THE EMPATHY ISSUE
DIGITAL EDITION
This issue of The Henry Ford Magazine is being distributed as a digital publication; print copies are not available. The digital publishing platform ISSUU expands our distribution globally and provides readers with the ability to easily share content they love through social media and email.
WINTER/SPRING 2025
INSIDE THE HENRY FORD
16 THE ALCHEMY OF EMPATHY Experiential opportunities in cultural spaces can nourish emotional connections
36 A STORYTELLER’S PERSPECTIVE
Author and filmmaker Nelson George leans into a discussion about how obstacles, objects and observation are the makings of a good story
46 HAPPY READING
How one seasoned journalist made a conscious choice to seek out positivity and potential in humankind through storytelling
Gain perspective. Get inspired. Make history.
THE HENRY FORD: A NATIONAL TREASURE AND CULTURAL RESOURCE
The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, is an internationally recognized cultural destination that brings the past forward by immersing visitors in the stories of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation that helped shape America.
A force for sparking curiosity and inspiring tomorrow’s innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs, The Henry Ford fosters learning from encounters with authentic artifacts. Through its 26 million artifacts, unique venues and resources — Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation®, Greenfield Village®, Ford Rouge Factory Tour, Benson Ford Research Center® and Henry Ford Academy®, as well as online at THF.org, THF.org/inhub and through The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation — The Henry Ford helps all individuals unlock their potential and shape a better future.
The Henry Ford leads the Invention Convention Worldwide community and works to make STEM + Invention + Entrepreneurship (STEMIE) learning accessible to educators and students worldwide. As part of our leadership in invention education, The Henry Ford powers events like RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals and curriculum and professional development. For more information, visit THF.org
Join us in our mission to inspire learners of all ages to unleash their potential. Donor support enables us to operate our world-class venues, create transformative educational experiences and advance innovation, ingenuity and resourcefulness. Every gift makes a difference, delivers impact and helps us take it forward for many years to come.
Love The Henry Ford? Please support all that we treasure. Give today at THF.org/donate
MISSION STATEMENT
The Henry Ford provides unique educational experiences based on authentic objects, stories and lives from America’s traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation. Our purpose is to inspire people to learn from these traditions to help shape a better future.
Chair of the Board
Mark L. Reuss
Vice Chair of the Board
Linda Apsey
Members’ Chair
Christopher F. Hamp
Treasurer
S. Evan Weiner
President and
Secretary
Patricia E. Mooradian
Board of Trustees
Bud Denker
Paul R. Dimond
Henry Ford III
William Clay Ford III
Alec Gallimore
Ralph J. Gerson
Eliza Kontulis Getz
Kouhaila Hammer
John W. Ingle III
Elizabeth Ford Kontulis
Richard A. Manoogian
Hendrik Meijer
Bruce Meyer
Jon Oberheide
Mark Truby
Alessandro F. Uzielli
Carla Walker-Miller
Trustees Emeriti
Lynn Ford Alandt
Edsel B. Ford II
William Clay Ford, Jr.
Sheila Ford Hamp
Life Trustees
George F. Francis III
Steven K. Hamp
Roger S. Penske
The Henry Ford Magazine is published twice a year by The Henry Ford, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48124. Copyright 2025. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
TO MAKE A DONATION OR A LEGACY GIFT
J. Spencer Medford
Senior Vice President & Chief Advancement Officer
313.982.6016
spencem@thehenryford.org
Sherri Howes
Senior Director of Institutional Advancement
313.982.6028
sherrih@thehenryford.org
Kerri Hill-Johnson
Individual Giving Officer
313.982.6167
kerrih@thehenryford.org
SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION
Amanda Hayes Head of Corporate Partnerships
amandah@thehenryford.org
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
The Henry Ford Contact Center
9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily 313.982.6001
GENERAL INQUIRIES AND GROUP RESERVATIONS
The Henry Ford Contact Center
9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
313.982.6001
RESEARCH INQUIRIES
313.982.6020 research.center @thehenryford.org
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF DIGITAL CURATION
Kristen Gallerneaux Curator of Communication & Information Technology
DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND EDITORIAL SERVICES
313.974.6501
info@octanedesign.com
Bill Bowen, Creative Director
Julie Friedman, Art Director
Jennifer LaForce, Editor Nancy Palus, Copy Editor
HOW DO YOU STAY CONNECTED?
Our contributors share with us.
CHRISTINE MCLAREN
I stay connected to the world by taking enough time alone — ideally in nature — to ensure that I can be present and compassionate with others. For me, the pursuit of empathy stems from calmness and stillness, which requires cultivation. Oh, and therapy. Lots and lots of therapy.
Christine McLaren is an award-winning journalist and editor. In 2019, she helped artist and musician David Byrne found Reasons to be Cheerful, an online magazine dedicated entirely to solutions journalism.
Happy Reading, Page 46
ELIF M. GOKCIGDEM, PH.D.
Inspired by the contemplative practices of Sufism, I try to keep the lens of my perception clean by “polishing my heart” with each encounter with the “other” — people, ideas, nature, art. This practice allows me to notice the filters through which I view myself and the others, and empowers me to regulate my worldview.
Elif M. Gokcigdem, Ph.D., is the founder of ONE - Organization of Networks for Empathy, which envisions museums as incubators for empathybuilding toward the oneness of being, to which we are inherently integral — all of humanity, our kin that we share our planet with and our world.
The Alchemy of Empathy, Page 16
SAM TWARDY
Because my work is rooted in a constant use of screens, one of the most important things for me to do personally is stay connected to nature. There’s nothing that I find more centering than going on a walk through one of the many incredible parks in the area where I live. It reminds me that there is a whole world out there, and we’re all a bit better off if we take the time to appreciate that.
Sam Twardy is an illustrator currently based in New York. Her work experiments with flat vector scenes and slice-of-life characters. She likes to include bright colors and a mixture of patterns, inspired by her love and background in textile design and fashion.
Happy Reading, Page 46
At The Henry Ford, we strongly believe museums play an important role in the communities we serve.
The work we do to inspire the next generation of thinkers, doers and changemakers is significant and makes a difference in the lives of those with whom we engage.
In this issue of The Henry Ford Magazine, we highlight the progress we are making in restoring the Jackson House in Greenfield Village and showcase accomplished author, filmmaker and music and culture critic Nelson George. Please take the time to read the article Happy Reading from a journalist who is dedicated to sharing stories of positivity.
On the topic of optimism, in December 2024 The Henry Ford received the news that our institution was recognized by Michelin as one of the top destinations to visit in Detroit and given the highest ranking — three stars — in the city’s first-ever world-renowned Michelin Green Guide. The Detroit Green Guide spotlights first-rate visitor experiences in the metro Detroit area, including cultural institutions and museums, architecture, music, neighborhoods, entertainment and more.
This recognition is a testament to the unique and transformative experiences The Henry Ford offers to our visitors from around the world and is a direct result of the incredible efforts of our dedicated staff.
There is no place like Detroit, and we stand proud alongside its vibrant arts and culture community as one of the very best in the country.
I hope you take the time to visit our campus soon.
With deep gratitude,
PATRICIA E. MOORADIAN PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE HENRY FORD
PHOTO OF PATRICIA MOORADIAN BY ROY RITCHIE
HDC members always save 10% at the Henry Ford Museum and can join for Cars and Caffeine events at the
all
It’s good to be in the club.
WHAT ARE WE READING +
By The Fire We Carry
Heather Bruegl (Oneida/Stockbridge-Munsee), The Henry Ford’s curator of political and civic engagement, shares her insights on author Rebecca Nagle’s By The Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land, which offers clarity and perspective to issues and events leading up to Indian removal to Oklahoma and how it relates to happenings today.
Indigenous law and policy history can be intimidating to tell and overwhelming to understand. In Supreme Court cases, land policies and mineral rights complications become tenfold. But in By The Fire We Carry , Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee Nation) manages to take these complex issues and break them down in a way that can be understood, while also exploring her family history and role in Cherokee removal.
