Henry Ford Office Records - Engineering Lab Office
In 1964, the Ford Motor Company donated its archive to The Henry Ford, with the records from the office of Henry Ford at the collection’s core. Housed in over 3,000 boxes and forming an unbroken run of correspondence from 1921 through 1952, the Engineering Lab Office Records are a remarkable group of materials that document a period of more than thirty years of activity of one of the world's great industrialists and his company.
Biographical / Historical Note
Henry Ford Office Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903. In 1906, James Couzens, at the time general manager and one of the company’s first stockholders, organized the Henry Ford Office to manage Ford’s correspondence and personal affairs. Frank...
MoreHenry Ford Office Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903. In 1906, James Couzens, at the time general manager and one of the company’s first stockholders, organized the Henry Ford Office to manage Ford’s correspondence and personal affairs. Frank L. Klingensmith, who was hired as a bookkeeper and clerk and eventually became treasurer and a director, received and answered mail, handled taxes, real estate transactions, requests for aid, etc. By 1911, E.G. Liebold had become personal secretary to Henry Ford, and in addition to some company duties, largely took over the administration of Henry’s affairs. The Ford Motor Company was relatively small, correspondence was slight, and Henry’s interests centered on his automotive and agricultural activities. Between 1914 and 1919, however, the character of the Henry Ford Office changed. The universal acceptance of the Model T and the national publicity following the announcement of the five-dollar day resulted in an increased volume of correspondence. As the company’s size increased, functionally specialized departments were created for handling company activities and records. As early as 1916, income tax records reveal the beginnings of the Henry Ford Office as an independent entity distinct from the Ford Motor Company. Organizational lines within the company, however, were fluid; there were no tight chains of command. After his resignation as president of the company in 1919, Henry’s attention turned increasingly to the diverse and varied interests he cultivated outside the Ford Motor Company; Liebold’s responsibilities as general secretary grew substantially. Enterprises beyond the Ford Motor Company managed from the Henry Ford Office included the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad, the Dearborn Publishing Company, the Dearborn Realty and Construction Company, Henry Ford & Son, Inc., the Dearborn State Bank, and Henry Ford Hospital, to name a few. Subjects beyond Henry Ford’s business activities include the Peace Ship expedition in 1915, agriculture, antiques, historical restorations, education, and the operation of numerous schools. From the early 1920s, Henry Ford also utilized the services of Frank Campsall as a private personal secretary. Campsall handled most of the important, non-financial business and correspondence; his responsibilities gradually increased in the 1930s as Liebold’s declined. Along with Campsall, Harold Cordell was Ford’s private secretary from 1919 to 1929, largely detailed to handling the purchase of antiques. L.J. Thompson served as cashier, bookkeeper, and accountant after 1918, handling personal finances, payroll and income taxes. William Gregory was active in the purchase of real estate and in the handling of real estate taxes in the 1910s and early 1920s; Charles Newton took on this role in the 1930s. H.R. Waddell was part of the organization from 1924 on, originally as assistant to Cordell and Campsall, becoming Mrs. Ford’s secretary after Henry Ford’s death in 1947. The office then became the Office of Mrs. Henry Ford and handled estate matters. Dearborn Engineering Laboratory In March of 1923 construction began on the Albert Kahn-designed Dearborn Engineering Laboratory. The building was completed at the end of 1924 and although he had offices in other locations, Henry Ford's office there became his most frequently used and the home base for his office staff, including E. G. Liebold and Frank Campsall. The building was built near Ford's Fair Lane estate and next to his beloved Edison Institute. It also housed the offices and publishing facilities of the Dearborn Publishing Company (publisher of the Dearborn Independent and Ford News), the C.E. Johansson Company, Ford radio stations, and engineering and experimental operations. The building was also the site of round table luncheons in the dining room, where Henry Ford and various executives would often dine and discuss company business. Henry Ford's main office remained at the Dearborn Engineering Laboratory until his death in 1947.
LessScope and Content Note
The Engineering Laboratory Office records are comprised of six series which are found in two accessions, 64.167.284 and 64.167.285. This finding aid contains information on the second accession, 64.167.285, which is arranged in four series: the In-House...
