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Posts Tagged by ellice engdahl

EI.1929.730_Eagle_Tavern

We’re continuing with the project we started this summer, digitizing materials related to our historic buildings in Greenfield Village. This week, we’ve added images of Eagle Tavern. Today, Eagle Tavern is a great place to have a historically authentic meal or beverage (either temperance or non-temperance). However, when Henry Ford acquired it in 1927 from its original location in Clinton, Michigan, the building was in a state of deep disrepair. This sheet shows this poor condition from a couple of different angles. Visit our collections website to view nearly 100 artifacts depicting or related to Eagle Tavern.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

Additional Readings:

Eagle Tavern, Michigan, Greenfield Village history, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, food, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl, beverages

winter_prints_82.129.1388

Like it or not, winter is just around the corner, and here at The Henry Ford, we are preparing. Curator of Photographs and Prints Cynthia Miller already selected some holiday-themed Thomas Nast material for digitization last month, and now she has added a selection of winter-themed prints, including this early 19th century engraving of an 18th century snowstorm. If you’re sure you’re ready for winter, check out some of her other selections, depicting sleigh racing, moonlit ice skating, a snowed-in Boston street, and woodlands in winter, or visit our online collections to browse all of our digitized collections relating to winter. If you’re not quite ready for snow and cold weather, we suggest this photochrom of a California orange grove instead, where the only snow to be seen is on a distant mountaintop.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl, winter

Dr_Howards_Office_EI.1929.687

We’re continuing with the project we started this summer, digitizing materials related to our historic buildings in Greenfield Village. We’ve recently added photographs for a number of these buildings, including Dr. Howard’s Office.  As Curator of Public Life Donna Braden notes in a 2013 blog post, Dr. Howard’s Office depicts a 19th century country doctor’s office, presented in large part through original artifacts from Alonson Howard’s practice in Tekonsha, Mich. This 1956 photograph shows an interior shot of the building on its original site, about five years before it was moved to Greenfield Village. Visit our collections website to view all the recently added material related to Dr. Howard’s Office.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

19th century, Michigan, healthcare, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, Dr. Howard's Office, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl

clocks_31.1220.4

The collections of The Henry Ford contain hundreds of clocks. Many of these are on display, either in the Clockwork exhibit in the Henry Ford Museum or as part of the recreation of daily life in the buildings of Greenfield Village, but many more are not. We’ve just added a number of clocks, dating from the late 17th through mid-20th centuries, to our digital collections, bringing the total number online to about 120. More than half of these are not currently on display, including this early 19th century novelty clock, which keeps time by rolling a steel ball down a zigzag track. Visit our online collections to view our growing digital collection of clocks and related artifacts.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

by Ellice Engdahl, digital collections, clocks

school_reward_of_merit_2014.0.19.25

Many modern students and parents have been the proud recipients of notices or awards sent home from school recognizing any number of positive behaviors. However, this tradition is not new. We’ve just digitized about 60 examples of school rewards of merit, mainly dating from the late 18th through late 19th centuries, designed to be handed out by teachers to exemplary students. The colorful papers rewarded students for conduct such as academic achievement, good behavior, diligence in study, punctual attendance, correct deportment, and attentiveness.  You can imagine how excited young Jared Long must have been to have received two honors from the “Bank of Industry” in this example from 1853. Visit our collections website to browse the rest of the rewards.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections and Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

teachers and teaching, education, 19th century, 18th century, school, digital collections, childhood, by Ellice Engdahl

Nast_56.39.10

October may seem a bit soon to be thinking about Christmas, but if you’ve ever visited Holiday Nights, you know The Henry Ford starts thinking about the holiday season early.  Curator of Photographs and Prints Cynthia Miller got into the spirit earlier this fall by selecting some of our Thomas Nast material for digitization. Thomas Nast (1840–1902) was an editorial cartoonist who is well known for his work for Harper’s Weekly and for creating the modern image of Santa Claus.  We’ve just digitized Cynthia’s selections, including this etching of Santa visiting a Union camp during the Civil War.  Visit our collections website to view all our digitized Thomas Nast material, including additional Christmas images along with some depicting Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, and no holiday at all.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

art, holidays, Christmas, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl

IMLS_grant_2014.0.17.74

Last year, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded a two-year “Museums for America” grant to The Henry Ford to conserve, catalog, photograph, and rehouse some of our communications collections.  We are nearing the halfway point of the grant, and have digitized more than 400 grant objects so far. Many items we’ve uncovered through this project have been one of a kind prototypes and innovations, but many others, like the pink Princess phone digitized this week, are mass market phenomena.  Browse our collections website for radio receivers, computers and peripherals, loudspeakers, vacuum tubes, and calculators, many of which were digitized through this grant.  You can also learn more about the grant and see some of the behind-the-scenes work it entails over on our blog, or peruse some of Curator of Communication and Information Technology Kristen Gallerneaux’s favorites here.

Ellice Engdahl  is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

communication, digital collections, IMLS grant, by Ellice Engdahl

football_64.167.6.45.1

On Friday, a new traveling exhibition will open at The Henry Ford—Gridiron Glory: The Best of the Pro Hall of Fame.  As an online supplement to the exhibit, we have digitized selections from our collections related to football, including photos of football playing students from the Edison Institute Schools as well as Henry Ford Trade School; Mercury advertising photographs with a football theme; and assorted other items.  One hidden gem that we uncovered during this project is Edsel Ford’s 1934 season pass to home games of the Detroit Lions, which will be on display along with the exhibition.  Check out all of our digitized football collections in our Digital Collections, then come visit Gridiron Glory in Henry Ford Museum.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections and Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

Henry Ford Museum, digital collections, football, sports, by Ellice Engdahl

Sikorsky_P.833.78778.2

You may know that the Sikorsky VS-300A helicopter on display in Heroes of the Sky in the Henry Ford Museum was the first practical helicopter in the United States.  Inventor Igor Sikorsky piloted this craft for about an hour and a half on May 6, 1941, setting a world endurance record.  In 1943, as shown in this photograph, Sikorsky demonstrated the machine on the front lawn of the Henry Ford Museum just before donating it.  Attendees at the event included Henry and Clara Ford, Henry Ford II, Charles Lindbergh, and Les Morris, Sikorsky’s chief test pilot.  We’ve just digitized a number of photos related to the ceremony, Sikorsky, and helicopters in general—view them all in our digital collections.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections and Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

20th century, immigrants, Heroes of the Sky, inventors, Henry Ford Museum, flying, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl

Boyer_68.160.1.25

Lillian Boyer (1901–89) was a young waitress in 1921 when two customers took her for a ride in their airplane.  The same week, she took another ride and climbed out of the cockpit onto the wing, thus beginning a career as an aerial exhibitionist.  In her eight-year career, she was featured in 352 shows throughout the United States and Canada, performing stunts including wing walking, parachuting, and transferring herself from moving automobiles to flying planes.  We’ve just added a selection of photos of Boyer to our collections website, including this one-handed hang from around 1922.  View more death-defying photos of Lillian Boyer by visiting our Digital Collections.

Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections and Content Manager at The Henry Ford.

Additional Readings:

20th century, women's history, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl, airplanes