By The Fire We Carry dives into the history of Indian removal to Oklahoma; the state’s claim that reservations were abolished when Oklahoma became a state and the Muscogee Creek claim that their reservation still exists. Beginning before the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the book discusses the events that led to removal and takes a look at Andrew Jackson’s time in the military and how he helped build his career on the removal of Indigenous peoples. Nagle also gives insight into the complicated world of jurisdiction and how one crime was able to help reaffirm the existence of tribal reservations in Oklahoma. The McGirt v. Oklahoma decision in 2020 restored tribal sovereignty over the western half of Oklahoma and reiterated that only Congress can abolish reservations.
Nagle also hosts a related podcast called This Land. Season one begins to tell the story of land loss, policies and the McGirt court case. Meanwhile, By The Fire We Carry gives us a look at a complex and painful, and often not talked about, history of Indian removal and Indigenous rights in the United States.
WATCH The This Land documentary podcast hosted by Rebecca Nagle, which now includes two seasons covering varying issues related to Native land rightsc
Letters from the Stacks
Aimee Burpee Associate Curator
The Henry Ford
What the Bears Know: How I Found Truth and Magic in America’s Most Misunderstood Creatures — A Memoir by Animal Planet’s “The Bear Whisperer” by Steve Searles with Chris Erskine
Black bears navigate an unpredictable world fraught with humans and their trash. Wildlife specialist Steve Searles endured a traumatic childhood and empathizes with their plight. The bears’ survival depends on both fearing humans again and eliminating access to human food. Searles develops non-lethal tools such as noisemakers and rubber pellets, while motivating local citizens with the slogan, “… do not feed our bears.”
THE EMPATHY IN ACCESS
Kayla Chenault Associate Curator
The Henry Ford
Tested
Produced by CBC Podcasts and NPR’s Embedded; hosted by Rose Eveleth
I began listening to Tested with the mind of a former runner, but I left deeply empathizing with the differences in sex development experience. Journalist Rose Eveleth weaves heart-wrenching stories of intersex runners striving to compete at the elite level with the complex genetic science that shapes us and the history of the modern Olympics. For lovers of dynamic humaninterest stories, this is a must-listen.
Have you ever wondered what happens to your books, papers and family photos when you donate them to a place like the Benson Ford Research Center? What about the team that is tasked with caring for these collections? The staff at the research center spend their days organizing, describing and providing access to these collections. Our goals are to make sure these collections, be they from Henry Ford or the lovely members who reach out about their family papers, are available for researchers, curators and digitization.
This charge sets us apart from other collections staff. For example, while access to vehicles in storage is limited, the research center can help patrons find information to restore old family cars, assist authors working on biographies and guide students finishing their dissertations.
With modern technology, we can usually find a way to provide the access our patrons deserve within the preservation guidelines of our collections. It is a sign of respect to our donors, our patrons and our coworkers that we walk this line — a line that always sees us fall on the side of compassion for the collections we preserve and the researchers who need access to further their public reach.
Inquire about access to our collections by contacting research.center@thehenryford.org
— SARAH ANDRUS, LIBRARIAN, THE HENRY FORD
ILLUSTRATION BY ADOBE STOCK/ PAUL_CRAFT
ASK: How does a focus on empathy enhance the guest experience?
ANSWER:
Empathy is more than just listening in the moment. It’s about recognizing that every moment is unique and acknowledging that we have the ability to impact lives. By embedding empathy in all that we do, from daily interactions to special events, we are showing our guests that our museum is where they belong.
We must continuously look at our practices and offerings through a variety of lenses and adapt as needed so that we can fit a wide range of needs. For example, we strive to make the museum a family-friendly destination, but for so long failed to provide a much-needed quiet area to reset and recharge. One way we have worked to fill that gap is by opening the Arctic Alcove. Previously an unused area in the Heroes of the Sky exhibit, the space now includes comfortable seating and a cozy atmosphere for guests to relax, read a book with their child, or simply take a breath.
We can acknowledge that while the museum can be a fun and exciting place to visit, it can also be exhausting, especially for families with young children. By creating a dedicated spot for a moment of rest, we are letting guests know that they are welcome here in every chapter of their lives.
The work is far from over, but every step we take in the right direction allows us to better expand our reach and welcome both new and familiar faces into our doors.
— LORI PETRELIUS, MUSEUM PROGRAMS MANAGER, HENRY FORD MUSEUM
OF AMERICAN INNOVATION
READ The story on Page 16 of this issue to learn about additional intentional ways The Henry Ford is applying empathetic interventions in its programming and spacesc
SEARCH, WATCH, DOWNLOAD
COMPILED BY
RACHEL YERKE-OSGOOD, ASSOCIATE CURATOR, THE HENRY FORD
Empathy allows us to connect with others, while compassion takes the next step and drives us to action to help those around us. Explore the digital collections and content of The Henry Ford to discover stories of empathy and compassion put into practice.
Dr. Martin
life — from his early days as a minister, through his leadership during the Civil Rights Movement, to his later work on the Poor People’s Campaign — was an exercise in caring for his fellow person. Retired Curator of Public Life Donna Braden talks about King’s life in this video about the 2023 pop-up exhibit How Long?c
WATCH Melvin Parson founded We the People Opportunity Farm with the belief that formerly incarcerated citizens deserve access to opportunities that are so often denied to them based on their records. Hear Parson explain his urban farm initiative and internship program in this compilation of video clips from his 2019 Entrepreneur-in-Residence interviewc
aMedic bag used during protests in Detroit in 2020
SHARING LIFE EXPERIENCES
Everyone wishes to live their life authentically. The stories highlighted in The Henry Ford’s 2022 pop-up exhibit OUT!: LGBTQ+ Visibility and Identity — recreated in this blog post — showcase the lived experiences of the LGBTQ+ community, and how people in that community have persevered despite discrimination and outright persecution.
QUILT HAS A VOICE
In 2017, a community of women from across the globe came together to make an antiracist statement through quilting. The striking “Nude is Not a Color” quilt — and the story and voices behind it — demonstrates the power of people coming together to stand in solidarity with the marginalized. Learn more in this blog post from Curator of Domestic Life Jeanine Head Miller.
PHOTOS
WATCH
Luther King Jr.’s
Profiles of people curious enough to challenge the
and risk the failures
The Henry Ford is committed to ALL audiences and to inspiring the next generation of inventors, entrepreneurs and innovators, regardless of backgrounds or barriers. Our Archive of American Innovation serves as the cornerstone for all of our innovation learning experiences, programs and curricula, which are designed to accelerate the innovative mindsets of all learners from across the globe.
FARM TO SCHOOL LUNCH ACROSS AMERICA
LEADING THE WAY
The Henry Ford guides effort to bring farm-to-school lunches to every student
Last October, The Henry Ford kicked off its national Farm to School Lunch Across America initiative at the Henry Ford Academy, the public charter high school on its Dearborn campus. Focused on the importance of healthy and in-season lunch programs for K-12 students, the initiative quickly spread out during October 2024’s national Farm to School Month, with launches at other academic institutions in southeastern Michigan as well as in Chicago, Minneapolis and northern California.
Students at participating schools were served chef-created, locally sourced, cooked-fromscratch lunches with menus tailored to be inclusive to the diverse communities within the schools’ locations. Students were also given one-on-one opportunities with the farmers, chefs and grower communities, and experienced special food-related events such as organized farmers markets.
“We are using our collections and historic expertise to help advocate for free, accessible, locally sourced and cooked-from-scratch school lunches for every student in America,” said Patricia Mooradian, The Henry Ford’s president and CEO. “What’s really unique about our Farm to School lunch program is that we’re also going to help educate students on where food comes from so they then can become ambassadors of good, healthy eating.”
The Farm to School Lunch Across America initiative is set to amplify and bring focus to the national conversation advocating for accessible, locally and regeneratively grown, free school lunches for schoolchildren across the country. It is also designed to educate students and their communities on the importance of eating local, seasonal and nutritious meals and how this can positively impact the environment.