MoreThe Engineering Laboratory Office records are comprised of six series which are found in two accessions, 64.167.284 and 64.167.285. This finding aid contains information on the second accession, 64.167.285, which is arranged in four series: the In-House Subject and Name Filing System series, January-June, 1921 (7.6 cubic ft.); the Library Bureau Filing System series, July 1921-1929 (429.6 cubic ft. and 6 oversize boxes); the Amberg Filing System series, 1930-1949 (781.6 cubic ft. and 1 oversize box); and the In-House Name File with Subjects Filing System series, 1950-1952 (14 cubic ft.). Accession 64.167.284, which has its own finding aid, contains the Business and Personal Correspondence series, 1920 (13.2 cubic ft.); and the Business and Personal Correspondence Addendum series, 1920 (2.8 cubic ft.). Taken together, these two accessions contain an unbroken run of Henry Ford Office correspondence from 1920 through 1952. During these years however, filing systems changed, which is reflected in the names of the series into which the accessions have been arranged. The Engineering Laboratory Office records is a remarkable collection of material that documents a period of more than thirty years of activity of one of the world's great industrialists and his company. The records are arranged by year and then alphabetically according to the filing system used during that year. Typically for each year files can be found for most domestic and foreign Ford Motor Company branches, including Highland Park and the Rouge plant, as well as most company departments such as accounting, advertising, auditing, disbursement, employment, chemical laboratory, chemical and metallurgical, engineering, medical, purchasing, sociological, service, the President's office, general sales, and traffic and for other ventures pursued by Henry Ford, especially those that were managed by his secretary E.G. Liebold, such as Henry Ford Hospital, Dearborn Publishing Company, Dearborn State Bank, Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad and Dearborn Realty and Construction Company. Additional subjects that have multiple folders through the years include antiques, Dearborn Water Works, Dearborn Inn, Dearborn Country Club, Berry Schools, Edison Institute, Boreham House Estate, Michigan Bell Telephone Company, Michigan Central Railroad Company, Michigan Public Utilities Commission, Henry Ford Flour Mill, Henry Ford and Son, Lincoln Motor Company, Lincoln and Lincoln-Mercury Divisions, Botsford Inn, Wayside Inn, Michigan Iron Land and Lumber Company, Hamilton and Rossville Hydraulic Company, Henry Ford's yacht Sialia, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and various Village Industries. Also included in the collection is material about the Edison Botanic Research Corporation, a corporation formed by Henry Ford and Firestone in 1927 to research sources of domestic rubber, based out of Thomas Edison's Fort Myers Laboratory. Accident reports and insurance information from the firms Lucking, Helfman, Lucking and Hanlon; Kelly, Halla, Peacock and Hughes and Johnson and Higgins are found in multiple years as well. Individuals with multiple folders include Henry, Edsel and Clara Ford, newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane, Jens Jensen, Herbert Hoover, Ford real estate agent William T. Gregory, John Burroughs, G.K. Chesterton, Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Edison, Sialia captain Perry T. Stakes, Harvey Firestone, Albert Kahn, and missionary Joseph Bailie. There is one letter from Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen inviting Henry Ford to expand automobile industry work in China. The records also include hundreds of thousands of letters from individuals asking Henry Ford for financial assistance, employment, donation of a vehicle, wanting to donate or sell something to him for his museum, providing opinions on Ford products, or opinions on projects and ventures Henry Ford was involved with or supporting; the letters offer insight into the social conditions of the period. While there is typically no way to access this particular material by subject, as it is generally filed by the last name of the correspondent, almost any box in the collection contains these types of letters. The records are worth checking if the name of an individual or subject is known as well as a general time period. In some cases, office staff and later archivists handling the collection have provided extensive cross-reference sheets in the boxes to aid in subject access.
LessCollection Details
Object ID: 64.167.285.0
Creator: Ford, Henry, 1863-1947
Inclusive Dates: 1921-1952
Size: 1238.05 cubic ft. (3087 boxes)
Language: English
Collection Access & Use
Item Location: Not Currently On Exhibit
Access Restrictions: The records are open for research.
Credit: From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Digitized Artifacts From This Collection
In many cases, not all artifacts have been digitized.
Contact us for more information about this collection.
How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption, May 1917
Artifact
Bulletin
Date Made
May 1917
Summary
George Washington Carver directed the agricultural Experiment Station at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. As part of his work, Carver wrote what he called "threefold" agricultural bulletins: they included information for the farmer, for the teacher, and for the housewife. This bulletin on growing and cooking peanuts, along with Carver's other advocacy work, helped popularize the peanut as a useful and nutritious crop for Southern farmers.
Place of Creation
Keywords
Object ID
64.167.285.9
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:
How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption, May 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.
Teacher's Leaflet No. 2, Nature Study and Children's Gardens, 1904
Artifact
Bulletin
Date Made
1904
Summary
Among George Washington Carver's contributions were the bulletins he issued from the Agricultural Experiment Station at the Tuskegee Institute. This pamphlet, written for teachers, treats the popular topic of "nature study," the early 20th century's version of environmental education. It was a guide for educators wanting to involve school children in gardening to help prepare them for successful farming careers. Carver's nature study bulletins emphasized both aesthetic and scientific understandings of nature and were popular across the country.
Place of Creation
Object ID
64.167.285.19
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:
Teacher's Leaflet No. 2, Nature Study and Children's Gardens, 1904
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.
Letter and Drawing by George Washington Carver Sent to Henry Ford, 1941
Artifact
Letter (Correspondence)
Date Made
28 March 1941
Summary
George Washington Carver and Henry Ford became friends in the late 1930s, drawn together by a mutual interest in developing new industrial products from the fruits of the soil. Carver's warm letters to Ford, Clara Ford, and Ford's secretary Frank Campsall speak to the genuine depth of the friendship. Carver often gives Ford advice on research avenues to pursue and suggests recipes for natural health.
Place of Creation
Object ID
64.167.285.27
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
On Exhibit
On Loan - California African American Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Letter and Drawing by George Washington Carver Sent to Henry Ford, 1941
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.
