A 2024 Visit To The Henry Ford Museum

I've written about The Henry Ford Museum a number of times before.  But it's been a while,  and usually I will focus on a particular subject,  oftentimes on our country's founding.  This time I'm doing a sort of overview - a refresher of this truly amazing place to visit to see more antiques and artifacts then you may have ever seen in one place.

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A picture of the Henry Ford Museum's front façade.

Henry Ford began collecting objects very early in the 20th century.  While most wealthy industrialists and business magnates collected rare pieces of furniture,  great works of art by the masters,  or 1st edition books,  Ford's passion was collecting everyday objects - things he remembered from his youth.  And that could be old school books,  wood stoves,  clocks,  old farm equipment,  old everyday furniture,  telephones,  spinning wheels,  and pretty much everything and anything else.   But what began as a hobby turned into an obsession.  This eventually turned into collecting actual houses!  Yet he did not collect the homes of former presidents or of the very wealthy - - he was more interested in the structures in which the people who originally lived in them made a difference in the lives of Americans,  whether as school teachers,  farmers,  and even inventors.  And aren't we the lucky benefactors of  his social history collection!

It didn't take very long before Mr. Ford realized that he needed space to house all of his treasures.  But,  warehouses didn't give him the opportunity to enjoy his findings.  

Independence Hall
in Philadelphia.

Ford's replication - - 
Pretty amazing,  huh?

When Henry Ford built his Greenfield Village open-air museum in 1929,  he also built an indoor museum to go alongside of it.  And he wanted this very American museum to be something grand - very special - he wanted it to stand out like no other.  And to accomplish this he had a replica of the facade of Independence Hall in Philadelphia built as the museum's entrance. 

What could be more of a symbol of America than Independence Hall?  I mean,  the building itself is pretty much an artifact!

Ford hired architect Robert O. Derrick to have this version built exactly as the original as it now stands in Philadelphia,  and he spared no expense in doing so,  including the same mistakes of the original,  such as the windows in the tower being slightly off center by a couple inches.

In fact,  Ford went so far as to also have the inside front foyer,  which is located under the clock tower,  replicated as well.

The original front foyer in Philadelphia.

The replicated foyer in Dearborn,  Michigan.
Oh!  To have such money...

As I stepped through the doors,  something magical happened - - 
my clothes suddenly changed~
And then...

Well,  I suppose if I would want to meet anyone while in the Pennsylvania State House,  

it would be Ben Franklin,  a true Patriot and,  perhaps,  the United States' finest citizen.

As Dr. Franklin explained,  it was here where the 2nd Continental Congress met,  and it was also where the Declaration of Independence  (of which Franklin helped to write)  and the U.S. Constitution were debated and adopted.

Oh,  it certainly was an honor indeed to hear these stories from  "the man"  himself!

(Sometimes it's hard to remember that this is a replicated building we are in - not the original. 

And then to have Benjamin Franklin here,  it truly felt as if we were in the original,  even doling Dr.  Franklin himself!)

~By the way,  Dr. Franklin  (aka Bob Stark)  and I reenact and present together quite a lot - he does not visit the Museum very often,  but when he does,  he definitely looks the part~

And that's where our story begins.   But be forewarned:  you are about to embark on a journey through time and space...to a timeline of the past in a museum that,  simply put,  is pretty amazing in its collections and exhibits.

Strolling through the bell tower doors,  the first thing you are greeted with as you enter into the museum proper is a film clip of the Cornerstone of the Henry Ford Museum.  If you watch the short clip,  you will see Edison walk upon the block,  shovel in hand,  and then shove the spade,  once belonging to horticulturalist Luther Burbank,  into the wet cement.  Edison then walks over and signs his name in the cement.  This took place on September 27,  1928.

According to The Henry Ford,  there is symbolism here,  suggesting a union of nature  (Luther Burbank's spade)  and technology  (Edison's signature and footprints).

Here is a clip from You Tube:

.  .  .

I'm not going to go in any sort of order here,  but will,  instead,  sort of bop around to the many different exhibits on display.  It is a 523,000 square-foot  ( or twelve-acres)  museum filled with  (mostly)  historical items,  so what you will see here is only a smidgeon of what one sees upon visiting in person.

So!

