Biography of Henry Ford, Industrialist and Inventor

Biography of Henry Ford, Industrialist and Inventor Henry Ford was an American  industrialist, the founder of the  Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the  assembly line  technique of  mass production. Fast Facts: Henry Ford Known For: American industrialist, founder of the Ford Motor Company.Born: July 30, 1863, Dearborn, Michigan.Parents: Mary Litogot Ahern Ford (1839–1876) and William Ford (1826- 1905) (m. April 21, 1861).Died: April 7, 1947, Dearborn, Michigan.Education: Scotch Settlement School in Dearborn to the 6th grade, apprentice in a machine shop, and general business studies at Bryant Stratton Business University in Detroit.  Published Works: My Life and Work.  Spouse: Clara Jane Bryant (m. 1888–1947).Children: Edsel (November 6, 1893–May 26, 1943). Early Life Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, one of eight and the oldest of five that survived to adulthood, of Mary Litogot Ahern and William Ford. William (1826–1905) was an Irish immigrant, born in Clonakilty in County Cork, who fled the Irish potato famine with two borrowed pounds and  a set of carpentry tools. He settled in Detroit where a number of his uncles lived, and quickly accrued land. At three years of age, Mary Litogot Ahern (1839–1876) and her three brothers were orphaned; Mary was adopted by a couple named Margaret and Patrick Ahern. She and William married on April 21, 1861: Marys dowry included 90 acres and after they were married, their sizable farm totaled 250 acres. By the time Henry was born, they were among the most important and wealthy families in Dearborn.   Education Henry was educated in two one-room schoolhouses, the Scottish Settlement School and the Miller School, finishing six grades. The building was eventually moved to Fords Greenfield village and opened to tourists. From his graduation in 1876 Henry worked on his fathers farm but after harvest 1878, he abruptly left, walking off without permission to Detroit where he stayed with his fathers sister Rebecca. He took a job at the streetcar manufacturer Michigan Car Company Works, but was fired after six days and had to return home. In 1879, William got Henry an apprenticeship at the James Flower and Brothers Machine shop in Detroit where he lasted 9 months, leaving for the Detroit Dry Dock Company, pioneers in iron ships and Bessemer steel. Neither job paid him enough to cover his rent, so he took a night job with a jeweler, cleaning and repairing watches.   Henry Ford returned to the farm in 1882, where he operated a small portable steam threshing machine, the Westinghouse Agricultural Engine, for a neighbor. He was very good at it, and over the summers of 1883–1884, he was hired by the company to operate and repair engines made and sold in Michigan and northern Ohio.   Marriage and Future Plans In December of 1885, Ford met Clara Jane Bryant (1866–1950) at a New Years Eve party and they married on April 11, 1888. Ford continued to work the farm- his father gave him an acreage- but his heart was in tinkering and and he clearly had business in mind. Over the winters of 1888-1890, Henry Ford enrolled in Goldsmith, Bryant Stratton Business University in Detroit, where he likely took penmanship, bookkeeping, mechanical drawing, and general business practices. By the early 1890s, Ford was convinced that he could construct a horseless carriage: but he didnt know enough about electricity, so in September 1891, he took a job with the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. After his first and only son Edsel was born on November 6, 1893, Ford was promoted to Chief Engineer. By 1896, Edison had built his first working horseless carriage, which he named a quadricyle. He sold it in order to finance work on an improved model- a delivery wagon. On April 17, 1897, Ford applied for a patent for a carburetor, and on August 5, 1899, the Detroit Automobile Company was formed. Ten days later, Ford quit the Edison Illuminating Company.  And on January 12, 1900, the Detroit Automobile Company released the delivery wagon as its first commercial automobile, designed by Henry Ford. Ford Motors Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company in 1903, proclaiming, I will build a car for the great multitude. In October 1908, he did so, the Model T- Ford numbered his models by the letters of the alphabet, although not all of them made it to manufacture. First priced at $950, over the Model Ts nineteen years of production, its price dipped as low as $280. Nearly 15,000,000 were sold in the United States alone. The Model T heralds the beginning of the Motor Age; Fords innovation was a car evolved from luxury item for the well-to-do to an essential form of transportation for the ordinary man, that that ordinary man could repair and maintain by himself Although contrary to some reports he didnt invent the assembly line, Ford did use it to revolutionize manufacturing processes in the United States. By 1914, his Highland Park, Michigan plant used innovative production techniques to turn out a complete chassis every 93 minutes. This was a stunning improvement over the earlier production time of 728 minutes. Using a constantly-moving assembly line, subdivision of labor, and careful coordination of operations, Ford realized huge gains in productivity, and personal wealth. In 1914, Ford began paying his employees five dollars a day, nearly doubling the wages offered by other manufacturers. He cut the workday from nine to eight hours in order to convert the factory to a three-shift workday. Fords mass-production techniques would eventually allow for the manufacture of a Model T every 24 seconds. His innovations made him an international celebrity. On May 27, 1927, production ended for the Ford Model T. Legacy and Death Ford was a shrewd businessman and very much of a showman, with a fairly thin skin. In 1919 he sued the Chicago Tribune for libel for writing an editorial in which the  Tribune  called him an anarchist and ignorant idealist.  He wrote and rewrote his biography multiple times beginning in 1922, and he sponsored the restoration of an idyllic rural town called Greenfield Village which was built in part to act as a tourist destination celebrating his life and work. Yet, Ford continued to innovate. In 1932, Henry Ford introduced his last engineering triumph: his en block, or one piece, V-8 engine; and on January 13, 1942, he patented a plastic-bodied automobile- a car 30 percent lighter than metal cars. Fords affordable Model T irrevocably altered American society. As more Americans owned cars, urbanization patterns changed. The United States saw the growth of suburbia, the creation of a national highway system, and a population entranced with the possibility of going anywhere anytime. Ford witnessed many of these changes during his lifetime, all the while personally longing for the agrarian lifestyle of his youth. The last few years, Henry Ford visibly slowed down, and on April 7, 1947, he died in his home in Dearborn. Controversy There is unfortunately ample evidence that Ford was a bigot, whose writings include several statements referring to white supremacy. According to a recent article in Quartz, even though he hired black employees and paid them the same as white ones, he was concerned that they and his other workers would be infected by the evil of jazz music, so he suggested that square dancing could be put forward as an alternative place where white people could hang out.   Sources Bryan, Ford R. Clara: Mrs. Henry Ford. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2013.Ford, Henry. My Life and Work. Fords memoir was published several times and with numerous editions, the book was first written, in association with Samuel Crowther, in 1922.Lewis, David L. The Public Image of Henry Ford: An American Folk Hero and His Company. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1976.Pennacchia, Robyn. America’s wholesome square dancing tradition is a tool of white supremacy. Quartz, December 12, 2017.Swigger, Jessica. History Is Bunk: Historical Memories at Henry Fords Greenfield Village. University of Texas, 2008.Wik, Reynold M. Henry Ford and Grass-roots America. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1973.Wood, John Cunningham and Michael C. Wood (eds). Henry Ford: Critical Evaluations in Business and Management, Volume 1. London: Routledge, 2003.