George Washington Carver Examining Soy Fiber, Soybean Laboratory at Greenfield Village, 1939

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 skein of soy fiber in his hands.