One of my most favorite of all exhibits  (and one of the museum's oldest)  is the wonderful  "Kitchens Through Time" - - - 

(the following comes from the book Spaces That Tell Stories by Donna R.  Braden):

"...I spent much of my time steeping in the ordinary stuff of everyday life.  My research on historic kitchens helped me land my first job---as a curatorial assistant at The Henry Ford...working on that museum's one-of-a-kind collection of household equipment and utensils.

That first summer in 1977,  I was quite overwhelmed.  Seemingly endless rows of washing machines,  cookstoves,  and refrigerators;  shelf upon shelf of egg beaters,  apple parers,  cherry pitters,  coffee grinders---all needing research,  cataloging,  and selecting for an upgraded exhibit to commemorate Henry Ford Museum's fiftieth anniversary in 1979.  To my delight,  one of my first tasks was to recreate four historic kitchen spaces,  to compare and contrast their change through time from the 18th century through the 1930s." 

1700s and 1840s kitchens~
From the angle of this picture you can see how the kitchens go back-to-back in a sort of circular diorama form.  I sort of utilized this idea in my own way when creating an
18th/19th century room in my own home  (click HERE).
I also wrote a family history post centered on these four kitchens  (HERE)

 According to The Henry Ford:  "These kitchens have staying power.  Nearly a half century later,  the display continues to resonate with visitors.  Not surprising,  since kitchens are at the center of activity in a home.  They conjure up feelings of security,  familiarity,  family & friends.  Immersive environments like these period kitchens in the museum possess the ability to transport visitors to another place and time.  They assist in imagining the lives of people of the past and help us ponder how those experiences relate to our own today."

1890s and 1930s kitchens~

It does exactly this for me as well.  Imagine a display to show that kitchens really,  in a very strong sense,  have changed little in the idea that,  according to definition,  they are  "a room or area where food is prepared and cooked."   And they still are in their basic design and explanation.  But great changes have been made over the past roughly 250 years to accomplish such a task in comparison,  as shown in these four dioramas.  Yet,  in most cases,  fire is still used to cook food.  

The more things change,  the more they stay the same...

Another great exhibit is Your Place In Time,  beginning at the turn of the 20th century and going into the early 21st century,  decade by decade,  section by section.  

For this picture,  I was with my former class to the museum on a field trip,  and they happily and willingly posed for me in a 1957 replicated classroom.

The young man in the corner is,  like the other students here,  a wonderful kid who played along and very willingly stood in the corner for  "messing around."  Putting students in corners as a punishment doesn't happen anymore,  though I remember back when I was young having to do it (lol)~

I retired last year,  but I was asked to come along on this field trip with my former students.  It was an honor and a privilege to do so - I very much enjoyed it.  

So...if you were a collector - an antique collector of Americana - would you give up your 70 inch plasma for this?

Philco's  "The Predicta"  Television Receiver from 1958 to 1960.
As the placard states,  it actually resembles a computer with monitor
that was 40 years in the future.
Still...there is a coolness about this.
I wonder how many mega-pixels?

As its manufacturer explained in mid-1959,  “The world’s first separate screen receiver,  Philco’s  ‘Predicta,’  marked a revolution in the design and engineering of television sets."

Shortly after the Predicta was announced,  its reliability was called into question by several trade and consumer publications.  As Philco was phasing in its next chassis iteration,  the Cool Chassis,  the company went bankrupt,  with its development of the Predicta being a possible factor.

A more common TV from the 1950s -
with the Howdy Doody Time Show playing.

Three TVs from days of old:
(from left) 1950s,  1960s  (we had one similar to this.  Yes,  black & white),  and the 1970s.  I've never seen a 1970s TV like this before,  so I am sure it wasn't very common.

We're now in the  "You Know You're Old"  department - 

You know you're old  when you go to a historical museum and you see your teenage life being represented as...history...:

I had each record album here,  and a very similar record player/stereo.
I'm thinking of how I went to the local appliance store to get new patch cords to connect my TV to my stereo not long ago.  The sales guy first asked me what a patch cord was.  Then he asked me what a stereo was.
*sigh*

Now,  there is history in this history concerning the Led Zeppelin 4 album  (top middle):
The man on the cover of has been identified as a 19th-century thatcher from Mere,  Wiltshire  (England)  by the name of Lot Long.  Lot was a widower in Mere and died in 1893,  just a year after the photograph was taken.  I'm quite certain he never thought that one day he would be one of the most recognized people in the world - the album was an instant critical and commercial success and is Led Zeppelin's best-selling album,  having shipped over 37 million copies worldwide.

