Sidney Olson papers, 1952-1963.

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Sidney Olson papers, 1952-1963.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53929865

The papers are comprised of three series. The first, American Road Manuscript, ca. 1953-1963 (1 cubic ft.), Acc. 979, consists of a typewritten draft manuscript of The American Road, A Picture History of the Life and Times of Henry Ford, 1863-1947. The book was published posthumously in 1963 as Young Henry Ford. The manuscript includes 8 in. x 10 in. black and white photoprints of all the images Olson wanted to include in the book. The final publication was modified from this version. The second series, Research Notes on Henry Ford, ca. 1952-1953 (4.4 cubic ft. and 1 oversize box), Acc. 512, is comprised of handwritten and typewritten notes, quotations culled from reminiscences of Ford Motor Company employees, topical files, a draft manuscript, and photographs. The series begins with year by year Henry Ford chronologies from 1896 to 1902. The remainder of the series is organized chronologically within two to four year periods beginning with 1903 and ending with 1950. Subject matter, broadly covering the life of Henry Ford and his interests, varies year to year. Of particular note are copies of Ford Motor Company director meeting minutes from 1903 to 1919 and a large run of photographs. While most of the photographs are copies of images from various Ford Motor Company Archives collections, researchers should note there are original vintage photoprints interspersed throughout the folders. A third series, Public Relations Projects, 1956-1961 (1.6 cubic ft. and 1 folder), Acc. 716 and Acc. 812, relate to two Olson marketing projects. The first, Project Flora, pertains to a study conducted in Flora, Illinois of 1961 Ford automobiles before they were released nationwide. Each family in Flora was given a 1961 Ford or Falcon model vehicle to test drive for a week and evaluate before the models were released to the general public. The series also includes draft manuscripts Olson prepared for a second project, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the V-8 engine, entitled "The Peaceful Revolution ... The Silver Anniversary Story of the V-8 Engine."

7 cubic ft., 1 oversize box, and 1 folder.

The Henry Ford, Benson Ford Research Center

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SNAC Resource ID: 7673294

The Henry Ford, Benson Ford Research Center

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Olson, Sidney, 1915-2000

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j999g9 (person)

Sidney Olson was a journalist, a war correspondent, and a senior editor at Time, Life, and Fortune magazines before joining Kenyon & Eckhardt, an advertising agency, in 1951. The firm was hired by Ford executives to market Ford Motor Company's fiftieth anniversary. While working on the project, Olson spent many hours with material in the Ford Motor Company Archives. After retirement, he conducted independent research in the Archives, focusing for five years on a project he called The America...

Ford motor company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r53djn (corporateBody)

When Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903, Alexander Y. Malcolmson was elected the Company's first treasurer, but his assistant James Couzens actually managed financial functions. People holding the position of Ford Motor Company treasurer from 1903 to 1955 included Alexander Y. Malcolmson, 1903-1906; James J. Couzens, 1906-1915; Frank L. Klingensmith, 1915-1921; Edsel B Ford, 1921-1943; B. J. Craig, 1943-1946; and L. E. Briggs, 1946-1955. In 1903, the business office was in a small building o...

Ford, Edsel, 1893-1943

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bv7w1d (person)

Edsel Ford's interests beyond automobiles and the automobile industry were broad and varied. He was president of the Arts Commission of the Detroit Institute of Arts, a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art, and a trustee for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Inc. He was a member of the Isle Royal National Park Commission, chairman of the board of the Detroit University School, and a director of the Manufacturers National Bank of Detroit. He was active in Ford Motor Company educatio...

Ford family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68q591m (family)

Ford, Henry, 1863-1947

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xk8d59 (person)

Industrialist and philanthropist Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863, grew up on a farm in what is now Dearborn, Michigan. Mechanically inclined from an early age, he worked in Detroit machine shops as a young man and became an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company in 1891. Henry and Clara Jane Bryant, married in 1888, had one child, Edsel, born in 1893. In that same year, Henry tested his first internal combustion engine, and by 1896 completed his first car, the Quadricycle. Ford partnered in ...