Contents
Henry Ford
Making the Model T affordable through mass production.
Ford Motor Company · Moving assembly line
- Born
- 30 July 1863
- Birthplace
- Greenfield Township, Michigan, United States
- Died
- 7 April 1947
More people
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist whose company brought car ownership within reach of a much larger public. His manufacturing system reshaped factory work, while his record also includes antisemitic publishing and hostility to organised labour.
Early life
Farm childhood
Grew up near Detroit and developed an early interest in machinery and watches.
Mechanical apprenticeship
Left home as a teenager to train in Detroit machine shops.
Career
- 1891–1899
Engineer and experiments
Worked for Edison’s illuminating company while building experimental vehicles.
- 1903
Ford Motor Company
Established the company after earlier automotive ventures failed.
- 1913–1914
Production changes
Expanded assembly-line methods and introduced the five-dollar working day.
- 1919–1945
Family control
Maintained strong influence as his son Edsel, and later grandson, took leadership roles.
Companies & projects
Quadricycle
Built an early experimental petrol-powered vehicle.
Model T
Introduced the car that became the centre of Ford’s mass-production strategy.
Highland Park assembly line
Workers and engineers developed a moving system that sharply reduced assembly time.
Beyond work
Antisemitic publishing
His Dearborn Independent circulated antisemitic conspiracy claims, later collected internationally.
Historical preservation
Created the museum and Greenfield Village that became The Henry Ford.
Sources & photo credit
Biography ↗Life and work ↗Antisemitic publishing ↗Photo: Ford Motor Company. Photographic Department. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
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