The Henry Ford and its advisory group partners are working diligently to increase the initiative’s national scope and number of participating schools going forward.
“It has been extraordinary for our staff and students to have organic and inthe-moment experiences with food together,” said Geoffrey Young, principal at pilot school Henry Ford Academy. “Food education is an important part of our curriculum and now through the Farm to School lunch program students are seeing a tangible expression of that curriculum in their lunches.”
He added about the pilot, “It has been an emblematic moment as we challenge our students to be compelled to taste their food just as it is — to appreciate the experiences around food and acknowledge the quality of it.”
— JENNIFER LAFORCE, MANAGING EDITOR, THE HENRY FORD MAGAZINE
FOOD FORWARD
WATCH This YouTube short to better understand The Henry Ford’s leadership role in Farm to School Lunch Across America and learn more about other agriculture and environmental programmingc
Clockwise from above: Students at Mixter Institute for Transition in Lincoln Park, Michigan, work in their school garden as part of their Farm to School Lunch Across America programming; Roberta “Robbie” Bursey, Henry Ford Academy’s sous chef, does a cooking demonstration for students at the launch of The Henry Ford’s Farm to School Lunch Across America on Oct. 1, 2024; chef Sebastian White from nonprofit The Evolved Network talks with students at the Academy for Global Citizenship in Chicago about the farm-to-school lunch he helped prepare on Oct. 8, 2024.
PHOTO ABOVE BY ROB WIDDIS PHOTOGRAPHY; OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP PHOTO BY JOHN F MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHY; OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM PHOTO BY NUCCIO DINUZZO
PROGRAMMING, RESOURCES + EVENTS
What to watch, read, do to inspire big thinking
FEATURED FOLK ARTIST
Arun Drummond’s mixed-media art at The Henry Ford
Window shop the handcrafted products in Greenfield Village’s Liberty Craftworks Store this spring and your eye is bound to catch upon the alluring works of artist Arun Drummond.
The South Carolina native has been painting since 2004. His folk art is a series of mixed-media installments of woven sweetgrass and imagery representing Black American history and culture.
“The quality, insightfulness and handcrafted elements of Arun’s work have a true connection to the handcrafted elements of production our own artisans are committed to practicing, and The Henry Ford is committed to showcasing in our Liberty Craftsworks Store,” said Zachary Ciborowski Scarsella, manager
DID YOU KNOW?
/
of retail marketing and licensing at The Henry Ford.
Drummond spent nearly two decades working at the Chuma Gullah Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina, celebrating the rich and unique culture of the coastal South and the Gullah people through his art. He has also been featured on Food Network and in Condé Nast Traveler magazine.
A selection of Drummond’s prints on canvas are available for purchase at the Henry Ford Museum Store beginning in January 2025 as part of The Henry Ford’s celebration of Black History Month, and at the Liberty Craftworks Store in Greenfield Village, which opens for the 2025 season on April 12.
Former Greenfield Village Glass Shop lead Ryan Thompson, whose Fin-Molded Tumbler is available for purchase at the Greenfield Village Store, was featured on the Netflix show Blown Away. Learn more about Thompson’s path to glassblowing and his experience on season four of the Netflix series in this THF conversation on YouTube.
Learn more about folk artist Arun Drummond, his style and vision arundrummond.comc
DICK GUTMAN, DINERMAN
Time is running out to see this exclusive exhibit celebrating diners
March 16, 2025, marks the closing date of Dick Gutman, DINERMAN in the Collections Gallery of Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
For more than half a century, no one has been more immersed in the origins, design and operation of diners in America than Richard J.S. Gutman. His enthusiastic passion for the diner experience, and his desire to collect and photograph it, led to this exhibit. It features memorabilia, scale models, furniture, a photographic history of diners through time and more from a collection of 1,000-plus artifacts belonging to Gutman that he graciously donated to The Henry Ford.
A showcase of the history of diner architecture and design in the United States, this not-to-be-missed exhibit honors the preservation that keeps diners relevant today.
ONLINE Learn more at thehenryford.org/current-events/ calendar/dick-gutman-dinermanc
PHOTO COURTESY OF ARUN DRUMMOND
PHOTO BY BILL BOWEN
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Judson Center and Child Safe understand and empathize with needs of children and families
“Every family has their own, unique story that requires compassion and empathy to effectively guide them to success. We are guided by the belief that every child deserves a safe, permanent and loving family where they can grow up to be happy and productive members of their communities.” That’s the sentiment shared by Michelle Carlton, director of foster care and adoption at the Judson Center and Child Safe.
Judson Center is a nonprofit human services agency that has been providing care and assistance to children and families throughout southeastern Michigan for 100 years. Child Safe, added in 2015, offers mentoring, foster care and adoption programs. Both are decade-long partners with The Henry Ford through the institution’s Community Outreach Program.
Assisting more than 13,000 children, adults and families each year, the Judson Center works diligently to change outcomes and restore childhood for children who have been abused and neglected, along with those who are challenged by developmental disabilities, severe emotional impairments or autism spectrum disorder. According to Carlton, themes of empathy and connection are interwoven into everything they do. “Our staff is trained to utilize empathetic language and create an environment that fosters safety, respect and understanding,” she said. “It’s important that individuals who work with these children and families understand that current behaviors often stem from past experiences — these children have been through some really challenging situations. It truly takes a village and everyone working together to deliver success and positive outcomes.”
Each year, Judson Center children and families enjoy complimentary admission to The Henry Ford and special events such as Hallowe’en in Greenfield Village, Holiday Nights, Day Out With Thomas and Salute to America as part of the Community Outreach Program. These activities provide Judson Center families moments to reset and share some simple enjoyment together.
“Our families look forward to these events, and we are grateful for the continued opportunity to provide such fun and educational experiences,” said Carlton. “The Henry Ford has been such a valuable resource.”
Judson Center staff also appreciate the quarterly meetings that The Henry Ford hosts for its Community Outreach Program partners. “These meetings give our agency a chance to collaborate with other nonprofits in the metro Detroit area, in addition to learning about upcoming projects and events,” Carlton added.
aJudson Center children and families, such as mentee Breanna (left) and her mentor Jennifer Pahssen, enjoy a visit to Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation as part of the Community Outreach Program.
Since 2006, The Henry Ford’s Community Outreach Program has grown to include more than 120 nonprofit organizations that provide social services to underserved and underrepresented groups in the metro Detroit area and beyond. By partnering with these groups, The Henry Ford strengthens its local impact, providing free general admission for on-site visits, networking opportunities, access to resources and more.
THE HENRY FORD OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK
The latest edition of The Henry Ford Official Guidebook is available for purchase online and at The Henry Ford retail locations on campus. The new-edition book is complete with updated information and refreshed photography to better reflect the institution’s everevolving collections, attractions and resources.
ONLINE Purchase The Henry Ford Official Guidebook at giftshop.thehenryford.orgc
ONLINE Learn more about the Judson Center and Child Safec
PHOTO BY EE BERGER
PHOTO COURTESY OF JUDSON CENTER
THE ALCHEMY OF EMPATHY
Experiential opportunities in cultural spaces can nourish emotional connections
By Elif M. Gokcigdem, Ph.D.
To challenge behaviors that contribute to fragmentation in our communities, we need more than an intellectual understanding of our interconnectedness.
Besides knowledge, we need a deeper connection that makes us care and act compassionately toward the whole to which we belong — all of humanity, our kin that we share our world with and our planet.
We perceive and experience this indivisible whole from our respective worldview, which is shaped by the narratives we grow up with, our physiology, culture, language and other factors. The way we view the world influences how we make meaning of ourselves as well as what we share our existence with — people, objects, ideas, nature. What we find meaningful and worthy of our love, in turn, influences our behavior and actions, shaping how we live.
