When automotive pioneer Henry Ford burst upon the scene in 1925, Ways Station was hardly more than an assemblage of modest residences, a store or two, and a post office. Spurred by the energies and vision of Ford, an army of agricultural, industrial, medical, and educational experts from Dearborn, Michigan, transformed the area into one of the most productive, vibrant communities on the southern tidewater. Ford employed hundreds of area residents to farm 85,000 acres along the Ogeechee River. He also established sawmills, lumberyards, and agricultural experiment stations. He provided the impetus for schools and educational programs and introduced 20thcentury medicine to the area. By 1941 and the eve of World War II, Ways Station had become Richmond Hill and had attained the peak of its renewed enterprise. Since that time, the community has been called "the town Henry Ford built."

Henry Ford was one of the most misunderstood pioneers of the 20th century. Henry Ford: A Hearthside Perspective reveals a different side of the famous man. Werling, director of the Henry Ford Estate, University of Michigan-Dearborn, gained personal insight into Ford by researching the homesites, hearthsides, and communities where Ford had a strong influence. Through captivating anecdotes, this book offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on Ford and his business, political, and personal activities. Werling concludes that despite his shortcomings, Ford positively affected the lives of many with his contributions to the advancement of technology, his contributions to society through restoration, and his donations (over one-third of Ford's income was donated to philanthropic causes). In addition to covering the important accomplishments of Ford's life, Henry Ford: A Hearthside Perspective also discusses some of Ford's personal relationships, including those with his wife Clara, his son Edsel, and friends such as Thomas Edison.

How a Michigan farm boy became the richest man in America is a classic, almost mythic tale, but never before has Henry Ford’s outsized genius been brought to life so vividly as it is in this engaging and superbly researched biography. The real Henry Ford was a tangle of contradictions. He set off the consumer revolution by producing a car affordable to the masses, all the while lamenting the moral toll exacted by consumerism. He believed in giving his workers a living wage, though he was entirely opposed to union labor. He had a warm and loving relationship with his wife, but sired a son with another woman. A rabid anti-Semite, he nonetheless embraced African American workers in the era of Jim Crow. Uncovering the man behind the myth, situating his achievements and their attendant controversies firmly within the context of early twentieth-century America, Watts has given us a comprehensive, illuminating, and fascinating biography of one of America’s first mass-culture celebrities.

Henry Ford was one of the most misunderstood pioneers of the 20th century. Henry Ford: A Hearthside Perspective reveals a different side of the famous man. Werling, director of the Henry Ford Estate, University of Michigan-Dearborn, gained personal insight into Ford by researching the homesites, hearthsides, and communities where Ford had a strong influence. Through captivating anecdotes, this book offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on Ford and his business, political, and personal activities. Werling concludes that despite his shortcomings, Ford positively affected the lives of many with his contributions to the advancement of technology, his contributions to society through restoration, and his donations (over one-third of Ford's income was donated to philanthropic causes). In addition to covering the important accomplishments of Ford's life, Henry Ford: A Hearthside Perspective also discusses some of Ford's personal relationships, including those with his wife Clara, his son Edsel, and friends such as Thomas Edison.

The 55 chapters of Friends, Families & Forays are bursting with details about the people and the pursuits that colored the life of Henry Ford. Here the reader will meet prominent and diverse figures such as Thomas Edison, John Borroughs, George Washington Carver, Helen Keller, and Mahatma Gandhi—all of whose lives intersected that of Henry Ford at some interesting point in his life. Also brought to life in these pages are the branches of Ford's family tree, from his Irish ancestors to the descendants who carry his legacy today. Although it was the automobile that made him an industrial icon, Henry Ford could boast of exploits in many other arenas as well: railroads, speedboats, robots, flour mills, rubber plantations, and humanitarian efforts around the world and in his own backyard. Ford's hard work and passionate interests brought him great wealth , and this book provides a peek at the luxuries he and his wife, Clara, enjoyed, from a yacht and a private rail car, to gracious residences in Michigan, Florida, and Georgia.

New to this edition are chronicles of factory and general hospitals, nursing schools and services, health clinics, and a research institute established by Henry Ford, and the more than a dozen commissaries Ford operated, selling a wide assortment of items to Ford employees and their families from pillow cases to children's shoes.