Of course,  then there's The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band  (top left),  perhaps the greatest album of all-time.  I also loved Crosby,  Stills,  and Nash,  and definitely the Moody Blues.  I liked Santana pretty okay,  but I probably would have put the Woodstock album or a Doors album there instead.

My mom had a similar radio where she would listen to her
favorite country music station.
My older siblings bought all the latest 45 records,  as you see here.  My birthplace of Detroit is represented here with Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and Stevie Wonder.  There's The Beatles again  (I love  "Nowhere Man"!),  plus my favorite Beach Boys tune,  the great Lovin'  Spoonful,  and the Dave Clark Five.
They don't write  'em like that anymore...

How about those 8-tracks!
I see Led Zeppelin and Boston and Blondie...

Now let's check out a few pieces of furniture...going back quite a ways - - - 

19th century  (!!)  Refrigerators:
the front one was made in Grand Rapids,  Michigan in 1881
The second fridge was made in 1895 - maker unknown.

Every once in a while,  a historic piece might just  "speak"  to you.

That's what this next artifact did for me.

The Hannah Barnard Court Cupboard:  1710 - 1715

Hannah Barnard was born on June 8,  1684,  in Hadley,  Massachusetts,  eight years before the famed Salem witch trials  (to put her  'time'  into perspective).  There is really nothing very unusual or very special about Hannah - any more than you or I in our own time.  Like the greater majority of the past population who have gone before,  most folks here in the 21st century have never heard of her.

However,  this court cupboard belonging to her,  had been passed down upon her death during childbirth in 1716.  Her widowed husband remarried,  but made sure this cupboard went to Hannah's only daughter,  Abigail,  in his will.  This Abigail married Waitstill Hastings,  and in 1742 had a daughter of her own.  But she didn't just name her Hannah  (after her mother),  but Hannah Barnard   Hastings!  Since the use of middle names was rare in New England in this period,  this was an obvious purposeful choice.  Of course,  this Hannah inherited the cupboard.  The name persisted for two more generations:  in 1769,  Hannah Barnard Hastings married Nathaniel Kellogg,  and the following August she had a daughter whom she named for her long-dead grandmother  (and herself).  This third Hannah died in 1787,  but in 1817 her brother honored both his sister and his mother by naming a daughter Hannah Barnard Hastings Kellogg.  This Hannah's migration to California broke the link between the cupboard and its history.

There seems to be a blank space from that point to 1934 when the cupboard was featured in Antiques Magazine.  The author of the article stated only that the cupboard belonged to  "an ancestress of a later owner."  But because of the name Hannah Barnard was emblazoned upon it,  the cupboard's history was that much easier to trace.

This wonderful piece of Americana now sits in a well-viewed and honorable area inside the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn,  Michigan,  along with historical furniture pieces once belonging to the mother of George Washington and Mark Twain's drop leaf table.

Unfortunately,  I simply cannot find out how  (or when)  the museum acquired it.

So much of the information on this cupboard came from the book The Age of Homespun by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich  (in which an entire chapter is dedicated to Hannah Barnard,  the Barnard family,  as well as the court cupboard itself).

A High Chest of Drawers 1700 - 1730
This once belonged to Mary Ball Washington---the mother of George Washington.

Mary,  orphaned at a young age,  inherited land,  livestock,  or furniture each time she lost a parent or step-parent.  This high chest was likely among these legacies.  Later in life,  a neighbor bought this at a sale of some of Mary's possessions,  and it descended in that family.

Here is another Revolutionary piece of furniture:

This card table,  built sometime between 1765 and 1780,  belonged to John Hancock.
Yes,  Declaration of Independence  John Hancock!

Like many other wealthy gentlemen of his time,  Hancock delighted in playing cards.  He could well-afford to purchase this fine table to enjoy a game of cards with friends and political associates.

Chairs!

The ladder back chair on the left is from roughly 1750 to 1775.  From what was written on the placard,  ladder back chairs were brought to America with the earliest colonists,  over 400 years ago,  and they are still popular to this day.  That's a fashion with staying power!  

On the right we see a Windsor Chair,  which became popular in America in the mid-18th century.  When introduced,  they were used in every room of the house.

Like the ladder backs,  Windsor chairs are still being made today. 

The ladder back and the Windsor chair.

