Henry Ford Trade School

Henry Ford believed that a working knowledge of industrial arts was the most practical knowledge a young man could have. To this end, Ford established several schools where he could offer a technical education that would prepare people for work in industry. His first and major trade school was begun in Highland Park, Michigan in 1916 adjacent to Ford Motor Company's Highland Park Plant, opening with six boys and one instructor. Frederick E. Searle was appointed superintendent. Classes not only emphasized the mechanical arts leading to tool-and-die making but also included English, history, drafting, chemistry, physics, metallurgy, and bookkeeping, with classwork alternating bi-weekly with shop practice. Admission was based on need, and the school was unique in that it provided scholarships to each student and did not require that the student be an employee of the Ford Motor Company. By 1927, a larger branch opened at the Rouge River Plant in Dearborn, an academic division with ninety-one acres of school buildings, playgrounds, and vegetable gardens. By 1931, enrollment reached a peak of 2,800 with 135 instructors, and the two branch schools consolidated into one at the Rouge. The Henry Ford Trade School, which produced 8,000 graduates, closed in July of 1952.