Lesson Plan By Lynn Tilley, NBCT and OKAGE TC Library Media Specialist Comanche Public Schools Comanche, Oklahoma HENRY FORD: AMERICAN INNOVATOR WHOSE IDEAS AND INVENTIONS TRANSFORMED A NATION

“I will build a motor car for the great multitude ….. large enough for the family but small enough for the individual…..But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one --- and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces. -Henry Ford- (sometime between 1903 – 1906) Henry Ford was an Innovator

He was born July 30, 1863, in a rural area approximately ten miles from Detroit, Michigan. He was the oldest of six surviving children.

At this same time, in Indian Territory, the Battle of Honey Springs took place on July 17, 1863, shortly before Henry’s birth.

Also at this time, roads and trails were scarce and in poor condition in Indian Territory.

The Battle of Gettysburg took place just a few short weeks after Henry’s birth.

Transportation during Civil War about the time Henry Ford was born About 1863 Refugees fleeing battle Black family going to North

In the South: Drawing from February 1862 newspaper depicting slaves on a plantation picking, ginning, and shipping cotton.

In this June 30, 1863, map of the United States, Union and Confederate Geographical Divisions, one can observe differences between the number of roads in the “Northern” part of the country as opposed to those in the “South” or in Indian Territory. Why is this?

Henry’s father was an Irish immigrant and a well-to-do farmer. His mother died when he was twelve, the same year he realized he had the instincts of a mechanic. Henry stated of her death, “the house was now a watch without a mainspring.”

At an early age Henry developed an interest in mechanics and often repaired watches of friends and neighbors. In 1876, at age 13, he saw a portable steam engine moving down the road under its own power. Jumping off his father’s wagon, he eagerly examined it. This event, he later recalled, sparked the beginning of his vision for a “horseless carriage.”

Portrait of Henry Ford at Age 18 Working for Detroit Dry Dock Company, 1881 He attended school through the 6 th grade, and in 1879, at age sixteen, quit and left home for Detroit to find work in machine shops where he could learn more about mechanics and engineering.

In 1888, at age 24, Henry married Clara Bryant. They had one son Edsel seen here about at their home in Detroit. Henry worked at the Edison Illuminating Company where he learned about electrical engineering and continued his experiments at home.

June of 1896 Henry Ford assembled his first vehicle, the Quadricycle, in a woodshed behind his rented home. He had to widen the door to get it out of the building. He was 32 years of age.

To visualize what Oklahoma, and the rest of the United States looked like in the 1890s ………..

Transportation in the 1893 Oklahoma Land Run

In 1894, railroads were increasing across the country. The North still had the greater number compared to those in the South or Indian/Oklahoma Territory.

In 1899, at age 36, Henry leaves Edison Illuminating Company where he has worked for eight years as an engineer, and creates his first car company. It, along with a second one, ultimately fail because of disagreements with investors. Henry did not want to make a few cars for the wealthy; he wanted to make good cars that working people could afford.

In June of 1903, Ford Motor Company is incorporated. Henry is 39 years old. A ten-man team built the first car which sold for $750 with an optional back seat costing $100 more. One thousand were built that year.

In 1908, Ford begins building the Model T. During the season, Ford sold 10,607 Model Ts, a 5-passenger car for $850. By 1913, all Model Ts are built on moving assembly lines.

Model T Touring car amidst horse and carriages in Stroud, Oklahoma.

1910 Model T Touring

Early Roads in Oklahoma

Sidney Suggs from Ardmore was the first Oklahoma State Highway Commissioner in He is seen in this photo touring the state promoting better roads.

Oklahoma Highway Map Proposal Only five years after Henry Ford begins building Model T

In 1914 Henry announces plans to share company’s profits with workers, paying them $5.00 for an eight hour work day.

In 1915, Ford Motor Company constructed an assembly plant in downtown Oklahoma City. This photo shows how plant looked in

In the 1920s, faced with growing numbers of automobiles, federal highway officials began to develop a numbered road system. Often called the “Mother Road”, Route 66 was a major artery that stretched from Chicago, Illinois, through Oklahoma to Los Angeles, California. Running a total of 2,448 miles, this two-lane road was a major route of “Okies” migrating to California during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

Automobile during the Dust Bowl

Mass production of Henry Ford’s Model T took the United States from………

Indian Territory Few Roads - Growing Number of Railroads

Today’s National Highway System

In 1947 Henry Ford died at age 83. His legacy, however, lives on. It is seen every day in a plethora of ways, with the automobile that transformed a nation being but one.

In what ways do Henry Ford’s innovative ideas and inventions continue to affect us today?