (Macon, Michigan), correspondence, 1939-1943
    • Nankin Mills School (Wayne County, Michigan), correspondence, 1939
    • Saline School (Saline, Michigan), correspondence, 1943
  • box 129-131 Edison Institute Schools
     
• Acc. 587 Office of Henry Ford and Clara Ford Estate Records
  • box 7 Edison Institute Schools, 1939-1950
  • box 60 Schools Files of H.R. Waddell, 1947-1952
     
• Acc. 23 Henry Ford General Personal Records
  • box 2 Edison Institute; Schools: questionnaire, undated (contains a test given to students in a contest to win a trip to the World’s Fair
  • box 5 McGuffey School, 1936 (contains letter from students)
  • box 6 Pennington School Christmas letters, 1931
     
• Acc. 6 Edsel B. Ford Office Papers
  • box 132 EA-EM (includes Edison Institute, legal opinion on incorporation of Edison Institute schools), 1938
  • box 242 Edison Institute, 1939 (Includes photographs of students and Edsel Ford)
     
• Acc. 44 William J. Cameron Records
  • box 3
    • Speeches and Other Writings; Edison Institute Schools
    • Commencement Address, 1937, 1939, 1942-1945
    • Dedication Address, February 11, 1932
    • General Writings, 1940-1945
       
• Acc. 536 Public Relations Research Library Press Releases
  •  box 30 Edison Institute; Schools
     
• RC.6 Engineering and Blueprint Aperture Card Collection
  • drawer 2 Edison Institute; Schools (includes General, Macon, Nankin, Pennington, Pequaming, Saline)
  • drawer 4 Greenfield Village buildings
    • Ann Arbor House
    • Eagle Tavern
    • Edison Homestead
  • drawer 5 Greenfield Village buildings
    • Grimm Jewelry Store
    • Martha Mary Chapel
    • McGuffey School
  • drawer 6 Greenfield Village buildings
    • Miller School
    • Scotch Settlement School
    • Secretary Pearson House
  • drawer 7
    • Greenfield Village buildings; Town Hall
    • Greenfield Village; Schools
  • drawer 8 Macon; Pennington School
     
• RC.30 Research Center Museum Vertical File
  • box 24 Education; Detroit High School, 1892, and Edison Institute High School, 1941
  • box 51 Herald, May 1936, January 1940, May 1944 (student newspaper at the Edison Institute)
     
• Small Accessions
  • Acc. 1234 Edison Institute Alumni and Faculty Directory (Greenfield Village Schools, Edison Institute Schools, The Henry Ford), 1937-1975
  • Acc. 1089 Edison Institute Baseball Team Scorebook
     
• EI.1929 Edison Institute Photographs. Schools Series
  • box 1-2 Buildings
  • box 2A Class Photographs, 1964, 1965, 1967
  • box 3-5 Events
  • box 6 Faculty
  • box 7
    • High School
    •  Kindergarten
    • Seventh Grade
  • box 8 Sports
  • box 9-11
    • Student Activities
    • Student Memorabilia
    • Student Transportation
  • box 12 World’s Fair
  • box 13
    • Edison Institute of Technology
    • School of Home Arts
  • box 14-15 Schools Outside Greenfield Village
     
• Acc.188 Personal for Henry Ford Photographs

Periodicals

• The Herald, 1934-1951

Ford News

• Students from Edison Institute schools celebrate, 15:2:36:2
• School Children Open...Institute Auditorium with Musical Comedy, 13:7:139:1-2
• Edison Anniversary Honored by Students, 11:5:50:1-3
• Experimenting with the Soy Bean, 13:3:49+:1-2
• Industrial…Building-Edison Institute of Technology (Sketches), 10:5:54+:1-3
• Mr. Edison's Birthday, 10:5:50+:1-3
• (Sketch) Front Elevation of Industrial Museum...,10:7:73:1-3
• A Trip Through Menlo Park (Note from Edison to students), 11:13:7+:1-
• A Day with Ford: Dealers...First Convention (High school glee club), 16:12:223+:1-2
• A School Vacation Project, 21:1:13+:1-3
• Training For A Place In Industry (High school provides industrial training), 21:2:33+:1-3

Audio-Visual (materials may be restricted due to format, please contact reference staff in advance for access)

• Edison Institute Students in Greenfield Village. Henry Ford (Organization); Ford Motor Company; Ford Motor Company Film Collection 
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C3T0HKOgrc
• Ford Sunday Evening Hour May 21, 1938. Choruses of Edison Institute and Greenfield Village Schools.; Ford Symphony Orchestra
  • 780.78 F699c 1938 CD

Oral Histories

• 64.167.65.151 Isabelle Cassett Smith (student at Edison Institute in Greenfield Village in 1932)
• 64.167.65.65 Boivin and Snyder (Mrs. Elaine Snyder was a EI student in the upper peninsula)
• 64.167.65.241 Fred L. Black
• EI.96 Reminiscence Max J. Irland (Edison Institute teacher)
• EI.252 Memoirs of Mark W. Stroebel (Edison Institute principle, 1951-1969)

Vertical File

• Edison Institute Schools
  • General
  • High School Radio Club
• Ford, Henry
  • Educator
  • School, interest in
• Greenfield Village
  • Schools
• Schools
  • General
  • Macon
  • Saline
  • Scotch Settlement School

Books

• Henry Ford and Benjamin B. Lovett: The Dancing Billionaire and the Dancing Master. Twork, Eva O'Neal 
  • 793.33092 T974 1982 REF
• An Unheralded Education: Learning by Doing in Henry Ford's Greenfield Village Schools. Schultz, Joan A.; Davis Jr., Charlie.; Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
  • 371.02 S387 2013 REF
• A Home for our Heritage: The Building and Growth of Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum, 1929-1979. Upward, Geoffrey C
  • 973.074 H525 U71 1979 REF
• Macon Experiment in Rural Education: A Description of one of Henry Ford's Schools. Parker, Ivan William
  • 371.02 P239 1991 REF
•              An Autobiography of a One-room School Teacher: Scotch Settlement School of Henry Ford's Greenfield Village. Webster, Emma Lucile
  • 371.10092 W378 1978
• Man's Progress in the Agricultural World. Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, Edison Institute Schools
  • 631.3 E23 1936 R