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Henry Ford's Plan for the American Suburb: Dearborn and Detroit
Around Detroit, suburbanization was led by Henry Ford, who not only located a massive factory over the city's border in Dearborn, but also was the first industrialist to make the automobile a mass consumer item. So, suburbanization in the 1920s was spurred simultaneously by the migration of the automobile industry and the mobility of automobile users. A welfare capitalist, Ford was a leader on many fronts—he raised wages, increased leisure time, and transformed workers into consumers, and he was the most effective at making suburbs an intrinsic part of American life. The decade was dominated by this new political economy—also known as "Fordism"—linking mass production and consumption. The rise of Dearborn demonstrated that Fordism was connected to mass suburbanization as well.

Ultimately, Dearborn proved to be a model that was repeated throughout the nation, as people of all classes relocated to suburbs, shifting away from central cities. Mass suburbanization was a national phenomenon. Yet the example of Detroit is an important baseline since the trend was more discernable there than elsewhere. Suburbanization, however, was never a simple matter of outlying communities growing in parallel with cities. Instead, resources were diverted from central cities as they were transferred to the suburbs. The example of the Detroit metropolis asks whether the mass suburbanization which originated there represented the "American dream," and if so, by whom and at what cost. This book will appeal to those interested in cities and suburbs, American studies, technology and society, political economy, working-class culture, welfare state systems, transportation, race relations, and business management.

1120998355
Henry Ford's Plan for the American Suburb: Dearborn and Detroit
Around Detroit, suburbanization was led by Henry Ford, who not only located a massive factory over the city's border in Dearborn, but also was the first industrialist to make the automobile a mass consumer item. So, suburbanization in the 1920s was spurred simultaneously by the migration of the automobile industry and the mobility of automobile users. A welfare capitalist, Ford was a leader on many fronts—he raised wages, increased leisure time, and transformed workers into consumers, and he was the most effective at making suburbs an intrinsic part of American life. The decade was dominated by this new political economy—also known as "Fordism"—linking mass production and consumption. The rise of Dearborn demonstrated that Fordism was connected to mass suburbanization as well.

Ultimately, Dearborn proved to be a model that was repeated throughout the nation, as people of all classes relocated to suburbs, shifting away from central cities. Mass suburbanization was a national phenomenon. Yet the example of Detroit is an important baseline since the trend was more discernable there than elsewhere. Suburbanization, however, was never a simple matter of outlying communities growing in parallel with cities. Instead, resources were diverted from central cities as they were transferred to the suburbs. The example of the Detroit metropolis asks whether the mass suburbanization which originated there represented the "American dream," and if so, by whom and at what cost. This book will appeal to those interested in cities and suburbs, American studies, technology and society, political economy, working-class culture, welfare state systems, transportation, race relations, and business management.

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Henry Ford's Plan for the American Suburb: Dearborn and Detroit

Henry Ford's Plan for the American Suburb: Dearborn and Detroit

by Heather Barrow
Henry Ford's Plan for the American Suburb: Dearborn and Detroit
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Henry Ford's Plan for the American Suburb: Dearborn and Detroit

Henry Ford's Plan for the American Suburb: Dearborn and Detroit

by Heather Barrow

Overview

Around Detroit, suburbanization was led by Henry Ford, who not only located a massive factory over the city's border in Dearborn, but also was the first industrialist to make the automobile a mass consumer item. So, suburbanization in the 1920s was spurred simultaneously by the migration of the automobile industry and the mobility of automobile users. A welfare capitalist, Ford was a leader on many fronts—he raised wages, increased leisure time, and transformed workers into consumers, and he was the most effective at making suburbs an intrinsic part of American life. The decade was dominated by this new political economy—also known as "Fordism"—linking mass production and consumption. The rise of Dearborn demonstrated that Fordism was connected to mass suburbanization as well.

Ultimately, Dearborn proved to be a model that was repeated throughout the nation, as people of all classes relocated to suburbs, shifting away from central cities. Mass suburbanization was a national phenomenon. Yet the example of Detroit is an important baseline since the trend was more discernable there than elsewhere. Suburbanization, however, was never a simple matter of outlying communities growing in parallel with cities. Instead, resources were diverted from central cities as they were transferred to the suburbs. The example of the Detroit metropolis asks whether the mass suburbanization which originated there represented the "American dream," and if so, by whom and at what cost. This book will appeal to those interested in cities and suburbs, American studies, technology and society, political economy, working-class culture, welfare state systems, transportation, race relations, and business management.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780875807959
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication date: 10/29/2018
Edition description: 1
Pages: 230
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Heather B. Barrow received her PhD from the University of Chicago. She has taught history and public policy at Indiana University Northwest, Loyola University Chicago, and Northwestern University. She was also a project director with the architecture department at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix

Preface xi

Introduction 3

1 The Urban Plans of Henry Ford 14

2 Suburbs and the Working Class 46

3 The Automobile and Urban Growth 68

4 Rising Standards in the Suburbs 92

5 The Lives of Automobile Workers 110

6 The Transformation of Fordism 128

7 Detroit Metropolis after Henry Ford 145

Notes 163

Discussion of Sources 193

Selected Bibliography 197

Index 211

What People are Saying About This

John McCarthy

An original and significant piece of scholarship. Barrow has taken suburban history in an interesting new direction. [Her] research is excellent. This book would be interesting to both urban historians and labor historians because Barrow straddles the worlds of workers and Dearborn's place in suburban history very effectively. Nonacademic audiences in southeast Michigan would also find the book engaging and informative.

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