Photographic Vertical File Series
The Photographic vertical file series is an assembled collection of photographs from a variety of sources. The series contains both original photographs and copy photographs, covering a wide range of topics.
Scope and Content Note
This assembled collection consists of the most often used images relating to Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company. Started in the 1950s, these photoprints were gathered from larger photograph accessions (particularly Accessions 188, 189 and 833) and from...
MoreThis assembled collection consists of the most often used images relating to Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company. Started in the 1950s, these photoprints were gathered from larger photograph accessions (particularly Accessions 188, 189 and 833) and from miscellaneous sources. In many ways this collection forms a synopsis of the larger Henry Ford / Ford Motor Company photographic accessions. This file contains vintage as well as copy photoprints.
Topics covered include an encyclopedic range of subjects concerning Henry Ford and his family from 1890 to 1955; a broad selection of Ford Motor Company products, buildings, activities, and subsidiaries from 1903 to 1955; and a sampling of automotive industry images other than Ford Motor Company (for views of automobiles other than Ford products see Accession 1671). This collection reflects Henry Ford's wide interests, and includes images of famous people such as actors, authors, kings, and scientists as well as his personal friends, John Burroughs, Harvey Firestone, and George Washington Carver (for Thomas Edison images see also Accession 1630). Henry Ford's interest in historic preservation at Botsford Inn and Wayside Inn also is covered (for images of Henry Ford Museum AND Greenfield Village see also Accession EI 1929).
Some cities and towns are documented in this collection, particularly where Henry Ford's Village Industries, farms and homes were located and the sites of Ford Motor Company plants and branches. Michigan is particularly well represented because of the company headquarters in Detroit and Dearborn. Reflecting the activity of the Ford Archives in the 1950s many views of automobiles on city streets, country roads, and camping from the early decades of this century are part of this collection, gathered for Ford Motor Company's 50th anniversary advertising campaign, "The American Road."
Additional topics include automobile exhibitions, Stout and Ford Tri-Motor airplanes, Ford Tractors and World War I and II defense production. Copy photoprints of graphics such as company advertisements and documents are also in the collection (for the original artifacts see Accession 19 for advertisements, and Accession 1, Accession 62, Accession 285, and other manuscript collections for the documents).
The original subject arrangement was based on an idiosyncratic set of subject headings developed for use with the Ford manuscript collections. Beginning in 1986, the subject terms were changed to reflect Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division standards for subject arrangement. In 1987, a large portion of the photoprints in this collection was cataloged in The Henry Ford's collection management system with a concomitant videodisc made of the images.
The accession was previously known as the Archives Print Collection, the Reference Photofile, the Aircraft Subject Boxes, the Automotive Addendum, and the A Series Prints by Subject.
LessCollection Details
Object ID: 84.1.1660.0
Creator: Ford Motor Company. Archives
Creator Notes: Created by Ford Motor Company Archives
Inclusive Dates: 1890-1980
Size: 53.33 linear ft.
Language: English
Collection Access & Use
Item Location: Benson Ford Research Center
Access Restrictions: The collection is open for research.
Credit: From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Keywords
United States, Georgia, Richmond Hill
United States, Michigan, Dearborn
United States, Michigan, Detroit
United States, Michigan, Charter Township of Ypsilanti
United States, Michigan, Charter Township of Van Buren
Hotels (Public accommodations)
Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943
Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931
Digitized Artifacts From This Collection
In many cases, not all artifacts have been digitized.
Contact us for more information about this collection.
Garden at Fair Lane Estate, Dearborn, Michigan, June 1933
Artifact
Photographic transparency
Date Made
14 June 1933
Summary
In the early 1910s, Henry and Clara Ford selected 1300 acres of farmland in Dearborn, Michigan, as the site for a new home. They called the estate Fair Lane. Surrounded by woods, meadows, gardens, and the nature they loved, Henry and Clara found this home a peaceful respite. This image shows one of the gardens created near the house for the couple to enjoy.
Creators
Keywords
Object ID
84.1.1660.535
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Garden at Fair Lane Estate, Dearborn, Michigan, June 1933
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Inkster High School Senior Banquet, May 2, 1940
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
During the Great Depression, Ford Motor Company made efforts to improve living conditions in Inkster, Michigan, a primarily Black community hit especially hard by the economic crisis. Ford built a high school, repaired homes, established a medical clinic, and opened a low-price commissary. Improvements were funded through involuntary paycheck deductions from Inkster residents employed at Ford's nearby Rouge plant.