Empathy, our inherent ability to perceive and imagine what it might feel like to be the other, challenges our habitual worldview. When we feel an emotional connection to others’ experiences, our worldview expands to include diverse narratives. Experiencing this capaciousness lets us develop a broader sense of self who is able to witness their own attitudes, choices and behavior within the wider context of a collective existence. Witnessing and articulating our unique perception empowers us with agency to notice our motivations and calibrate our actions.
As we face increasingly complex global challenges, it is essential to reflect upon what empathy means to the collective of which we all are an integral part. Cultural spaces — like museums — are critical resources for empathybuilding. Informal learning platforms, they can expand our worldview, allow us to explore narratives different from our own and perceive ourselves and our actions not as separate and singular, but integral to the whole.
During the last decade, I have been immersed in a multifaceted exploration of empathy-building
through museums, leading a multidisciplinary and international community to deepen our understanding of this ability to relate to others and their experiences, and how to innovate new tools that can position museums as incubators for further empathy-building.
As I observed how intentionality and collaboration across cultures, disciplines and sectors were essential to this effort, the Designing for Empathy® framework and ONE - Organization of Networks for Empathy were born. Designing for Empathy® is an evolving framework that considers a oneness mindset as a master perspective, inspiring how we might see the world around us and our place in it, while reminding us to calibrate and harmonize our attitudes and behavior toward the collective. Within this context, empathy-building is defined as an intentionally designed, transformative lived experience through an encounter with the other that leads to an understanding of the self — not merely as a dispensable part, but as essential to the whole.
Museums allow us to intentionally utilize them as readily available platforms for transformative experiences of empathy and contemplation, where each encounter can be an opportunity to develop a knowledge of our humanness and the filters through which we perceive the world. While empathy-building requires intentionality, it also demands the presence of conducive ingredients within the “alchemy of empathy”: storytelling, experiences of awe and wonder, dialogue, experiential learning and contemplation. Each of these ingredients (which are further explained on the following pages) offers a portal into a deeper knowing due to the transformative qualities they are rooted in — curiosity, vulnerability, authenticity, sincerity, humility, courage and trust.
DID YOU KNOW? / ONE - Organization of Networks for Empathy is dedicated to contributing to our understanding of empathy in museums.
INGREDIENT:
Storytelling
Through first-person accounts, powerful stories from the point of view of the cultures featured, authentic objects and factual information, museums can offer opportunities to bear witness and articulate past and current events, and imagine what it would feel like to be a part of another’s lived experience.
EXAMPLE:
Greensboro Woolworth Lunch Counter
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., invites visitors to immerse themselves in the powerful narratives of the segregated Greensboro Woolworth Lunch Counter interactive exhibition. As visitors take a seat at a modern interpretation of the 1960s diner, they can choose to learn about the Selma March, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Woolworth’s Sit-in. Surrounded by dynamic visual storytelling elements and authentic artifacts, participants are then presented with choices that test their willpower in the face of adversity as they are asked to think about how they would respond if faced with these situations.
PHOTO OF THE GREENSBORO WOOLWORTH LUNCH COUNTER COURTESY OF DIVISION OF POLITICAL HISTORY, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
INGREDIENT:
Awe & Wonder 2
An extraordinary experience, something that is otherwise inaccessible in our daily lives, or the immediacy of a newly found perspective on something ordinary, can shift our entrenched perspectives and paradigms, allowing us to explore our capacity for expansion and transformation through vulnerability and contemplation.
EXAMPLE:
Unsupervised
New York MoMA’s historic acquisition of Refik Anadol’s AI-powered installation Unsupervised offers a captivating experience that challenges our sense of place, time and scale. It invites us to find solace within by immersing ourselves in something vast, generative and fluid in its simultaneous and ever-changing creative expression.
PHOTO OF REFIK ANADOL’S UNSUPERVISED INSTALLATION AT MOMA IN NEW YORK CITY BY DR. ELIF M. GOKCIGDEM
INGREDIENT:
Learning to hold off judgment is essential to any meaningful dialogue. Cultural resources in museums can provide a wide spectrum of context, bringing people together for facilitated experiences of non-judgmental listening and dialogue. Proximity to another’s narration of a lived experience, combined with intentionality and undivided attention, create space for empathy and trust to flourish.
EXAMPLE:
A Collective Dialogue: Exploring Belonging through Art & Empathy
At this public workshop I facilitated at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., we explored the themes of “othering and belonging,” utilizing Robert Motherwell’s massive Reconciliation Elegy as the context for an engaging collective dialogue using the Creative Tensions method. Within this method, movement is often used in situations that require perspective, creativity and idea generation. A facilitator presents participants with prompts and invites them to express their stance on the matter by moving to one side or the other of a predetermined area. As individuals are invited to explain their choices, others are free to change their positions by getting closer or farther away from what is being shared.
bDr. Elif Gokcigdem guides a collective interactive conversation about belonging as part of an empathybuilding workshop at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in April 2023.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RACHEL TANZI
INGREDIENT:
Experiential Learning 4
An encounter is required to create, track and unfold an inner experience such as empathy or a perspective shift, where one can witness the self, the other and the greater context within which the experience is unfolding. Through experiencing, witnessing and articulation, one might develop the agency to take responsibility of habitual perspectives and biases at the point of their arising.
EXAMPLE:
Human Phenomena
San Francisco’s public learning lab, the Exploratorium, includes the Osher Gallery which focuses on Human Phenomena. Here, a variety of playful, yet thoughtprovoking experiences enable visitors to explore some of the world’s most pressing problems through the lens of human perception, behavior and social interactions.
At the Science of Sharing exhibit set, for example, visitors are presented with situations inviting an immediate response in the form of a choice expressed by a real-time, real-life action. This human experience of encountering a moment of choice then becomes the subject and the object of the experience, opening up possibilities for developing a knowledge of the self through articulation and contemplation.
PHOTO OF THE OSHER GALLERY WITHIN THE EXPLORATORIUM LEARNING LAB IN SAN FRANCISCO COURTESY OF ©EXPLORATORIUM
INGREDIENT:
Contemplation 5
Expanding our circle of empathy requires conscious awareness, meaning-making and reflection. Contemplation allows us to go beyond our first impression of what is apparent into a search for its meaning and essence. What we find meaningful, or meaningless, shapes who we become as it influences our behavior. Through contemplation, each encounter with the other becomes an opportunity to discover something new about the self, and ultimately to transcend the self within a wider context.
EXAMPLE:
Mandala Lab
New York’s Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art’s Mandala Lab is a traveling experience that centers on an ancient Tibetan mandala to invite deep reflection on the human condition. As participants witness their unique perception and behavior through a series of encounters, they also observe a wide variety of reactions expressed by others around them, inviting contemplation on individual perspectives and actions within the expanded context of our shared humanity.
Editor’s note: The Rubin Museum transitioned to a decentralized, global museum model in fall 2024, closing its 17th Street building in New York City. Today, the museum serves people across the world through traveling exhibitions and experiences, along with partnerships, collection sharing, resources for artists and scholars engaging with Himalayan art, and digital content.
PHOTO OF THE MANDALA LAB TRAVELING EXHIBIT BY RAFAEL GAMO
Time for Self Reflection
A look at what The Henry Ford is doing to build empathy on its campus, through the lens of those doing the work
The Henry Ford Magazine asked a small collective of The Henry Ford’s team to reflect on the role museums can play in empathy-building and what they experience, contemplate and hope to accomplish on our very own campus to encourage visitors to explore their own sense of self and interconnectedness to others. Experts from varied disciplines were chosen to give readers multiple perspectives, from longtime curators and our leadership responsible for talent development and community engagement to our most analytical minds and new faces giving fresh takes on theatrical programming. For scope, we asked everyone to consider the same questions. Here are the questions and their responses.
Why is it vital for educational/entertainment venues such as a museum to build empathy into their “culture” — from their guest experiences and programming to their collections and physical spaces?
From your perspective, what is The Henry Ford doing right in terms of its empathetic interventions? Can you share your hopes for the future?
cInvention Convention Worldwide, which hosts its U.S. Nationals competition at The Henry Ford, gives K-12 students from all over the world the ability to showcase their problemsolving skills, regardless of their socioeconomic background.
PHOTO BY NICK HAGEN
Empathy Through Insight
JARELL BROWN Director of Analytics & Business Intelligence (B.I.R.A), Principal Innovator of Innovation Atlas
The Henry Ford
Building empathy into the culture of educational and entertainment venues like ours (The Henry Ford) is essential for fostering inclusive and trusting environments for our guests. Empathy allows us to connect with diverse audiences and communities by understanding their past and current experiences, and their needs and aspirations, so we can create environments and programming that resonate and empower their voices.
By prioritizing empathy and inclusivity, museums can make their programs and exhibits more accessible, sustainable
and meaningful to all visitors, regardless of their background, abilities or how they engage with The Henry Ford. Leveraging admission programs, educational programming and entertainment events like our Salute to America, Hallowe’en and Holiday Nights through The Henry Ford’s Community Outreach Program (see Anita Davis’ answer on Page 32), for example, creates accessible opportunities that address some of the unique challenges communities face when trying to visit.
The Invention Convention Worldwide program, which leverages data and insights from the geographic information
system Innovation Atlas, identifies schools, communities and regions for participation in learning how to invent, regardless of their socioeconomic background. Invention Convention Worldwide, like other accessibility programs across our organization, levels the playing field and inspires the next generation of innovators. By fostering and practicing a culture of empathy within your programs and mission, museums can play a vital role in addressing and supporting unique solutions to the challenges communities face, breaking down barriers and inspiring the next generation.
ONLINE Learn more about the interactive custom mapping tool Innovation Atlas and how The Henry Ford leverages the information it provides regarding education and socioeconomic barriers impacting innovationc
ONLINE Learn more about Invention Convention Worldwide, the global K-12 invention education programc
Empathy Through Exhibitions
Museums are more than places that provide information — they offer opportunities to explore new experiences and be introduced to perspectives that are not our own. As thoughtprovoking places, museums have an important role in nurturing empathy.
Museums provide unique, often immersive, experiences as guests stand in the presence of intriguing objects while learning their stories, or enter spaces inhabited by people long ago. There is an immediacy, a visceral quality, to this multisensory experience that conveys deeper understanding of others’ lived reality.
Museum guests feel welcome when they “see themselves” in
aCurator of Domestic Life Jeanine Head Miller shares that artifacts such as trans woman
Allie Zecivic’s Knox Rose dress and gay civil rights activist Frank Kameny’s picket sign from 1969 — and their related backstories — have helped staff at The Henry Ford walk in someone else’s shoes in impactful ways. Learn more about these two LGBTQ+ artifacts now in The Henry Ford’s collections.
museum exhibits. By including stories of diversity, museums embrace underserved audiences and allow all guests to see the world through others’ eyes.
The Henry Ford has expanded the stories that it tells, moving beyond a traditional lens of white, middle-class experience to encompass a more inclusive vision. Our permanent exhibits are now planned with diverse viewpoints at the center of the conversation. Recent popup exhibits have shared the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community, explored more deeply the African American struggle for civil rights, and presented diverse December holiday traditions beyond Christmas.
We continue to gather an increasingly diverse range of
objects and archival materials that represent more broadly the American experience, reflecting differing experiences and multiple perspectives of others who share our complex world. When possible, we also capture the reminiscences of those who used the objects, preserving layers of context and personal meaning — “voices” that will continue to foster deeper understanding for guests far into the future.
The ability to see the world as others do — and use it to guide our actions — is key to creating a kinder, more just world. My hope is that museums will continue to play a significant role in cultivating empathy, creating deeper, lasting understanding that encourages a worldview that values everyone.
JEANINE HEAD MILLER
Curator of Domestic Life
The Henry Ford
Empathy Through Objects
KATHERINE WHITE Curator
of Design
The Henry Ford
An 18th century German secretary desk sits at the edge of the Fully Furnished exhibit in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, surrounded by examples of mostly American-made furniture.
A guest might easily stroll by the desk on their way to the shiny Dymaxion House or a new temporary exhibition in The Gallery, especially if the guest is not a furniture enthusiast. But like most objects in the museum, the desk is not as straightforward as a cursory glance suggests. A closer look at the desk (or rather, the label nearby) reveals an incredible story of the desk and its owners, their persecution and survival as a Jewish family in Nazi Germany, and the family’s journey to America with all their belongings — including this heirloom desk.
This object, like all others in the museum, is really about people.
Museums are about people. The objects exhibited within them were created by people. People used these objects,
ONLINE Learn more about Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation’s Dymaxion House and its visionary architect R. Buckminster Fullerc
ONLINE Learn more about the many examples of Americanmade furniture — and their fascinating backstories — on display in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation’s Fully Furnished exhibitionc
invented them, selected them, cherished them, passed them down to their children, or perhaps sold them at a garage sale. Objects are powerful — they embody the stories of people. Objects have the power to transport us to another’s perspective and in doing so, create empathy for others both like and unlike us.
Museums are one of few public institutions that the public continues to find trustworthy. We have an incredible opportunity to cultivate empathy in the public through acquiring and exhibiting objects that
tell a variety of stories. How challenging it is to demonize a group of people when encountering an object that illustrates their humanity!
We continue to work toward acquiring a more inclusive and diverse collection of objects, which will then become the basis for more inclusive exhibitions, programs and experiences for our guests. In the not-so-distant future, I hope that every person can see themselves reflected within this museum — and that every person encounters a perspective different from theirs, too.
dThe 18th century secretary desk owned by the Adler family of Frankfurt, Germany, in the 1930s.
Empathy Through Outreach
Museums have a tremendous opportunity to inspire, empower and uplift underrepresented and minoritized groups. Oftentimes the stories of these groups are marginalized to trauma and oppressive snippets of their history. It can be much harder for certain communities to find hope and inspiration when there isn’t a balancing of hardship with celebration or unjust with equity in the storytelling of their history. This oversight has the potential to lead to mistrust of cultural and educational institutions.
On the flipside, by not providing a holistic view of a particular community’s history, those on the outside may come to a misinformed conclusion. By having balanced storytelling, society can show
more compassion toward one another, draw on similarities while also celebrating the uniqueness of others.
Through The Henry Ford’s Community Outreach Program, we are intentional about sharing the mission and work of our community partners. Our partners represent a vast variety of service organizations that support communities with great need and little resources. By spotlighting these organizations, our various networks can find personal connections, be inspired and hopefully decide to get involved. It’s important for us to create an environment of empathy and not pity. Pity can position someone as superior and the other as inferior. We combat this by providing opportunities for resource sharing and collaboration between corporate partners,
communities partners, donors and The Henry Ford staff. We have learned that collaboration and intentional engagement among networks can lead to shared compassion for the well-being of a particular community.
My hope for the future is that The Henry Ford continues to build toward creating a more honest, inspirational and welcoming environment for all communities represented in our collection. Given the nature of our institution and the position it holds, we have a huge responsibility to ensure that we don’t misrepresent the people whose stories have been historically minimized.
The Henry Ford is such a unique experience. We can truly be that community conveyor that inspires other cultural institutions to rethink how they tell stories and engage with surrounding communities.
ANITA DAVIS Program Manager, Community Outreach & Engagement
The Henry Ford
dThe Henry Ford collaborates with service organizations like the We the People Opportunity Farm (above) to give its network of community partners, donors, interns and staff members the opportunity to connect, share resources and grow compassion for one another.
PHOTO BY BRENT EMBRY
Empathy Through Leadership
MIKE MOSELEY Director of Leadership and Talent Development
Ialways tend to look at things from the perspective of what’s the responsibility of leaders. It’s my job. As the director of Leadership and Talent Development, I will tell you that empathy is a vital leadership quality that benefits both individuals and organizations. By understanding and connecting with others, empathetic leaders can create a positive and productive work environment, drive innovation and build strong relationships. So, as that applies to our work as museum leaders, using the ability to understand and share feelings of others helps people connect to their history, heritage and the world around them. A leader who can deeply understand and connect with the diverse audiences they serve — both staff and The Henry Ford guests — is better equipped to
create meaningful experiences and foster a sense of belonging that is necessary for authentic storytelling.
