BY JANIS D. BRANDES

HENRY FORDWHAT DROVE THE MAN

HENRY FORD

About 1890 Born in 1863

o In Michigano On a farm

Thought to be lazy by some

Driven by curiosity of machines

Loved to tinker

HENRY FORD-HIS EARLY YEARS

Born July 30, 1863 To William Ford an Irish immigrant and

Mary Litogot On a prosperous farm in Dearborn,

Michigan One of six children Did not like farm chores, he found them

boring Loved to tinker with things to see how

they worked

More of Henry’s early life

His mom, Mary always encouraged himo Once telling him “that disagreeable jobs call

for courage, patience and self-control” (Young, 2008, p. 19). These words helped form Henry into the man he became.

He would tinker in his neighbor’s blacksmith shop sometimes walk ten miles to snoop around in the

hardware shop His mother passed away in 1876 and shortly

afterward he had a life changing event: his turning point-------

HIS TURNING POINT Once on way to Detroit with his father he saw a

steam powered car, that started his passion for automobiles

Moved to Detroit in 1879 and had various jobs in the streetcar and as machinist

While working he read magazines about scienceo Once read about the gasoline engine of a German man named

Nikolaus A. Otto (Zuehlke, 2007, p. 13). This and his work fueled his passion for developing a gasoline powered car

Returned to Dearborn to run a neighbor’s steam powered Westinghouse engine, Westinghouse later hired him to repair their engines

HENRY FORD-MID-LIFE Married Clara Bryant in 1888 and continued to

live in Dearborn, Michigan until 1891. They then moved to Detroit

Henry went to work for Thomas Edison, so he could learn more about electricity for his gasoline engineso Edison hired him because of his knowledge of engines

and to run his generators Henry and Clara had a son in 1893 and named

him Edsel Clara supported Henry in his work even letting

him work on his engine in the kitchen In 1903, he founded the Ford Motor Company

with backing from Alexander Malcomson

FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Model A Started with Henry,

James Couzens and 10 employees

Bought parts from other companies

First car made the Model A-sold for $850

Their top speed was 30 miles an hour

MORE FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Battled with the ALAM (Association of Licensed Automobile Manufactures) during the early 1900’s Henry won ALAM disbanded in 1911

In 1910, Henry Ford built a bigger factoryo There they began making the Model T it took them 12 ½ hours

to build one

Always looking for better and easier ways to do things o They began making their own partso And started using the assembly line

By 1913 they had cut production time to 1 ½ hours a car

HENRY FORD-HIS LATER YEARS

1919 In 1918, Henry run for Senator

but he lost that race From 1937 to 1937 the Ford

Motor Company had labor union problems, until he decided to allow unions in his factories

In 1940, Henry converted one of his automobile factories to produce war planes for WWII

Henry’s son Edsel died in 1943 Henry Ford died April 7, 1947

CONCLUSION Henry Ford was a tinkerer Even as a child, he took things apart to see

how the worked He always looked for an easier way to do

things And even though he did not invent the car or

the assembly line, he took them to a new level Henry Ford: a man of peace and war, of

science and technology, a husband and father Thank You

o Questions

REFERENCES Joseph, P. (1997) Henry Ford, Abdo and

Daughters, Edina, Minnesota Young, J. C. (2008) Henry Ford Genius Behind the

Affordable Car, Enslow Publishers, U.S.A. Zuehlke, J. (2007) Henry Ford, Learner

Publications Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf