Benson Ford Research Center Archives

A behind the scenes tour

By Este Scheve

During the Grand National Meet in Dearborn, some of us had to opportunity to take a “behind the scenes” tour of the Benson Ford Research Center Archives. The archives rarely do this and our group of 30 was divided to make the group more manageable for the curators that led us.  The relatively small reading room gave no hint to the vast resources of the  archives.  Besides the history of the Ford Motor Company and automotive history in general, these archives are a repository of everything Americana. 

We started our tour on the second floor.  They had taken some things out of their collection that they thought would be of special interest to us as V-8 collectors.  One was Henry Ford’s first driver’s license, signed and dated in the late 20’s. Before that time, a license to drive was not required in Michigan.  Also there was the famous letter from Clyde Barrow, telling Henry Ford how great his 1934 Ford was for fast driving.  There was another original letter from John Dillinger, also praising his Ford V-8.  Also displayed were some design drawings.  Beyond that were shelves and shelves of everything you can imagine, stored in a temperature controlled environment.  There was a huge collection of clothing from Mrs. Harvey Firestone including her shoes.  All designer dresses, laid out in long boxes on shelves, shoes neatly stacked, multiple pairs of the same ones in case a heel broke, all closed to the light by keeping the shelving stacks against each other.  There were paintings, chandeliers, toys, household and farm tools; each on their own shelves, cataloged so they could be found. They opened a few for us to see.

We also saw models of inventions, many from Thomas Edison, which had been sent to the patient office.  There was a piece of cable from the first internet transmission displayed. Also, there were four early transistors from Bell Labs in a little picture frame, showing their dates of development.  In another area, was the automotive collection.  Everything you can imagine on the development, sales and repair of almost every type of car manufactured was in the collection.  Additionally, we were told that the Benson Ford Research Center was the world’s largest repository for trade publications.  What’s that?  If you owned a general store in the middle of nowhere, you might get a catalog of hardware or fabric from a manufacturer.  You could pick what you want to sell to your customers from this trade catalog.  They had everything from very old to Ikea!

There was a cold room – very cold!  In it were Edison wax cylinders, ladies rubber boots, gym shoes from the 40’s through the 80’s (made with rubber that deteriorates), toys, and plenty of boxes which weren’t open. 

If you want to do research on your car, for example, you can make an appointment, tell them what you are looking for and they will pull appropriate books, pamphlets, and pictures.  They are very easy to work with and there is no charge for your visit.  If you can’t visit, quite a bit of information is available on line at their web site.  The tour was extremely interesting and a highlight of the Grand National week in Dearborn.