The Henry Ford Magazine January-May 2021

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INNOVATION GENERATION

PROGRAMMING, RESOURCES + EVENTS What to watch, read, do to inspire big thinking

WATCH The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation and Did I Mention Invention? Episode information about Innovation Nation can be found at thf.org/innovationnation, and episode clips are on youtube.com/thehenryford. Seasons one and two of Innovation Nation on DVD are also available exclusively at thf.org/shop and The Henry Ford gift storesc

THE HENRY FORD’S DRIVERS CLUB Giving auto enthusiasts a place to connect, share and experience While the COVID-19 pandemic has limited on-site activities and face-to-face engagement, Matt Anderson, The Henry Ford’s curator of transportation, has been holding a series of virtual chats and tours with members of The Henry Ford’s Drivers Club, a community dedicated to sharing the stories of automotive innovations. As a club member, individuals also have unlimited access to Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, along with other exclusive experiences dedicated to the auto enthusiast. “Early last April as the pandemic shut everything down, we decided right away that we still wanted to keep our Drivers Club members interested and engaged,” said Anderson. It started with simple Thursday afternoon online chats between Anderson and the club’s 50 members. It quickly morphed into more, including a virtual deep dive into the new Driven to Win: Racing in America exhibition in the museum. In addition to lively discussions about Ford’s win in 1967 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a one-on-one with The Henry Ford’s then entrepreneur-in-residence Jessica Robinson, executive director of the Michigan Mobility Institute, Anderson has also taken members on virtual tours of privately owned vehicle collections as well as the Stahls Automotive Foundation museum in Chesterfield Township, Michigan. To learn more about the club and how to become a member, visit thf.org/drivers-club.

DID YOU KNOW? / The Henry Ford partners with a diverse array of community-based organizations that provide direct social services to resource-challenged clientele in the metro Detroit area through its Community Outreach Program. Over 125 community partners currently share their field expertise on local needs that include tutoring, literacy, job training, accessibility, addiction and health and human services. For nearly 15 years, The Henry Ford has collaborated with these partners to engage the underserved and underrepresented individuals and families they serve in complimentary on-site shared “family” experiences (parent/child, mentor/mentee, caregiver/client, etc.) and connect their organizations with additional resources to help inspire a brighter future. 18

JANUARY-MAY 2021

Each month, The Henry d

DEMENTIA PROGRAMMING The Henry Ford provides an often-isolated audience with enrichment and engagement For the past four years, The Henry Ford and the Alzheimer’s Association have been collaborating on a monthly series of programs for individuals with dementia and their care partners. Prior to The Henry Ford’s temporary closure for the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, these programs took place on-site. The programs have since gone virtual. Well received and well attended, these programs often attract even more attendees than the on-site programming. Each month’s program has a different theme and a presentation by one of The Henry Ford’s curators. Themes of the virtual programs have included superheroes (in which The Henry Ford collaborated with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, with musicians playing superhero music from their homes), ice cream, luggage design, racing, the invention of chocolate chip cookies and the making of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation. Providing an often-isolated audience with muchappreciated opportunities for enrichment and engagement, this programming leaves participants excited for more. Continuing with this success, The Henry Ford looks forward to growing this and other accessibility programs into the future. — CAROLINE BRADEN, ACCESSIBILITY SPECIALIST, THE HENRY FORD

Ford’s virtual dementia programming has different themes, which have ranged from superheroes (shown above) to ice cream and auto racing.


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