Henry Ford: classic American entrepreneur who changed America forever, artifact collector, American innovator, and creator of $5 work days. Ford’s museum is a fantastic way to meet American history.
On Friday, September 21, Challenge Detroit spent an afternoon at The Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village. With such great historical collections, it is hard for us to not be inspired. Pieces from the Model T, to Mark Twain’s collections, to the Rosa Parks Bus, reminded us of Americans’ spirit, innovation, and civil rights movements that pushed us to where we are in the 21st century.
The Model T itself is an iconic piece of history. I am personally a fan of its simple, yet sophisticated use in traveling. It is the innovation that changed the history of transportation, the structure of manufacturing, and the American way of life.
We learned from our guide that the Henry Ford Museum also houses the Henry Ford Academy. It is perhaps the best school I have ever heard of. Being from an Asian American family, I went through a traditional kind of education: learn by memorization, with a lot of standardized tests. In fact, when I was in elementary school in Hong Kong, school was so focused on test-taking that my single-tiger-mom would force me to study until midnight. However, the students in Henry Ford High School learn by doing. Knowing that Henry Ford was a doer, it is no surprise his school encourages such a learning method. In order to learn, students should really get their hands dirty.
I hope I can take on the Henry Ford Academy education model, learning by doing, with Challenge Detroit this year. Being in Detroit has allowed many new experiences, and I am still learning a lot about Detroit by doing. For example, since I don’t have a car, I have been taking weekend trips around the city on my bike. A few weeks ago, I discovered Belle Isle while biking around without a map. Of course, I can sit down and read about Belle Isle on Wikipedia, but learning it on pedals, breathing the air, walking on the grass, chasing down an ice cream truck, and being attacked by the mean geese taught me more than staying indoors reading about it.
I am sure Challenge Detroit will make great strides in American history. Between the 29 of us, I am more than sure that at least one of us, if not the entire group, will become the next piece of iconic history in the Henry Ford Museum in the future.
Contributed by Jenny Chan, Fellow