The End of One Era, and On To the Next...

By 1946 Henry Ford had gathered nearly 90 historic and reproductions of historic structures depicting America's 17th, 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, as well as a massive museum building filled to the brim with the artifacts of everyday Americans.
On May 26, 1946, assisted by grandson Henry II and accompanied by his wife, Clara, Ford took one last spin through the Village in his Quadricycle, the vehicle that made everything possible. On April 7, 1947, Henry Ford died in his Fair Lane home. While his body lay in state at Lovett Hall, more than 100,000 people filed past in tribute.
It was also in 1947 that Ed Cutler, Ford's Chief Architect, retired.

Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum fell into a period of transition.

"For about three weeks I continually walked around and around the museum from one end to the other. Of course, I came in in February and there were no people in the museum.
So my first question that propounded itself was, what am I going to do? Where do I begin? Where do I start?" - - - Hayward S. Ablewhite, new Director of the museum appointed by the Edison Institute Board of Trustees in 1949.

In the two years between Ford's death and Ablewhite, very little happened to the institute. The staff operated as it always did, attempting to continue as they felt Mr. Ford would have wanted. Mrs. Ford became quite upset if she felt any changes made were contrary to her husband's ideas. Clara Ford passed away in September of 1950.

With the arrival of new staff and, thus, new methods, the old ways that lingered after Henry Ford's death gradually faded. An exciting period of new programs and collection refinement lay ahead.

To jump ahead a bit, in 1951, the Village opened to the public year round. Visitors could now enjoy the atmosphere of an old-time village during all four season. This practice was ended due to finances in the 1980's (as far as I've been told).

And in 1952, an eight foot high serpentine brick wall was built by the Ford Motor Company to separate the Ford test track from the Village road.

Finally, in 1953, the Ford Homestead opened to the public as part of the Ford Motor Company's 50th anniversary celebrations.

And Greenfield Village continued to expand - - - -


.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maps Through Time: The Ever-changing Lay Out of Greenfield Village

Image
From its inception over 80 years ago through today, Greenfield Village has gone through numerous layouts, which is no easy task considering that it is actual buildings - historic buildings - that are being moved. I'm sure with each change there were complaints. Well, of course, unless it was Mr. Ford's idea. No one disagreed with the Big Guy. But, even with the last major restructuring in 2003 their were disgruntled customers. My opinion is as long as it's kept historically accurate, I don't mind. What I thought I'd do here was to show, through original six maps from six different decades, the ever-growing and ever-changing history of Greenfield Village. To see the graphics larger, please click onto the photo. Our first map takes us back to October 29, 1929 - that very first rainy day that Henry Ford opened up his Greenfield Village to special guests. Here was Mr. Ford's original vision: Twelve years later, in 1941, one can see just how much the Village grew: ...
Read more

Grimm Jewelry Store

Image
When Englebert Grimm died in 1931, he bequeathed the contents of his store to his good friend Henry Ford, and Grimm's surviving daughter honored that request in 1932. Originally built in 1878 (or possibly 1885 - I have two different sources from the Village) at 2033 Michigan Avenue, Ford obtained the building from the City of Detroit for a $195 salvage fee and, in 1940, had it re-erected inside Greenfield Village. This was the shop where young Henry would stop to visit the owner and sometimes purchase tools or parts to repair watches. Grimm was a German immigrant who, with his family, lived on in the second floor of this building, creating a modest modern home for its time. He offered mass-produced inexpensive clocks, watches, and jewelry to the local Detroit area residents. It was specialty stores such as this that caused the demise of the general store. It is set now as it was in the late 1880's. I have been told that many of the watches inside are those that Henry Ford actu...
Read more

Sarah Jordan Boarding House

Image
This house, built in 1870, originally stood near the laboratory where Thomas Edison and his men toiled in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Widowed in 1877, "Aunt Sally," as Sarah was known, lived in Newark, and was sent for in 1878 by her distant relative, Thomas Edison, to run a place for his workers to eat and sleep. With little employment opportunities for women, Mrs. Jordan accepted the offer and opened the home as a boarding house that same year. Several of Edison's single employees lived here and would sleep two to three to a bed in the six rooms on the second floor. In fact, at the height of the laboratory's activities in 1880, sixteen boarders called this structure 'home.' Edison's house, a good-sized residence, was down the road a short ways. Daily, the 'Wizard of Menlo Park' passed the Jordan Boarding House to and from his laboratory, walking atop the wood-plank walk, wearing a skull cap or a farmer's wide-brimmed straw hat, both hands...
Read more