Henry Ford Theater (formerly known as the Edsel Ford Workshop)

Mr. Ford had hoped his son Edsel would share his passion for tools and tinkering, so he built him a workshop on the second floor of the garage of their Edison Avenue home in Detroit.

It was unfortunate that the only child of Henry and Clara Ford died of cancer on May 26, 1943. The passing of one of the Edison Institute's (now known collectively as The Henry Ford) three founding members dealt a serious blow to the future of the museum; Edsel gave considerable support to what he considered to be his father's project, and it was thought that Henry expected his son to take over after his own death.
Within the year of his son's death, Henry built a memorial to him in the Village, based on that second floor garage workshop.

This structure was dedicated on December 24, 1944.



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