Lesson: Ford’s Solutions

This is a photograph of a diploma awarded by the Ford English School. The school was established by the company in 1914 in order to address the problem of non-English speaking workers and the safety hazards they posed. Immigrants could use a Ford English School diploma to meet many of the requirements prior to the final citizenship exam.

This pamphlet covers topics about Ford Motor Company and highlights the Ford Sociological Department. The department was created to ensure that employees, many of whom were non-English-speaking immigrants, did not squander their $5 per day wages. Investigators monitored the personal and work lives of employees. In addition, the department provided hygiene instruction, financial and legal advice, and an English-language school.

In 1914 Ford Motor Company established the Ford English School, where the automaker's diverse immigrant employees could learn the English language and take civics lessons in preparation for becoming U.S. citizens. At the graduation ceremony, students wearing clothing from their native countries descended into a large "American Melting Pot" and emerged wearing homogenous suits and waving American flags.

Ford's $5 Day was huge news across the country. Never before had any employer offered this much money for unskilled work. The plan came with numerous strings attached, including rather intrusive company investigations to insure that workers would not spend their money on riotous living (as defined by Ford Motor Company) but workers accepted the intrusion because the money was so good.

Ford Times was a monthly publication from Ford Motor Company. This issue covers a variety of topics, including Ford's efforts to assimilate and Americanize immigrant employees. To this end, Ford established an English school. The article "Assimilation through Education" explains why Ford saw it necessary for employees to learn English.

In 1914, Henry Ford took the radical step of paying workers $5 per day for a 40-hour work week; he called this compensation "profit-sharing." Ford's turnover problem disappeared. In addition, Ford workers could buy the cars they produced, benefitting the company. However, profit-sharing required employees to conduct their lives in a certain manner. The requirements are outlined in this pamphlet.

Ford workers disliked the new assembly line methods so much that by late 1913, labor turnover was 380 percent. The company's announcement to pay five dollars for an eight-hour day compared to the previous rate of $2.34 for a nine-hour day made many workers willing to submit to the relentless discipline of the line in return for such high wages.