Museum leaders who act empathetically attract people from all walks of life, with varying backgrounds, interests and experiences. A leader who can empathize with these diverse audiences can better understand their needs, desires and perspectives. This understanding allows for the creation of exhibits and programs that resonate with a wider range of people.
Empathy fosters trust and connection between leaders and their staff, volunteers and community members. When people feel understood and valued, they are more likely to be engaged and supportive of our institution’s mission.
The Henry Ford should be a welcoming and inclusive
environment for all. We are continuing to work on that. By empathizing with the experiences of marginalized communities, our leaders can ensure that our collections, exhibits and programs are representative and respectful of diverse perspectives.
The world is constantly evolving, and we must adapt to stay relevant. Empathy helps leaders to anticipate and respond to changing needs and preferences, ensuring that The Henry Ford remains a valuable resource for the community. I believe the ongoing commitment we have to strong leadership development at every level, and the institution’s commitment to creating a safe and diverse work environment, are steps that we are taking to build a more empathetic culture.
“A leader who can deeply understand and connect with the diverse audiences they serve — both staff and The Henry Ford guests — is better equipped to create meaningful experiences and foster a sense of belonging that is necessary for authentic storytelling.”
MIKE MOSELEY
The Henry Ford
Empathy Through Performance
X. ALEXANDER DURDEN Manager, Theatrical & Musical Experiences
Ihave always wanted to push limits. Take things that I have learned from my life experiences and apply them in a different context. It’s what has opened my artist worldview.
Early in my hiring process in 2023, I asked about what programming we had on the African American community, Native Americans or the Middle Eastern population. For me, The Henry Ford provides an incubator where we can explore and talk about the stories and the people and be inventive about the ways in which we do it.
Last January, we premiered The Beginnings of the Boycott, a piece about the events that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, in the museum. We also debuted Market Season in Greenfield Village last year. Both are multicharacter pieces.
I noticed early in my time that a lot of dramatic programming was a single actor speaking
first-person to the audience. Many times, we like watching a movie or attending a play because we have the opportunity to peek into a situation and observe, we get to pick up on the in-between, the nuances of the characters and the way they communicate with one another.
With Market Season, for example, we researched the historic multiculturalism of Detroit and focused on three Detroit Central Market figures in the late 19th century: market staple Mary Judge, Jewish fishmonger and activist Itzak Danto and James Kanada, the first Black frontiersman. We felt it was important to uplift these pillars in our local history by telling their connected stories.
Visitors often respond, “Oh! I didn’t know this person was real.” We are starting conversations, which is important because we want people to know these individuals beyond their biographies. We want guests to see how they
existed together and the subtext to the relationships now on display. Visitors are definitely picking up on it.
Beyond dramatic programming, we have established our new performance series in the museum and village. Music in the Market and Arts & Artifacts highlight different musical acts, often based on designations like Jewish Heritage Month or Hispanic Heritage Month.
Not only are people being entertained, but they are also learning, being exposed to something new. That’s powerful because although our communities are quite diverse in the metro Detroit area, we don’t cross lines very often. We don’t ask questions. That’s why we’ve encouraged our guest artists to talk about their instruments, talk about their culture and the origins of their performances with guests.
Our job as a museum is not to preserve history but to provide context to history. Artifacts are only jumping-off points. We must talk about what and who led to innovation, what was the need that had to be met.
For hundreds of years, we have been interested in entertainment. We consume performances to feel what is an ideal or unideal human experience. We hunger for empathy or something we can empathize with. At The Henry Ford, I think we need to continue leaning into the uncomfortability. To appropriately contextualize history, we must talk about things that make us uncomfortable. How do we do that? Very carefully. Arts is a fantastic way to start conversation. Art speaks when words fail.
My hopes for the future ... that we continue to activate other artifacts in our collections, find more common ground, and unearth and explore our differences because that allows us to understand the full range of humanity.
I am excited, thankful and hopeful that I can continue to contribute as much as I learn.
The Henry Ford
dMarket Season programming in Greenfield Village features multicharacter vignettes.
PHOTO BY X. ALEXANDER DURDEN
“Our
job as a museum is not to preserve history but to provide context to history. Artifacts are only jumpingoff points. We must talk about what and who led to innovation, what was the need that had to be met.”
— X. ALEXANDER DURDEN
Author and filmmaker Nelson George leans into a discussion about how obstacles, objects and observation are the makings of a good story
By Kristen Gallerneaux and Jennifer LaForce
PHOTO BY ERIK TANNER/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES
ELSON GEORGE HAS HAD AN AMAZING CAREER. HE’S AN AUTHOR. A SCREENPLAY WRITER. A FILMMAKER. AN AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST. AND HE’S NOT DONE YET.
Broadly speaking, much of George’s professional portfolio has been focused on the documentation of the Black experience in America. His publication record includes both novels and celebrated nonfiction works like Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound and Blackface: Reflections on African-Americans and the Movies. He also has credits as a writer and producer on Netflix's The Get Down and has co-written screenplays for iconic 1990s films including Strictly Business and CB4 starring Chris Rock.
Over the decades, George has built upon his skills as a prolific storyteller. He has an unwavering understanding of the human condition from myriad angles and readily relies on his keen observation skills to bring stories of people overcoming obstacles and realizing
aAuthor and filmmaker Nelson George, pictured here in 1988, was a seasoned columnist for Billboard magazine and the New York Citybased The Village Voice newspaper in the ’80s and ’90s — work that fed his desire to document the Black experience in America and write a series of award-winning Black music histories, from The Death of Rhythm & Blues, a book that describes how white society changed Black music, to Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of
and
BY DAVID LEE
their dreams to the page and screen. Recently, Kristen Gallerneaux, curator and editor-in-chief, and Jennifer LaForce, The Henry Ford Magazine’s managing editor, had the opportunity to talk with George as he begins to contemplate and activate his approach to documenting the next chapters in the story of the Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson House, one of the newest acquisitions of The Henry Ford. This Selma, Alabama, home provided a safe haven where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and hundreds of others invested in the Voting Rights Movement worked, collaborated and strategized the Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965 (see sidebar on Page 45). George will be creating a documentary about the house’s significance to the Long Civil Rights Movement, the backstory of its move from Selma, Alabama, to Dearborn, Michigan, and its reconstruction in Greenfield Village (see story on Page 60).
the Motown Sound
Hip Hop America
PHOTO
“Tell a story well, and you can bring almost anybody into your world and into your space, and make them connect with you.”
— NELSON GEORGE
KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX: You’ve worked within many forms of media during your career — as an author, a screenplay writer, filmmaker, documentarian, journalist. What have you learned about people and their relationships with one another?
NELSON GEORGE: The way that people relate to each other is through story. Think about the people we meet. We ask where they’re from. They tell you “I came from here. I went there. I got married. I got divorced.” Whatever our stories, they are the unifying way that we communicate with each other.
In any medium I work in — whether it’s a book or a movie or a documentary or some other form of storytelling — it’s all about finding the beginning, finding the middle and finding the end. And I think that people relate to each other best when they feel there’s a story that they can connect to.
It’s kind of funny. I do a class once a year in London at different institutions for young artists. It originally started out as a screenwriting class. What I’ve noticed over time is that there are so many different technologies at work today to tell a story — from TikTok to AI — but ultimately it’s about engaging people. I try to teach that if you start off with a star, and then tell how that star was born and then share that star’s journey, that’s the best way to engage someone. For me, the one thing I take away from all the
different work I’ve done in all the myriad of forms is that whether it’s about love, an athlete or politics, people really connect when you’re able to communicate in a story form. Tell a story well, and you can bring almost anybody into your world and into your space, and make them connect with you.
JENNIFER LAFORCE: What are some of the nuances of successful storytelling? Those skills and expertise that you use to make that connection with people?
NELSON GEORGE: It’s all about the obstacles, because obstacles create goals. When you engage with anybody’s story, whether it’s Willie Mays coming out of the Jim Crow South trying to become a major league baseball player or Michael Jackson who is making an album and knows that the record industry and formats like MTV are very reluctant to play Black artists. Or if it’s Tupac Shakur. Working as an executive producer on the Dear Mama docuseries (editor’s note: focused on the lives of activist Afeni Shakur and her son, musician Tupac Shakur), there were a big number of challenges to explore. Not only how do you overcome a life of poverty, but also your mother is a political figure — and a radical political figure at that — and how does that jive with your commercial career as a recording artist? What are the contradictions in that?
“In any
medium
I work in — whether it’s
a book or a movie or a documentary or some other form of storytelling
—
it’s all about finding the beginning, finding the middle and finding the end. And
I think that people relate to each other best when they feel there’s a story that they can connect to.”
— NELSON GEORGE
dNelson George (right) is currently working on a book about the neighborhood in Brooklyn where film director Spike Lee (pictured here with George) lived and worked during the ’80s and ’90s. According to George, Lee’s decision to run his production company near his home base helped transform Brooklyn into a “cool” cultural hub.
PHOTO BY DIANE PARAGAS
Anytime you have a story with an obstacle, it’s about the “what happens next.” People are like, “Oh, what are you going to do?” Overcoming is a huge part of storytelling. It’s like when you have a love story. It may always end with the wedding, but there’s a whole bunch of obstacles in-between — whether they’re family, racial, financial, distance — before they’ve reached the goal. That’s why love stories are so compelling because we know the outcome we want to see, but what we want to know is “how do they get there?”
KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX: Speaking of obstacles, you’ve handled some of those stories rooted in the music scene. Thinking, for example, about your book Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. Why is it important in storytelling to understand what it means to be true to yourself?
NELSON GEORGE: I’m not sure that most people know what their authentic self is. I don’t think they know until they do something. It’s only in action that character is really truly defined. Decision reveals character, and so in any narrative, those moments of decision are the crucial ones.
I’m currently working on a book about a neighborhood in Brooklyn in the ‘80s and ‘90s that [film director] Spike Lee came out of, and the many decisions Spike made during this time. One that was the most important for the neighborhood was that while most young filmmakers with a successful first film would have gotten an office in Manhattan to run a production company, he decided on a spot, literally, like five blocks from his house. By having the production company in Brooklyn in 1987, it helped transform the neighborhood. People had to come to meetings in Brooklyn. His crews wanted to be close to where the work was, so they moved to Brooklyn. Actors working with Spike started staying in the neighborhood. All of a sudden, the neighborhood becomes “cool,” because Spike is there.
That one decision against the orthodoxy, which is Manhattan, has a tremendous effect on a
neighborhood and a generation of artists. Some make the argument that Spike deciding to stay in Brooklyn is one of the key things that led Brooklyn to becoming this kind of cool cultural center.
It’s about decisions you’re making, not knowing what the ramifications are going to be later down the road, right? There’s a certain fearlessness to it. There are always unintended consequences of your decisions — sometimes good, sometimes bad — but when we make decisions, we’re making them based on the information we have and in light of our own desires. You just never know what that’s going to do, how that’s going to ripple.
Picking up further on that … You know Berry Gordy could have decided he’s just a songwriter, and he’d have been a success. He’d written songs for Jackie Wilson that were hits, and he could have easily moved to New York and tried to get in the Brill Building and become one of those songwriters. Instead, he opened up the spot [Motown’s Hitsville U.S.A.] on West Grand Boulevard. He made a decision to stay home, and that decision transforms his career — and Detroit.
KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX: It’s amazing the breadth of publications that you have, shifting between fiction as well as really deep, scholarly nonfiction and these poetic portraits of wellknown characters. And let’s extend that out to your screenwriting credits as well — I know that you worked on The Get Down and Strictly Business, which is iconic. Have you ever had difficulties bringing a character or a subject to life? And on the flip side of that, how do you do it, functionally?
NELSON GEORGE: I think it goes back to obstacles. On The Get Down, for example, we had these young artists who were not even really artists yet. They were just kids who wanted to perform or wanted to get out of the Bronx. One of the things we did in the first episode was to introduce a record — the rarest record in New York. That “device” then allows you to meet the lead characters in the story.
DID YOU KNOW? / New York City’s Brill Building was the hub of professionally written rock and roll in the 1960s. Among its tenants were some of the finest songwriting teams of the 20th century, including Gerry Goffin and Carole King, who wrote tunes for many Black artists such as (You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman for Aretha Franklin and Up on the Roof for The Drifters.
Baz Luhrmann, who executive produced The Get Down, came into our office one day and he did a whole lecture on devices. Devices, in a film way, is an object of desire, or for the characters, an object that becomes symbolic of a larger search for identity. It’s a really great technique in terms of trying to figure out how to get a story going. Give someone a goal, but not just a general goal — a specific goal that involves an object.
Think about The Maltese Falcon, the famous detective story. Or the guy in Citizen Kane He’s looking for Rosebud. If you look at classic literature, classic films, often there is a device or a thing that actually becomes the “way” or what people are looking for. In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, it’s about these rings. They’re tangible. Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing is about the pictures on the wall of Sal’s Famous Pizzeria in Brooklyn. You have characters, you have goals, but what embodies them is wrapped around tangible pieces.
KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX: In The Get Down, it would also be the turntables and equipment that you need to learn to DJ, right?
NELSON GEORGE: Right! That’s tangibility. You have a goal and you’ve given your characters an object that becomes a representation of all their dreams.
KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX: I love that. It’s really interesting too, because people, even once they acquire that object, they make choices and decisions that can sway their life in any number of directions around that object. The goal tied to objects allows you to create character.
NELSON GEORGE: Yes. In general, I like to use reality to create. It’s where I’m more grounded. I’m taking from life, right? That to me is looking at things that have been done and seeing if there’s a way to do them differently. For example, I did a bunch of detective or noir novels. The first was called The Accidental Hunter. Basically, I saw the movie The Bodyguard with Whitney Houston, and asked myself, “What if she was white and the bodyguard was Black?” That very simple thought led to me writing that novel, and that led to me writing five more novels with the same character. Sometimes it’s just a matter of seeing something that was good or interesting, and looking at it from a different angle.
JENNIFER LAFORCE: Not everyone is capable of that type of foresight or observation. Would you say you have strong observation skills?
NELSON GEORGE: That’s the beauty of growing up in New York: great people-watching. You can
sit on a bench in the summertime or, for that matter, be on the subway and see so many people. “What kind of sneakers is he wearing? I’ve never seen those before.” You see a woman who’s got a shopping bag and you can tell that her nails have not been done in a while, and you go, “Oh, she’s a mother or working-class woman. She hasn’t had time to do her nails because she’s busy.” You start observing people, what’s particular about their attire or their body language and stories can begin to come from that. New York has been big in terms of the observation part of my career.
JENNIFER LAFORCE: Were you always that observant person? That person who wanted to tell a story?
NELSON GEORGE: I remember reading Hemingway, The Nick Adams Stories, and thinking, well, he’s writing about a kid living in Michigan, and it’s very detailed. You know that Hemingway style — very descriptive — and you had to read through what he was seeing and feeling. That really stuck with me. When I was about 15, 16, 17, I started writing stories based on a character living in Brooklyn, and it was totally because of reading Hemingway and trying to mimic the masterful style. It definitely put me on a path that understood how external details of a place and of a person can be incredibly revealing. I give Hemingway a lot of credit as one of my influences in terms of harnessing observation.
KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX: As a seasoned storyteller, why is it important for us to tell stories of our past, keep our histories at the forefront?