Keywords
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.188.27534
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Inkster High School Senior Banquet, May 2, 1940
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Book Display at the Inkster High School Senior Banquet, May 2, 1940
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
During the Great Depression, Ford Motor Company made efforts to improve living conditions in Inkster, Michigan, a primarily Black community hit especially hard by the economic crisis. Ford built a high school, repaired homes, established a medical clinic, and opened a low-price commissary. Improvements were funded through involuntary paycheck deductions from Inkster residents employed at Ford's nearby Rouge plant.
Keywords
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.188.27537
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Book Display at the Inkster High School Senior Banquet, May 2, 1940
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Henry Ford Trade School Students at Great Lakes Exposition, Cleveland, Ohio, 1936-1937
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
Cleveland celebrated its centennial with the Great Lakes Exposition. For two summers during 1936 and 1937, over seven million visitors came through the gates. Fair officials consigned Ford and the other automobile companies to the Automotive Building -- no separate corporate buildings were constructed. Ford supplemented its vehicle displays with other exhibitions, including demonstrations by students from the Henry Ford Trade School.
Place of Creation
Keywords
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.833.66356
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Henry Ford Trade School Students at Great Lakes Exposition, Cleveland, Ohio, 1936-1937
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Launching the Green Island Freighter at the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan, May 1937
Details
Launching the Green Island Freighter at the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan, May 1937
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
Ford Motor Company launched the MS Green Island in 1937. The 300-foot vessel was part of a fleet that carried raw material, auto parts and other goods to and from Ford's mines, mills and factories. Green Island, with its low twelve-foot draft, was one of the longest ships to move through the New York State Barge Canal system.
Keywords
Object ID
P.833.68308.K
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Launching the Green Island Freighter at the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan, May 1937
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Ford Tri-Motor Airplane Assembly Line, Dearborn, Michigan, 1927
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
Henry Ford attempted to apply automobile assembly line techniques to the manufacture of airplanes, and to build them in large numbers. Monthly production peaked at 25 planes in June 1929. The Great Depression forced Ford to re-focus on his core auto business, and the company's commercial aircraft production ended in May 1933.
Place of Creation
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.189.4107
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Ford Tri-Motor Airplane Assembly Line, Dearborn, Michigan, 1927
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Ford Trimotor 4-AT-10 and Bleriot Airplane at Ford Airport, Dearborn, Michigan, April 1928
Artifact
Photographic print
Date Made
27 December 1929
Summary
Two generations of aircraft contrasted at Ford Airport. The smaller Bleriot XI was of the type flown by French pilot Louis Bleriot across the English Channel in 1909. Its wood frame and fabric-covered surfaces were light but fragile. The larger Ford Trimotor was of a design built from 1926 to 1933. Its metal construction and three motors suggested strength and safety.
Place of Creation
Keywords
United States, Michigan, Dearborn
Ford Three-engined Monoplane (Transport plane)
Object ID
P.189.7088
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Ford Trimotor 4-AT-10 and Bleriot Airplane at Ford Airport, Dearborn, Michigan, April 1928
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Ford Times Cover, March 1917
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
Norval Hawkins, the sales manager for Ford Motor Company, developed the idea for a company magazine, Ford Times. Hawkins filled the magazine with information ranging from production methods and testimonials to Ford race victories. Always lively and well illustrated, Ford Times boosted morale at the agencies and branches while serving as another advertising medium.
Creators
Keywords
Object ID
P.O.8008
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Ford Times Cover, March 1917
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Airplane Flying over Dearborn Inn, Dearborn, Michigan, 1931
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
Edsel and Henry Ford conceived the Dearborn Inn as a business opportunity, a first-class hotel hosting pilots and travelers transiting through the adjacent Ford Airport. It is noted as one of the first airport hotels. It also served traveling Ford employees and dealers, and visitors to the nearby Edison Institute (later renamed The Henry Ford).
Place of Creation
Keywords
Object ID
P.833.56398.2
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Airplane Flying over Dearborn Inn, Dearborn, Michigan, 1931
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