Man you should've seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe

A writing desk once belonging to Edgar Allan Poe.

Made between 1830 and 1849,  and used by Poe around the same period.

Once upon a midnight dreary,  while I pondered weak and weary...

As you probably have figured out,  this drop-leaf dining table, 
built in the mid-1800s,  once belonged to author  (Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn)  and humorist Mark Twain  (Samuel Clemens). 
During the later years of his life,  the famous author often
wrote at this table.  Twain's daughter,  Clara, 
gave the table and painting to Henry Ford.

Let's now stop at something very iconic - we always think of the stage coach as being in the western states.  However,  

The Albert Downing Concord Coach from 1891~

After railroads became common in the mid-1800s,  stagecoaches still carried people on the next leg of their journey---often from the railroad depot to another town or nearby hotel.  And this could be in any region in the United States.

And if they wanted to - and if the town or city had one - they could also take a streetcar:

Jones horse-drawn streetcar,  from about 1875.

People living in growing cities needed affordable public transportation to carry them to places they couldn't reach easily on foot.  By the mid-1800s,  horse-drawn streetcars---called horsecars---traveled over rails on set schedules.  This one was used in Brooklyn,  New York.

For something a bit older - - - - - 

From 1798 - 1802 we have the Ross Chariot
This vehicle was constructed by William Ross in New York City.  It was built for a woman named Angelica Bratt Campbell,  who was the wife of Daniel Campbell,  one of the wealthiest men in New York.
Chariots at this time were popular elegant  "half-coaches"  cut in two just in front of the door,  characterized by an elevated body and large wheels.  Chariots were only used by persons of high rank or considerable wealth.

The Henry Ford Museum is only a short distance from Detroit - about 15 minutes - and if you know anything about Detroit,  you know its nicknames:  the Motor City and Motown.

Now,  Motown,  of course,  is for the great music of the Supremes,  the Temptations,  Marvin Gaye,   Mary Wells,  Stevie Wonder,  the Four Tops,  Martha & the Vandellas,  and countless others.

But the Motor City,  on the other hand,  is all about the automobile.  

Hey---how about if we put Motown and the Motor City together?
Watch one of the BEST music videos ever as Martha & The Vandellas bop around a Ford assembly line:

Ford = cars,  right? 

Well,  how about Henry's very first?

Yeah...I mean his very first horseless carriage from 1896---the Quadricycle~

The placard says:

"...one of few surviving early experimental vehicles.  Ford was one of dozens of  Americans & Europeans in the 1890s trying to build a carriage that needed no horses."  

By 1903 he had his Ford Motor Company.

And then he changed the world - - - - 

The  "exploded"  Model T~

One of the most dramatic displays in Henry Ford Museum is the  “exploded”  Model T—a 1924 Model T touring car with its constituent parts suspended by wires.   The way the Model T was produced is as iconic as the car itself.  When Ford Motor Company introduced the Model T in October 1908,  firearms,  watches,  and sewing machines were already being assembled from interchangeable parts made on specialized machines.  Ford successfully adapted these techniques to the much more complex automobile,  and then crowned this achievement with the development of the moving assembly line in late 1913.  But most people are far more familiar with the products of the assembly line than the process itself.   Renaissance engineers Leonardo da Vinci and Francesco di Giorgio were perhaps the first to draw the parts of complex mechanical devices spread out in the order in which the parts were assembled.  These  “exploded”  drawings became a common technique used in operating and repair manuals.  Ford used them in Model T manuals.  The exploded Model T is a three-dimensional version of an exploded drawing.

From The Henry Ford

This 1956 T-Bird:   iconic to those of us who love the classic movie American Graffiti.
Suzanne Summers was the blonde in the white T Bird:

From American Graffiti~
No...it's not THEE actual one used in the movie.
But it is the same make,  year,  and color.

The Kennedy Car is here.

This 1961 Lincoln Continental was customized and modified with steps and handholds for secret service agents,  removable roof sections,  a hydraulic rear seat to elevate the president,  and interior floodlights to illuminate him at night.  The car was also extended three and a half feet in length.  President Kennedy used this car in many parades.  Tragically,  Kennedy was in this vehicle in Dallas,  Texas on November 22,  1963 when the bullet of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald struck him in the back of the head.

It went through numerous modifications and rebuilds from 1964 to 1977,  including a permanent steel top bullet-proof armored top.

Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener,  that is what I truly like to be-e-e-----

The 1952 Wienermobile!

One of the earliest racing motor vehicles:

The 1902  "999"~

It got up to 80 miles per hour!

And then here's a more modern dragster:

Burn up that quarter mile

Yeah, I'm goin' to Drag City

And with the automobile comes the gas station...or service station.

What we have here came from a Texaco station from 1940.

You can trust your car to the man who wears a star~

Look for Goober & Gomer - - ! lol

And a gas pump to complete the picture!

And the Texaco gas delivery truck - yes,  it is a very large museum!

What's the term used today for anyone wanting to take a trip?
Oh yeah..."safe travels."

I saw these things all the time on the road when I was young!

All gassed up and off on your road trip,  so,  rather than sleep in a tent,  you decide a tourist cabin would be more comfortable.

I've never stayed in a roadside hut like this,  but I recall seeing them.
This actual tourist cabin is from Michigan's beautiful Irish Hills,  along U.S. 12 -
it was built in 1936.

I have never done this but I do remember having a picnic on the roadside when we - my mom & dad and I - took my sister's van to Mackinaw City.

We didn't take very many vacations when I was a kid.  We had a family cottage right next to Lake Huron,  so there was no need to go and spend money elsewhere,  unless there was a need to get away every-so-often.  So when we did take a trip - Mackinaw/Mackinac,  Niagara Falls,  Cedar Point in Sandusky,  Ohio - our travels were all very similar to what you see in these pictures.

Yep - I remember seeing these all over, 
especially when traveling with mom & dad.

And this is an actual Holiday Inn room!

I stayed in one of these,  too!

The Henry Ford Museum wanted to add a classic diner to its collection of 20th century artifacts,  so they bought Lamy's,  a 1946 diner from Hudson,  Massachusetts,  and trucked it 850 miles to Dearborn.  A three year restoration ensued,  which included bringing the diner back to its factory-built condition after it was altered over the years.  A second diner was located in a field in New Hampshire,  where it had sat abandoned for nearly twenty years,  and was purchased for salvage,  providing original fixtures, furnishings,  and other parts for Lamy's.

Once complete,  in 1984,  the restored Lamy's Diner became a part of the new  "The Automobile in American Life"  exhibit.

This is such an important piece of 20th century Americana.
I don't believe I'd seen too many originals as a youth,  for fast food joints like McDonalds and Burger King were beginning their reign when I began to notice such things,  though it seems more and more lately I find them popping up,  all restored and looking great.

Almost a decade ago they turned Lamy's back into an actual restaurant diner where
visitors can order the same type of food that was served here 80 years ago.
It really can immerse one back to that World War II decade much in the same manner
that the Eagle Tavern inside Greenfield Village can immerse one in the 1850s. 

While sitting at the booth,  patrons can listen to music of the 1940s through the vintage
Seeburg wall-box system,  giving that mid-20th century immersive feel.
I can still hear the Andrews Sisters singing  "Run and Coca Cola."

Here's my 1940s style Sloppy Joe with potato
chips meal - so  good! - and,  yeah,  that's water instead
of pop in my glass.
I'm a cheap date  (lol)

And then my wife and I went shortly after and,  well, 
these were amazing!
The first real milkshake I've had in years -
and Faygo Rock n Rye in a bottle?
Heaven!

Here is something once very common that one doesn't see anymore:

They used to have this 1940s cigarette machine in the back of the diner, 
but when they decided to turn it into an actual restaurant, 
they put it back in storage and added a small booth.

Here is an exact replication of the Wright Flyer from their first flight at Kitty Hawk in December of 1903.  

How about a means to warm your house by way of heating stoves?

Wait---what---heating stoves?

In a museum??

Yup - The Henry Ford Museum is amazing!

Before Detroit was known as the Motor City,  it was known as Stove City.  In the 19th century,  Detroit became known as the Stove Capital of the World,  producing more than 10 percent of all stove sold around the world.  Cast iron stoves,  burning wood or coal,  began to be widely manufactured after the Civil War,  and Detroit became the center of the industry in the late 19th century.

Stoves were rare in most American homes before 1830.  But it was found that heating stoves were more efficient than fireplaces.  Stoves used a lot less fuel,  and their cast iron surfaces radiated warmth more evenly and effectively---heat stayed in the room rather than go up the chimney.