Album of Documents Concerning Henry Ford's Violin Collection, 1921-1951
Artifact
Album
Summary
An amateur fiddler, Henry Ford had a special passion for the violin. This wealthy industrialist could choose from among the finest. In the 1920s, Ford purchased several classical violins through the Wurlitzer Company's violin department. In this album are the certificates of authenticity provided by the company, identifying each violin's maker, describing its construction, and listing previous owners, if known.
Creators
Object ID
64.167.285.32
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Album of Documents Concerning Henry Ford's Violin Collection, 1921-1951
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.
Letter from J. C. Freeman to E. G. Liebold Concerning Repair of Henry Ford's Amati Violin, January 19, 1935
Letter from J. C. Freeman to E. G. Liebold Concerning Repair of Henry Ford's Amati Violin, January 19, 1935
Artifact
Letter (Correspondence)
Date Made
19 January 1935
Summary
Rudolph Wurlitzer, a violin dealer and musical instrument manufacturer, had helped Ford acquire his Italian-made classical violins during the 1920s and kept them in good repair for the industrialist. Jay C. Freeman was the Wurlitzer Company's violin expert who handled the repairs. In this letter, Freeman mentions Grisha Goluboff, a young violinist to whom Ford had lent his 1703 Stradivari violin.
Creators
Place of Creation
Object ID
64.167.285.31.3
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:
Letter from J. C. Freeman to E. G. Liebold Concerning Repair of Henry Ford's Amati Violin, January 19, 1935
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.
Piccard Stratosphere Balloon Flight Photographs and Cover Letter from E.G. Liebold to Jean Piccard, 1934
Piccard Stratosphere Balloon Flight Photographs and Cover Letter from E.G. Liebold to Jean Piccard, 1934
Artifact
Photographic print
Date Made
13 December 1934
Summary
The Piccard stratosphere flight departed Ford Airport field on October 23, 1934. Spouses Jean and Jeannette Piccard ascended 10.9 miles in a metal gondola carried by a hydrogen balloon. Jeannette was the first American woman licensed as a balloonist, and first to reach the stratosphere. William Duckwitz's shortwave radio maintained communication until their landing 400-miles away, in Cadiz, Ohio.
Object ID
64.167.285.34.0
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:
Piccard Stratosphere Balloon Flight Photographs and Cover Letter from E.G. Liebold to Jean Piccard, 1934
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.
View of Balloon from Gondola during Piccard Stratosphere Flight, Altitude 57,579 Feet, October 23, 1934
View of Balloon from Gondola during Piccard Stratosphere Flight, Altitude 57,579 Feet, October 23, 1934
Artifact
Photographic print
Summary
The Piccard stratosphere flight departed Ford Airport field on October 23, 1934. Spouses Jean and Jeannette Piccard ascended 10.9 miles in a metal gondola carried by a hydrogen balloon. Jeannette was the first American woman licensed as a balloonist, and first to reach the stratosphere. While Jeannette piloted, Jean gathered scientific data. Balloon is fully inflated here, at 57,579 feet.
Creators
Keywords
Object ID
64.167.285.34.2
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:
View of Balloon from Gondola during Piccard Stratosphere Flight, Altitude 57,579 Feet, October 23, 1934
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.
Invitation Packet for the Piccard Stratosphere Balloon Flight from Ford Airport, Sent to Henry Ford in September 1934
Invitation Packet for the Piccard Stratosphere Balloon Flight from Ford Airport, Sent to Henry Ford in September 1934
Artifact
Invitation
Date Made
26 September 1934
Summary
The Piccard stratosphere flight departed Ford Airport field on October 23, 1934. Spouses Jean and Jeannette Piccard ascended 10.9 miles in a metal gondola carried by a hydrogen balloon. Jeannette was the first American woman licensed as a balloonist, and first to reach the stratosphere. William Duckwitz's shortwave radio maintained communication until their landing 400-miles away, in Cadiz, Ohio.
Keywords
United States, Michigan, Dearborn
Piccard, Jean Felix, 1884-1963
Lovett, Benjamin B., 1876-1952
Object ID
64.167.285.33
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:
Invitation Packet for the Piccard Stratosphere Balloon Flight from Ford Airport, Sent to Henry Ford in September 1934
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.
Newspaper Article, "Old-Fashioned Dance to Stay in Dearborn...Dearborn Backs Up School Dance," 1926
Newspaper Article, "Old-Fashioned Dance to Stay in Dearborn...Dearborn Backs Up School Dance," 1926
Artifact
Clipping (Information artifact)
Date Made
17 December 1926
Summary
As Henry Ford extended his traditional American dance classes to local Dearborn schoolchildren, some parents grew alarmed--they weren't sure they approved of boys and girls dancing together. A dance demonstration by the children soon set most of the parents' minds at ease. They quickly realized the benefit of having their children learn these old-time dances--and the good manners that went along with them.
Place of Creation
Object ID
64.167.292.5
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:
Newspaper Article, "Old-Fashioned Dance to Stay in Dearborn...Dearborn Backs Up School Dance," 1926
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.