Posts Tagged digital collections
This week, people around the globe will ring in the New Year. In the 18th century, some Pennsylvania Germans used to create frakturs, illuminated documents, for their friends and neighbors during this season, wishing them well in the upcoming year. The Henry Ford has a collection of frakturs that includes not only New Year’s wishes, but also family records, birth and baptismal certificates, and house blessings. We’ve just digitized a number of these, including this New Year’s wish, likely made by minister Daniel Schumacher for Jacob Grimm and family in eastern Pennsylvania in 1784. See more frakturs from our collection by visiting our collections website, and watch for more to come in 2015. All of us at The Henry Ford thank you for your interest in and support of our collections digitization efforts during 2014, and look forward to sharing more with you in 2015. Happy New Year!
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford
Not long ago, Chief Archivist Terry Hoover popped his head into my office. This isn’t unusual, as Terry and I sit next to each other, but in this case, he had something special to share. He’d discovered a couple of late 19th century children’s books relating to Christmas in our rare books collection, and wondered if we could digitize them. This week, just in time for Christmas, we have. A Visit from Santa Claus retells the famous Clement Moore poem beginning “’Twas the night before Christmas,” with each page of text accompanied by a lovely full-color illustration by Virginia Gerson. Or, check out Santa Claus's New Castle, written by Maude Florence Bellar and illustrated by Dixie Selden. View all pages of both books on our collections website, or check out all of our digital collections related to Christmas.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
childhood, holidays, digital collections, Christmas, by Ellice Engdahl, books
There are only 64 known Apple 1 computers in the world, and only about a quarter of these are operational. One of the latter is now in the collections, both digital and physical, of The Henry Ford. It is not only significant in the early history of one of the most well-known technology companies in the modern world, but also speaks to human-computer interaction, design, and miniaturization of technology. As Curator of Communication & Information Technology Kristen Gallerneaux notes in an upcoming post on our blog: “The acquisition of an Apple 1 represents The Henry Ford’s commitment to documenting the material nature of technology. It is an observable artifact with visual appeal. It has a clear sense of purpose and an honesty expressed through its exposure of internal workings. It could even be considered as a piece of ‘electronic folk art.’” We are very excited to have this incredibly significant artifact in our collections. Visit our collections website to view multiple images of the Apple 1, along with photos documenting its arrival and unpacking at The Henry Ford, or to browse all of our digitized collections relating to computers, and check back soon for Kristen’s blog post to learn more about the history and significance of this artifact.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
20th century, 1970s, technology, digital collections, computers, by Ellice Engdahl
The classical violins in the collections of The Henry Ford get around. In 2011 and 2013, we had them CT scanned at Henry Ford Health System; in February 2013, Sphinx Laureate Gareth Johnson played one at the National Day of Courage; and in October 2014, they were featured on Episode 5 of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation. Now, thanks to a generous grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, they are moving out of collections storage and into the Henry Ford Museum, in a display that is planned to go live by February 1, 2015. The violins themselves will be accompanied by a digital kiosk, where visitors will be able to explore additional related artifacts from our online collections. One example of these related artifacts that we’ve just added to our digital collections is the “Badger Gavotte” sheet music for Henry Ford’s Early American Dance Orchestra. Visit our collections website to view other objects related to the Orchestra, dance, and the violins themselves, and plan to visit us next year to see the new exhibit.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
musical instruments, violins, technology, philanthropy, music, Henry Ford Museum, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl
In October, we announced that The Henry Ford has acquired a functioning Apple-1, a major milestone in the history of computing. However, in September, we acquired another significant computer, and we’ve just added it to our collections website. When Pixar began as a department within Lucasfilm in 1979, it started developing its own computer system to support graphics and visualization. The Pixar Imaging Computer became commercially available in 1986, and was adopted by other organizations with intensive graphic arts and animation needs, such as the Walt Disney Company and the United States Departments of Defense and Forestry. Curator of Communication & Information Technology Kristen Gallerneaux notes about the P-II: “One of our goals at The Henry Ford is to document computing as applied to creative and expressive activities. The Pixar Image Computer II (P-II) is of particular interest not only as a graphics rendering tool … but also as a hugely significant element in the thread that connects the Apple-1 computer to the finely designed and engineered computing devices we all carry with us every day.” See the P-II, as well as the rest of our digital collections related to computers, on our collections website.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
California, 20th century, 1980s, technology, movies, Disney, digital collections, computers, by Ellice Engdahl
Just Added to Our Digital Collections: Ford Rouge Factory Tour Vehicles
You might have heard that there are big changes afoot at the Ford Rouge Center: production has recently started on the all-new 2015 F-150, featuring an aluminum-alloy body and bed. As part of this change, we’ve been enhancing the Ford Rouge Factory Tour experience, and we’ve also taken advantage of the production line’s downtime to digitize the vehicles you’ll see in the Legacy Gallery. You can now check out glamour shots of the 1929 Ford Model A Roadster, the 1932 Ford V-8 Victoria, the 1949 Ford V-8 Club Coupe, the 1965 Ford Mustang Convertible, and, last but not least, the 1956 Ford Thunderbird Convertible shown here—all part of the legacy of the Rouge. Visit our collections website to see these vehicles, as well as much more material related to the history of the Rouge.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
Mustangs, cars, Ford Rouge Factory Complex, Ford Motor Company, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl
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:
- Drinking at Eagle Tavern
- Meet Calvin Wood, Caterer of Eagle Tavern
- Root Vegetables, Then and Now
- Eagle Tavern Happy Hour: Lemon & Ginger Shrub Recipe
Eagle Tavern, Michigan, Greenfield Village history, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, food, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl, beverages
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.
Just Added to Our Digital Collections: Dr. Howard's Office Artifacts
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
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.
