Thomas Edison Statue before Relocation during the Greenfield Village Restoration Project, September 2002

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Artifact Overview

By 2000, Greenfield Village began showing its age. Buildings and crumbling infrastructure desperately needed repair. Museum planners envisioned a revitalized village. They created themed "Historic Districts" by relocating and refurbishing the historic structures. Workers repaved streets and upgraded water, sewer, electric, and gas lines. In June 2003, nine months after restoration began, visitors passed through a new entrance into a reborn Greenfield Village.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Digital photograph

Date Made

September 2002

Subject Date

September 2002

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

EI.1929.4403

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Color

Multicolored

Dimensions

Height: undefined in
Width: undefined in

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    Artifact

    Thomas Alva Edison Statue, 1949

    In 1930 Henry Ford commissioned this larger-than-life statue of his friend and hero, Thomas Edison. Sculptor James Earle Fraser (1876-1953), renowned for his public statues of prominent individuals, made preparatory sketches from sittings given by Edison just before his death in 1931. Fraser did not complete the statue until 1949 - it has since had several homes at The Henry Ford, and is now prominently located in the heart of the Village.