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.
Henry Ford Seated Outdoors, Holding a Newspaper, California, 1919
Artifact
Photographic print
Creators
Keywords
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.188.3365
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 Seated Outdoors, Holding a Newspaper, California, 1919
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 with Ford Motor Company Executives and Managers, Ardussey Road House, Detroit, Michigan, 1907
Details
Henry Ford with Ford Motor Company Executives and Managers, Ardussey Road House, Detroit, Michigan, 1907
Artifact
Photographic print
Date Made
1907
Creators
Keywords
United States, Michigan, Detroit
Automobile industry executives
Dodge, Horace E. (Horace Elgin), 1868-1920
Dodge, John F. (John Francis), 1864-1920
Fay, Charles Ernest, 1846-1931
Flanders, Walter E. (Walter Emmett), 1871-1923
Hawkins, Norval A. (1867-1936)
Klingensmith, F. L. (Frank L.)
McGregor, Gordon M. (Gordon Morton), 1873-1922
Rackham, Horace H. (Horace Hatcher), 1858-1933
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.188.4769
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 with Ford Motor Company Executives and Managers, Ardussey Road House, Detroit, Michigan, 1907
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.
Edsel Ford at Balloon Races, Dearborn, Michigan, 1927
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
Edsel Ford is seen at the 1927 Gordon Bennett Cup balloon race. Participants in that year's contest started from Ford Airport in Dearborn, Michigan. First held in 1906, the Gordon Bennett Cup is the world's oldest gas balloon race. The 1927 event was held in combination with the 1927 National Air Tour airplane competition.
Place of Creation
Keywords
Object ID
P.189.4738
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:
Edsel Ford at Balloon Races, 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.
Henry Ford in His Office at the Highland Park Plant, 1913
Artifact
Photographic print
Object ID
P.833.259.A
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 in His Office at the Highland Park Plant, 1913
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 Model T Assembly Line, Filling the Radiator and Starting the Engine, Highland Park Plant, 1914
Details
Ford Model T Assembly Line, Filling the Radiator and Starting the Engine, Highland Park Plant, 1914
Artifact
Photographic print
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.833.1041
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 Model T Assembly Line, Filling the Radiator and Starting the Engine, Highland Park Plant, 1914
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.
Edsel Ford at the Helm, 1922
Artifact
Photographic print
Date Made
20 June 1922
Place of Creation
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.833.32964
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:
Edsel Ford at the Helm, 1922
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, Ray Dahlinger, Frank Kulick, Jerry Wolfe, and A. B. Jewett at "The Bungalow," Dearborn, Michigan
Details
Henry Ford, Ray Dahlinger, Frank Kulick, Jerry Wolfe, and A. B. Jewett at "The Bungalow," Dearborn, Michigan
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
Henry and Clara Ford lived in Detroit, but they preferred spending time in nature. Around 1910, the Fords built a small home west of the city on private farmland near the Rouge River in Dearborn. Here, at "the Bungalow," the Ford family could watch birds, entertain friends, and stay overnight. Soon, the Fords would select this secluded site for their Fair Lane estate.
Creators
Keywords
Object ID
00.1334.174
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, Ray Dahlinger, Frank Kulick, Jerry Wolfe, and A. B. Jewett at "The Bungalow," Dearborn, Michigan
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.
George Washington Carver and Austin W. Curtis, Jr. at Tuskegee Institute with Sculpture by Steffen Thomas, circa 1938
Details
George Washington Carver and Austin W. Curtis, Jr. at Tuskegee Institute with Sculpture by Steffen Thomas, circa 1938
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
In Tuskegee, Alabama, agricultural and environmental scientist George Washington Carver and his assistant, chemist Austin Curtis, Jr., stand in front of a statue commemorating Carver's 40 years of service to the Tuskegee Institute.
Creators
Keywords
United States, Alabama, Tuskegee
Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943
Object ID
00.1334.160
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:
George Washington Carver and Austin W. Curtis, Jr. at Tuskegee Institute with Sculpture by Steffen Thomas, circa 1938
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.
George Washington Carver Holding Fabric Made from Soybean Fiber, Soybean Lab, Greenfield Village, 1939
Details
George Washington Carver Holding Fabric Made from Soybean Fiber, Soybean Lab, Greenfield Village, 1939
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
A mutual interest in industrial products made from plants brought Henry Ford and the scientist George Washington Carver together as colleagues and friends. Ford developed plastics and fibers from soybeans. Here, on a 1939 visit to Dearborn, George Washington Carver is seated in the Soybean Laboratory in Greenfield Village, holding a piece of fabric made of soybean fiber.
Place of Creation
Keywords
United States, Michigan, Dearborn
Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943
Object ID
84.1.1660.P.188.26234
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:
George Washington Carver Holding Fabric Made from Soybean Fiber, Soybean Lab, Greenfield Village, 1939
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.
