The history of the Henry Ford Trade School, 1916 to 1952.

Abstract

This study is a historical study of the Henry Ford Trade School, a private high school alternative which was organized by Henry Ford at the Highland Park automobile factory and which operated from 1916 to 1952. The students were paid a scholarship for all time spent at the school, both shop and classroom work. The school was paid for all services to the Ford Motor Company and this constituted the school's income and the source of its operating revenue. The school is notable for being inspired by, yet surpassing, a trade training model worked out by the National Association of Manufacturers in the early 20$\sp{\rm th}$ century. Ford's model was self-supporting, chartered as a non-profit corporation, yet fully integrated into real world factory processes in the Highland Park and River Rouge plants. The research was conducted by interview, analysis of primary sources related to the school, including school newspapers, records, oral reminiscences and the official retained student records, and the utilization of the archives of the Ford Motor Company and the records of both the school and the company maintained by the Edison Institute at Greenfield Village in Dearborn. The study includes a comparison of the curriculum of the Trade School with a traditional public vocational high school in Detroit. The study seeks to demonstrate that the NAM model can be used to facilitate school-to-work transitions when incorporated into a factory system. Ford improved on the model and showed it can be self-sustaining, without governmental support, and produce a high school graduate who can readily fit into manufacturing or be ready for specialized additional training at minimal cost to the employer while still paying the student a stipend. Students trained in this manner were to be found in all areas of industry, operations, supervision, management and ownership.