Searle, Frederick E., 1871-1972

Educator.

From the description of Letter, 1946. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70945783

Frederick E. Searle headed the Henry Ford Trade School for thirty years. Born in Westfield, Massachusetts in 1871, Searle graduated from Williams College in 1893 and taught school for two years in Tarrytown, New York before moving to Detroit, Michigan. He taught at the Detroit School for Boys, which eventually became the Detroit University School. In 1917, he was persuaded by Edsel Ford, who had attended the Detroit University School, to become head of The Henry Ford Trade School, one of Henry Ford's primary endeavors in education. The school initially was located on the fourth floor of the A building at Ford Motor Company's Highland Park Plant; by 1928, 1,000 students were enrolled at a new location at the Rouge River Plant in Dearborn. In 1930, the two locations merged, and Searle moved his office to the Rouge. Between 1933 and 1938, Ford invited nearly 600 foreign students to receive training under Searle, paying them five dollars a day for periods of a few weeks to three years. In 1918, Searle also was given responsibility for the Ford Motor Company Apprentice Schools. Apprentice training reached a peak during World War II when the Navy asked Ford to train machinist mates and aircraft mechanics at the Rouge facility. At Ford's Willow Run bomber plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, a teaching force exceeding 1,300 held classes for 18,000 students. In all, the Henry Ford Trade School and Apprentice Schools trained an estimated 250,000 people under Searle. Near the end of the war, Searle organized Ford Camp Legion sites for men selected by veterans' organizations for rehabilitation. He retired in 1946 and died in 1972 at age 101.

From the description of Frederick E. Searle papers, 1919-1947. (The Henry Ford). WorldCat record id: 70180030