This one is the Floral Parlor Stove~
People bought stoves to heat their parlors,  dining rooms,  and--if they could afford
it--every room in the house.  
Style mattered.  People wanted their stoves to be eye-catching as well as useful.

Cottage Air-Tight Parlor Stove from 1847

There are many heating stoves on display,  each with information placards.

Have you ever heard of a  "Banjo Clock"?

The banjo clock,  or banjo timepiece,  is an American wall clock with a banjo-shaped case.  Only 4,000 authentic Simon Willard banjo clocks were made.  The style was widely copied by other members of the Willard family of clockmakers and many others clockmakers,  both craftsmen and industrial manufacturers. 

Both of these  "Banjo Clocks"  are from 1805 to 1810.
The one on the left was made by the Banjo Clocks inventor,  Simon Willard.
It is the real McCoy!

Now for something everyone can relate to,  whether young or old:

The evolution of the phone~
This makes for great conversation!

Have you ever seen an actual steam locomotive inside a museum before?

The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway's Allegheny locomotive,  introduced in 1941,  represented the peak of steam locomotive technology.  Among the largest and most powerful steam locomotives ever built,  they could generate 7500 horsepower.

This thing weighs 389 tons!  That is equal to 778,000 pounds!

And visitors are allowed to climb inside and see what the engineer saw.  

Originally called  "The Satilla"  when built in 1858.

Renamed  "The Rogers,"  it was renamed again  "The President"  by Henry Ford in honor of President Herbert Hoover when it was selected to pull the specially built cars used in 1929 during ceremonies marking opening of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village and the 50th anniversary of Thomas Edison's invention of the first practical light bulb.

It's last run was to transport the presidential party to the museum opening in that year of 1929.

Guns were introduced to the Americas with the arrival of European settlers,  but the origins of modern gun culture in the U.S.  is generally traced back to the  "frontier spirit"  that emerged in the 18th century.

Fowling pieces - or shotguns,  as they are known today - from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The American Long Rifle,  also known as the Pennsylvania or Kentucky Long Rifle, 
again from the 18th and 19th centuries.  

Green Acres is the place to be - ancient agriculture:

The small plow closest to us is the John Deere Plow from 1843
The middle plow is the Oliver Chilled Cast-Iron Plow from 1895
The plow furthest away there is Moldboard Plow from 1775
There is an entire area for agricultural equipment,  including a 

Ford Experimental Light Weight Tractor from 1907

From roughly around 1900 we have a farm wagon for carrying husked corn.

My favorite exhibition!
It's where you can see - - - 

---a close-up look at an original Paul Revere engraving
of the 1770 Boston Massacre...

...an original copy of the Stamp act from 1765...

It was during the Bicentennial in 1976 when The Henry Ford Museum had a special exhibit called The Struggle and the Glory,  and it included more than 250 Revolutionary-period maps,  prints,  letters,  and objects that told the story of America's struggle to become an independent nation.  A few of those wonderful Revolutionary America artifacts are still on display in the With Liberty and Justice For All exhibit,  as you see in the above two photos.  To see more,  click HERE.

Also in this exhibit:

By 1820,  Secretary of State,  John Quincy Adams,  had become concerned over the fragile condition of the original Declaration of Independence document after so many years of handling.  With the approval of Congress,  he commissioned engraver William J.  Stone to produce a facsimile of this precious document using a copper plate.  In 1823,  Congress ordered two hundred copies of this engraved version to be printed on parchment.

This is one of those copies.

Wow---and here it is!
Copies of this 1823 engraved version went to select government officials and carefully chosen repositories,  as well as the Declaration's only three surviving signers:  Thomas Jefferson,  John Adams,  and Charles Carroll.

There are plenty more Revolutionary artifacts here,  but I've already covered that  HERE  (With Liberty & Justice For All)  and HERE  (Declaring Independence: The Spirits of '76).

So let's cover something in this same exhibit that the Smithsonian would love to have...and so would Ford's Theater in D.C.:

This is the actual chair that President Lincoln was sitting in at the Ford Theater in Washington D.C.  on the evening of April 14, 1865.  To his right sat his wife,  Mary,  and just beyond her were their guests,  Major Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris.  Of course,  as you  (hopefully)  know,  around 10:30 John Wilkes Booth shot our 16th president at point blank in the back of the head,  and Lincoln passed away the next morning,  April 15,  1865.   

