Henry and Wilfred Leland with a Liberty Engine, Detroit, Michigan, circa 1917
THF127999 / Henry and Wilfred Leland with a Liberty Engine, Detroit, Michigan, circa 1917
01
Artifact Overview
As the United States prepared to enter World War I, Henry Leland wanted his Cadillac Motor Car Company to build Liberty V-12 aircraft engines for the military. But Billy Durant, head of corporate parent General Motors and a dedicated pacifist, refused Leland's request. Leland quit in protest, formed Lincoln Motor Company, and produced 6,500 of the engines.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Photographic print
Subject Date
circa 1917
Collection Title
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
P.O.14952
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Gelatin silver process
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Dimensions
Height: 8 in
Width: 10 in
Keywords |
|---|
02
Related Content
SetLincoln - Birth and Rebirth
- 23 Artifacts
Lincoln Motor Company was born in 1917 out of Henry Leland's patriotic desire to build airplane engines for the allied forces in World War I. After the armistice, Leland and his son Wilfred refashioned Lincoln into a high-end automaker. But a postwar recession forced the Lelands to sell to another father-son duo, Henry and Edsel Ford. Over the next 20 years, Lincoln grew into one of America's most admired luxury marques.