Posts Tagged digital collections
You could argue that one of the most visible buildings in Greenfield Village is Martha-Mary Chapel, standing as it does at the end of the Village Green, with its columns in front and high steeple. However, unlike many of the other buildings in the Village, the Chapel is not a historic building that was moved from elsewhere, but was built in the Village in 1929. Henry Ford wanted to recreate a typical village green and therefore had the Chapel (a characteristic building for a green) built, and named it after both his own mother, Mary Litogot Ford, and his wife Clara’s mother, Martha Bench Bryant. Some of the fixtures on the building came from Clara Ford’s childhood home, adding another layer of personal resonance. We’ve just digitized more than 100 images of the Chapel taken over its nearly 90-year history, including this classic shot from 1935—browse them all by visiting our Digital Collections.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
Clara Ford, Henry Ford, Ford family, Greenfield Village history, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl
One of the many challenges curators face is collecting our contemporary history—they have to make difficult calls on what objects, clearly important today, will still have an important story to tell future generations. Last fall, Curator of Communication & Information Technology Kristen Gallerneaux accepted a donation of two body cameras designed to be worn by police officers. These cameras as artifacts represent increasing public calls in the 2010s for police transparency and accountability, encouraged in part by the Black Lives Matter movement. They also demonstrate the ways in which technology can be used by law enforcement to gather information. We’ve just digitized both of these Taser Axon cameras, including this 2013 model, making them available via our Digital Collections.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
21st century, 2010s, technology, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl
The first object was added to the collections of The Henry Ford over a century ago, years before our official dedication. Artifacts sometimes get overlooked in this large and long-standing collection for periods of time, particularly if they are in storage and have no or minimal digital record of their existence (a problem that digitization of the collection is chipping away at). We were recently combing through our collections database for artifacts related to natural history for an upcoming project, and happened across several items described as “specimen boxes.” A little more investigation revealed they are shadowboxes containing seashells collected by Thomas Edison in Fort Myers, Florida, home to his Ft. Myers Laboratory. We’ve just digitized these shadowboxes, including this star-chambered one—see all three by visiting our Digital Collections.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
Additional Readings:
- Menlo Park Glass House
- Edison at Work
- First Known Portrait of Thomas Alva Edison, circa 1851
- Edison Talking Dolls
inventors, nature, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl, Thomas Edison
Clint Hill is a former Secret Service agent who was in the presidential motorcade on November 22, 1963, as John F. Kennedy was shot. On May 16, 2016, The Henry Ford will host Mr. Hill, who will talk about his work with five presidents: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. While this evening event is sold out, you can still hear some of Mr. Hill’s stories in a video oral history he made at The Henry Ford during an earlier visit in 2013. We’ve just digitized these clips, including one tale of the unusual issues that arise when presidential motorcades are showered with confetti. We’ve gathered all 11 clips in an Expert Set within our Digital Collections for easy viewing.
Additional Readings:
- 1950 Lincoln Presidential Limousine Used by Dwight D. Eisenhower
- John F. Kennedy’s Enduring Legacy
- JFK Remembered: The X-100
- Innovation Icon: Kennedy Presidential Limousine
digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl, JFK, presidential vehicles, presidents
The first Ford Motor Company vehicle ever produced was made at the company’s first factory, located on Mack Avenue in Detroit. The Mack Avenue Plant is so significant to Ford history that it was reproduced, at a smaller scale, in Greenfield Village in 1945. We’ve just digitized a few images related to the original Mack Avenue Plant, including this 1903 photograph of plant employees. Visit our Digital Collections to see more artifacts related to Mack Avenue.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, Ford Motor Company, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl
If you visit the Wright Home in Greenfield Village, the presenter in the house will probably draw your attention to the bookcase in the living room. Many of these books, along with more housed in the Benson Ford Research Center, did indeed belong to the Wrights, and were used by Orville and Wilbur Wright, their sister Katharine, or their father Milton. We’ve just digitized over 50 Wright family books, including this 1892 copy of Medea used by Katharine Wright. Other examples include The Principal Works of Charles Darwin, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and A Manual of Instruction in Latin. Browse the list of titles to see what other bookish ideas may have influenced the young Wright Brothers by visiting our Digital Collections.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
Ohio, home life, Wright Brothers, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, digital collections, childhood, by Ellice Engdahl, books, 19th century
If you live in the United States, you’ve probably noticed it is (and has been) presidential campaign season. Candidates go to great lengths to make themselves into household names, with the hope that when November rolls around, you will cast your vote in their favor. The Henry Ford holds a variety of material related to American presidential campaigns from the very beginning of our country through the last election cycle. We’ve recently digitized a number of artifacts demonstrating the unexpected places you might find political promotions, such as this package of “I Like Ike” cigarettes from the 1950s. Browse more items related to presidential campaigns by visiting our Digital Collections—don’t miss the William McKinley soap doll and the Richard Nixon gumball.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
When Henry Ford acquired a small house located just a few miles from his winter residence at Richmond Hill, Georgia, he believed it was either a tenant farmer’s house or the house of a plantation overseer. Later research revealed it was in fact the home of the African American Mattox family, built in 1879 on their own land. Visit Mattox Family Home in Greenfield Village today, and you’ll learn about Amos and Grace Mattox and the children they raised in the house during the 1930s. We’ve just digitized some images related to the house, such as this contact sheet from the opening celebration held on August 8, 1991. View more Mattox-related images by visiting our digital collections.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
20th century, 19th century, Georgia, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl, African American history
Many of the buildings that Henry Ford collected to create Greenfield Village are presented to match their original function—the Wright Home, for example, is set up as it might have been when the Wrights lived there. One building that has had multiple functions within the Village, though, is a machine shop built in Lapeer, Michigan, in 1888. Henry Ford met William and John McDonald, the two brothers who ran the shop their father started, and collected their building for the Village, where it now sits near the Glass Shop in Liberty Craftworks. For much of its history in the Village it has been a functional or maintenance space, but there are plans in the works to give it a bold new presence. We’ve just digitized several dozen photos that show the machine shop on its original site, including this exterior shot—visit our digital collections to see all of these images, and watch for news about this building’s future.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
Michigan, glass, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl
It’s February, and with Valentine’s Day around the corner, many people’s thoughts turn to expressions of undying love and devotion delivered via beautiful and touching cards. However, from the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries, some cards took a different slant. Known commonly as “vinegar valentines,” these satirical cards delivered insults ranging from the mild to the extremely offensive. We’ve just digitized about 10 examples of vinegar valentines from our collection, including this highly unflattering rejection note. Watch for an upcoming post on our blog from curator Donna Braden for more information about this phenomenon, or peruse the digitized vinegar valentines now by visiting our digital collections.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
Valentine's Day, home life, holidays, digital collections, correspondence, by Ellice Engdahl, archives