After assassinating Abraham Lincoln,  John Wilkes Booth fled Ford's Theatre and went on the run.  His escape continued for the next twelve days and covered over ninety miles through the District of Columbia,  Maryland,  and Virginia before finally being caught in a barn near Port Royal,  Virginia,  where he was ultimately killed.

Then there's this chair.

The rocker's importance became obvious immediately after Lincoln's death. 
The War Department held it as evidence during the trial of
the assassination conspirators.

Although blood stains were found on the chair,  the dark stains in the photos and what can be seen upon eyeing the chair in person were from grease applied to the hair of various people who rested against the back.  

So how did Henry Ford obtain it?

This explains all - from an article in the Washington Post:

In January 1867,  the War Department sent it to the Department of the Interior.  Interior Secretary O.H.  Browning acknowledged receipt of the chair,  writing,  "It will afford me satisfaction to have the Chair deposited in the proper place,  among other relics,  in this Department for safekeeping."

Soon after,  the chair - along with the stovepipe hat Lincoln wore to the theater that night - were put on display at the Patent Office building.  They were exhibited for only a year or two,  and in 1869 the two items were delivered to the Smithsonian.  They were kept in storage,  their exact whereabouts a closely held secret. 

There is only one rocker used by President Lincoln in the theatre box,  so all others you see,  including the chair that now sits at the actual Ford's Theater in D.C.,  are period antiques or modern adaptations.

In 1893,  the chair was sent to a museum that Union veteran and Lincolniana collector Osborn Oldroydit opened at 516 10th St.  NW,  the house in which Lincoln died.  There it stayed for the next four years.  It was returned to the Smithsonian,  where in 1902,  it finally received an official accession number - 38912 - and was catalogued in the Department of Anthropology.  And it was there that the chair remained...in storage.  Then,  in 1928,  Blanche Chapman Ford,  the widow of Harry Clay Ford  (the original owner of the chair who loaned it to the Ford Theater for Lincoln's use),  wrote to the Smithsonian.  Was it true,  she asked,  that they had the chair,  and if so,  "Will you kindly tell me why it is not on exhibition?"   She added that if it was not of use to the museum she would like to have it.  Smithsonian curator Theodore Belote responded that it was the museum's policy not to show objects  "directly connected with such a horrible and deplorable event."  Perhaps,  but Brian Daniels,  a Smithsonian Archives research associate who has studied the circuitous history of the chair,  thinks there was another reason:  Belote,  the son of Maryland slave owners,  was not fond of Lincoln.  He was happy to see the chair go.

In the spring of 1929,  Blanche Ford's son George collected the chair.  That December it was on the auction block,  selling for $2,400 to Israel Sack,  a Boston antiques dealer who conveyed it to Henry Ford for his new museum.  

"This is the chair that embodies a transformative moment in time for America and indeed the world,"  said Christian Overland ,  vice president of the Henry Ford museum. 

"It kind of is like the one that got away,"  Daniels said.

I have read that the Smithsonian,  as well as the Ford Theater,  has asked numerous times for the chair for their own respective museums.  Of course,  the Henry Ford Museum has always responded in the same way - a resounding  "no."

Think about it:  if you were the curator of such a museum,  would you let this piece of Americana go?  The Henry Ford Museum had also painstakingly restored the chair in 1999 and placed it in a temperature-controlled environment to ensure its longevity for generations to come.

For the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's death,  they brought it out and displayed it for the first time in many -a-year outside of the enclosure.

Know what else is in that exhibit?   - - - 

The Rosa Parks Bus!
On this Montgomery,  Alabama bus in December of 1955,  Rosa Parks refused to give
up her seat  to a white man as dictated by existing segregation laws.

When she was arrested,  there was a city-wide bus boycott from the African-American community,  which resulted in the rise of Martin Luther King Jr.,  as the widely recognized leader  of the civil rights movement.  This movement quickly expanded nationwide,  becoming a major force in the 1960s and,  in some cases,  through today.

Visitors can enter the bus and even sit in the seat where Rosa Parks sat,  refusing to give up her right to sit there.

Now,  we are all aware that on the same campus as The Henry Ford Museum is the open air museum of Greenfield Village.  At one time they had the Currier Shoe Shop,  built around 1890 in Newton,  New Hampshire,  in place in the outdoor historic Village.  It was removed about 30 years ago - not certain why - and brought inside the museum,  and set up in the same manner as it was when it was inside the Village.

