Henry Ford's Corporate Paternalism, 1915-20

In several important respects, the Henry Ford story was far from over in 1915, although by then he was 52 years old.⁷⁶With the coming of World War I, Henry became involved in an abortive Peace Ship effort in 1916. Despite the railing of all of his critics, his pacifism was reflective of a life-long idealism and distrust of the elitist ruling classes. And while the Peace Ship chapter in Ford’s life proved to be a failure, it shows us how complex and yet naïve the man was.

Cartoon shows boat representing the "Peace Ship" peace mission to Europe in which Henry Ford gestures to a dove flying above a stormy sea. (LC)

Ford Peace Party - NOORDAM of the Holland America Line, which carries the delegation of women to attend the Peace Conference at the Hague (LC)

 Editorial cartoon shows the steamship OSCAR II (carrying Henry Ford's Peace Party) with huge snowball labeled "Peace" on its deck; the ship is approaching a fiery inferno labeled "Europe." (LC)

 He also brought his idealism to the Ford Motor Company, at least initially, with his sponsorship of a Sociological Department in 1915 and the opening of the Henry Ford Trade School. His paternalism was perhaps born more out of a desire to control than a sense of compassion. Nevertheless, it was corporate paternalism practiced on a scale that differed little from that of John Patterson at the National Cash Register Corporation. 

Learning English -- Ford Sociological Department

A young trainee at the Henry Ford Trade School in Dearborn ( Detroit News)

Henry Ford Trade School