Who Was ...? biography series for middle grade brings fascinating character of Henry Ford who was the world’s most successful car maker and the founder of mass-production of automobiles.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) was born on the Dearborn farm in Michigan. He was good at math and fascinated with mechanical objects. He explored the inside of any watch he could find. He also took apart wind-up toys and studied them.
In nearby Detroit, he saw steam engines. He was so fascinated by it that he built a miniature steam engine, which exploded and burned down a nearby fence.
On another trip to Detroit, when he saw a self-powered road engine, he knew he wanted to become a mechanic and an inventor.
At sixteen, his path took him to Detroit, then back to Dearborn where he continued to learn how to build a steam engine. Meanwhile, he got married and said, “It was a very great thing to have my wife even more confident than I was.”
Meanwhile, the first gas-powered car was built in Germany in 1885 by Karl Benz, but Henry believed he could improve on the design.
Time was of essence as other inventors were racing to build automobiles. He didn’t like taking orders from investors. So he left the second company after only four months. Then, he found an investor that gave him free will.
Detroit automakers were already selling cars, but Ford advertised that his cheaper car Model A was well-made and simple to operate.
In all his work, he wasn’t driven by money. He said, “To do for the world more than the world does for you – that is success.”
His new goal was to make new Model T even cheaper and faster. His new mass production was great for productivity but it wasn’t an exciting work. He doubled the salary of some employees in order to keep them long term.
This biography illuminates a man who didn’t care about money; his drive was to improve people’s lives. He believed in working hard and living simple which was instilled in him by his mother. It was opposite of how his son lived. Thus, it led to some friction between them. Henry Ford was flawed as any human being and that is also portrayed in the story.
This illustrated biography series for young readers, ages 8-11, is presented in a relatable way, with simple sentences and enriched with insightful inserts.
Published
in 2002 by Penguin Workshop
TRENDING
INSPIRATION: “Do for the world more than the world does for you.”
Traits:
·
Whatever interested him, he was living and
breathing it; studying it inside out
·
He didn’t like taking orders from others, so he
took risks going on his own
·
He believed in working hard and living simple
· Whatever he did he did, it was in the name of
bettering people’s life, it was never in the name of money
·
He looked for ways to improve his cars until
certain age, then he became pragmatic about the past and lived more in the past
than present and it hindered the future progress of his success
“It
was a very great thing to have my wife even more confident than I was.” – Henry
Ford
“To
do for the world more than the world does for you – that is success.” – Henry
Ford
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