The 1890 Currier Shoe Shop~
Inside the museum.

The inside of the Currier Shoe Shop.
How cool it would be to have this back in the Village!

They did the same thing to the cooper shop.

Unfortunately,  the cooper shop is no longer in the museum.  Again,  I would love to see it return one way or the other.  So I'm going to place a few photos here that I took back in 2001 after it was brought inside the Henry Ford Museum for remembrance sake.

I questioned if this was the Kingston Cooper Shop from 1785,  and as you will read below,  found out that it is..er...was!

Ah!  There's the shaving horse in the center with multiple draw knives on the wall!

Now,  I put it out into Facebook land asking questions about this shop,  and I received an answer from a former presenter:
"I was an apprentice cooper at the time,  and am still a Museum presenter today.  Yes,  the Kingston Cooper Shop was in the Museum.  We made buckets,  piggins,  and butter churns.  Barrels were a little too big and you have to  “season”  the inside of a barrel.  The reason why it was put in the Museum was to compare handcrafting with production.  That is why it was put in Made in America.  They dismantled the shop and put it in storage.  They had to move it to make room for Liberty and Justice for All.  I still have a few of the buckets I made.  I believe the  “Schnitzelbank”  or shaving bench is in Daggett."Well,  there's my answer - - - thank you!

A cooper is a barrel maker.  But he or she would also make butter churns and
numerous other wooden necessities.

So I learned this is the same structure and is/was a part of that original Kingston Cooper Shop from 1785 and was originally from Kingston,  New Hampshire.  When rebuilt inside Greenfield Village in 1932,  it was the oldest American craft shop in the Village.  

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So by the pictures featured in this post you can see the size and scope of the Henry Ford Museum.  And,  for its collections,  you can see why it is often compared to the Smithsonian,  though on a smaller scale.  However,  if you add Greenfield Village into the mix,  now you have something not seen anywhere else!

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  we are so blessed to have such an amazing duel museum of The Henry Ford Museum and the collection of nearly 100 actual historic buildings on 200-acres - Greenfield Village outdoor museum - banked up next to each other on the same complex,  all right here in the metro-Detroit area.  And right on the same campus!  

This photograph,  taken by Rudy T. Ruzicska,  was the cover of a book about
Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum published in 1972.
It wasn't until about that same year when I went to the Village for the first time, 
so I honestly have no idea if what we have here was typical for the time, 
or maybe preparing for the upcoming Bicentennial  (1976). 
Or,  perhaps,  it was a special regular 4th of July event.
I notice some of the historic flags lining the walkway:
I see the Gadsden Flag,  The Continental/ Bunker Hill flag, 
the King's Colors flag, the Appeal to Heaven flag,  and,  curiously, 
up front and on the left we have the St.  George's Cross flag.
I think it would be great to do this during the
Salute to America / Independence Day events, 
especially with America's 250th Semiquincentennial coming up!

It's always an enjoyable visit with so many cool items.  And it always amazes me to hear how many locals have either never been or haven't been since they were young.  The photos herein are only the tip of the iceburg.

It's a true gem.....

Until next time,  see you in time.

The material here came from a variety of sources,  including the museum presenters I've spoken to,  the placards near the artifacts,  the many guidebooks and books published by The Henry Ford/The Edison Institute,  and information culled from the recesses of the Benson Ford Research Center.

But other information came from books in my personal collection:

Spaces That Tell Stories by Donna R.  Braden
The Age of Homespun by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

American Diner - Then and Now by Richard J.S.  Gutman

I've also written on and about people and things from America's founding generation called Buried Treasure:  Stories of the Founding Generation - there are some very cool stories and objects here I think you may be interested in.

Here is a closer look at the  Lincoln Rocker 

Here is a closer look at the  Hannah Barnard Court Cupboard,  an artifact with a very interesting history.

Here is a closer look at Heating Stoves...and Wall Pockets,  with pictures taken at both The Henry Ford Museum and in Greenfield Village.  And even one or two taken elsewhere. 

And then there is the post I wrote called With Liberty and Justice For All: The Fight for Independence (From the Collection at The Henry Ford Museum)

and the one called Declaring Independence: The Spirits of '76,  both of which uses items in the collection on display to concentrate on the founding period of our nation.

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