The Ford Motor Company Plant Engineering Photographs collection is primarily comprised of photographs documenting various automotive assembly activities and layouts. While there is no clear provenance to the collection, it is presumed the images were gathered together by Ford Motor Company staff responsible for the layouts of plants, plant engineering, equipment, and construction. Outside suppliers and competitors as well as Ford facilities are depicted, and the images are of both building interiors and building exteriors. Examples include 1917 preparation of Model T wood parts; 1917, 1922, and 1925 Model T riveting; 1926 and 1927 Model T upholstery work; 1926 Model T garage interiors and specialized repair tools; 1924 Model T glass operations; 1926 and 1927 Model T touring car top assembly; pre-1913 images of Ford Motor Company's Highland Park Plant's shipping room; and an image of the Highland Park wheel drying room, ca. 1912-1919. Other photographs are of a number of unidentified and undated exterior photographs of plants, some under construction. Among the Non-Ford buildings depicted in the photographs are the Fisher Body Company, Janesville, Wisconsin, 1923; Parrish-Bingham, Cleveland, Ohio; Chevrolet Motor Ohio Co., Norwood, Ohio; the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company, 1925; and Olds Motor Works. Some of the photographic firms identified on the photographs are Mile High Photo, Howe + Arthur, W. A. Young, and Jake Eichenbush. A number of the images are annotated in ink and several include notes on the verso.