NELSON GEORGE: History is a tool to understanding how we got to the places we are. I think that Americans in general have a very superficial sense of history, and they tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. History can be extremely instructive in understanding why we’re in the positions we’re in, economically, culturally, government wise. At the same time, there are techniques that were employed in the past that are still applicable now. Yes the technology changes, but I don’t think the human condition changes necessarily as deeply, so there are ways in which we can use ideas and philosophies of the past to move forward. I also think history allows us to “see.” Going back to my comments about obstacles, we can see how obstacles that got in the way of individuals were overcome. That’s where the inspiration part comes in and where history can be so useful.
Any museum, particularly ones that are collecting objects from the past, can really inspire people, too. The scale of The Henry Ford is really kind of stunning in terms of that.
SCREENPLAYS + FILMS
THE GET DOWN (NETFLIX)
Nelson George is writer and producer on Baz Luhrmann’s hip-hop origin series that follows young protagonists
Mylene Cruz (played by Herizen Guardiola), the Puerto Rican pastor’s daughter who wants to be a disco singer, and Ezekiel Figuero (played by Justice Smith), a sensitive Black kid who finds fame as a rapper in 1970s New York City.
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Nelson George co-wrote the screenplay for this 1991 sharp social satire in which the friendship between an ambitious Black businessman and his street-wise pal is thrown into conflict when the professional falls in love with a waitress. Starring Joseph C. Phillips, Tommy Davidson and Halle Berry.
DEAR MAMA
Nelson George is the executive producer of this deeply personal 2023 TV series that shares an illuminating look at the saga of mother and son, Afeni and Tupac Shakur.
CB4
Nelson George cowrote the screenplay for this 1993 satirical mockumentary black comedy film starring Chris Rock. The film follows a fictional rap group called “CB4,” named after the prison block in which the group was allegedly formed (cell block 4). The movie parodies gangsta rap and the rap group N.W.A, as well as takes inspiration from the film This Is Spinal Tap
SAY HEY, WILLIE MAYS!
Nelson George directed this 2022 documentary which follows Willie Mays’ life both on and off the baseball field over five decades as he navigated the sports landscape and helped define what it means to be one of America’s first Black sports superstars.
ONLINE Learn more about Nelson George and his complete literary and film biographiesc
FOR REFERENCE
A quick guide to the works of Nelson George mentioned in this story
Blackface: Reflections on African-Americans and the Movies
Nelson George leans on a lifetime of movie watching and an unexpected career in moviemaking to examine the African American screen image from both a historical and personal viewpoint.
Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound
Nelson George’s chronicle of Motown Records. A classic account of the American music icon, its dynamic founder Berry Gordy Jr. and artists that came out of Detroit like The Supremes.
The Michael Jackson Story
Nelson George’s sensitive, in-depth look at artist Michael Jackson’s early years and his rise to unparalleled solo stardom.
The Accidental Hunter
This is the first installment in Nelson George’s five-book noir series that follows bodyguard-turnedinvestigator D Hunter.
KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX: Yes! I think not only the scale but also the breadth of the collections of The Henry Ford are sometimes a shock to people. What role do you see institutions such as The Henry Ford playing in the documentation of everyday Black and African American culture and history?
NELSON GEORGE: We talked about Spike’s decision about Brooklyn. We’ve also talked about Berry Gordy in Detroit. These buildings, these sites, are really only significant because of a person’s decision to use them as a headquarters for potentially historic things.
At The Henry Ford, I see a building like the Jackson House representing a similar significant location.
Why was this place selected and why did Dr. King and his advisors think it was the right place to be? How did the Jackson family create an environment supportive of these efforts? How did their daughter, Jawana Jackson, realize the value of what happened in her home and document it and preserve it the best she could for over 50-plus years?
Greenfield Village has so many spaces like this that represent different moments in American history — that represent the efforts of hundreds of thousands of people to create a better America. Hopefully the Jackson House project will pay tribute to the efforts that took place there and the efforts that were made to maintain this structure.
KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX: We’re so lucky that Ms. Jawana Jackson and her husband, James Richie, believed in this project and maintained stewardship of the house and its stories over such a long period of time. I’m sure there were points of exhaustion as they dealt with the ambivalence that brought the house from Selma to Detroit in the first place.
NELSON GEORGE: In retrospect, they were not getting a lot of support from the state of Alabama. And those specific obstacles, they will definitely be a part of the storytelling of my film. What happened? Why was the house not supported? It’s one of the ways I hope to create empathy for Jawana’s and her husband’s efforts in the face of great indifference. l
DID YOU KNOW? / The Nelson George Mixtape Volume 1 (there’s a Volume 2 as well) is a conscious effort made by Nelson George to keep his literary legacy alive and preserved. He dug through much of his music journalism portfolio, including articles written for Billboard as well as periodicals that no longer exist like Record World, and committed to presenting his vintage printed pieces in a visually engaging way. Volume 1 includes interviews with music icons such as Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye and hip-hop’s founding DJs — Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa. “I wanted this book to be as much an object as a collection of writing, a celebration of the tactile, receding world of print with the graphics of old dead magazines, myriad typefaces and the messy transcripts of interviews,” wrote George.
ONLINE Follow Nelson George on Instagram, Facebook, Substack and YouTubec
IN THIS HOUSE
Now being reconstructed in Greenfield Village and slated to open to the public in Summer 2026, the Jackson House is one of several important landmarks of Selma, Alabama’s role in the Long Civil Rights Movement. Behind the humble façade of this house, world-changing ideas, plans and actions for civil rights were born.
IN THIS HOUSE ...
• Dr. Sullivan Jackson and his wife Richie Jean provided a safe haven for the nation’s leading civil rights activists to strategize and plan.
• The Selma to Montgomery march was planned. This home was central to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference /Martin Luther King planning.
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked, slept and strategized, along with key allies, for months before the Montgomery march.
• Dr. King frequently spoke by phone with President Lyndon Johnson about the need to expand and protect Black voting rights through national legislation.
• Dr. King and others watched, electrified, as President Johnson made a nationally televised address to Congress introducing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, proclaiming “We shall overcome.”
• The only known meeting between the first and second Black men to receive the Nobel Peace Prize took place — Ralph Bunche and Dr. King.
• Lived several generations of Black dentists, teachers and professionals, who used their connections and success to build up the Black community of Selma.
bIn August 2024, a group of distinguished panelists came together at The Henry Ford to discuss the significance of the Jackson House (pictured below), its place in the Civil Rights Movement and its future in Greenfield Village. Participants included (from left) author and filmmaker Nelson George; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jonathan Eig; Jawana Jackson, daughter of Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson; Vanderbilt University professor Dr. Michael Eric Dyson; and panel moderator Jamal Simmons, political commentator and former White House official.
DID YOU KNOW? / In 2023, the Jackson House was carefully taken apart and loaded onto trailers so it could make the 1,060-mile move from Selma, Alabama, to The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Watch video of this monumental move.
READ The story on Page 60 to learn more about the Jackson House acquisition and its Summer 2026 opening in Greenfield Villagec
PHOTO BY JOHN F. MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHY
HAPPY READING
How one seasoned journalist made a conscious choice to seek out positivity and potential in humankind through storytelling
By Christine McLaren • Illustrations by Sam Twardy
I distinctly remember the first time I felt the force field.
It was March 13, 2020, and I had spent the day doing the opposite of the moment’s zeitgeist: I’d been finding reasons to be cheerful.
Like everyone, of course, I was terrified. As the COVID-19 pandemic descended on North America, I’d watched in horror as my newsfeed exploded with reasons to be fearful: hockey stick-shaped graphs of skyrocketing infections and evidence-based predictions that the worst was yet to come. But just seven months prior, I’d helped artist and musician David Byrne of legendary Talking Heads fame launch a monumental experiment: an online magazine dedicated entirely to stories of what was going right in the world. It was called Reasons to be Cheerful, and it was a tall order at the best of times. This was really going to put us to the test.
But as my colleague Will and I dug into potential leads, a surprisingly encouraging picture emerged. From all around the world we were uncovering brilliant examples to learn from: countries that were keeping COVID-19 cases down and economic prospects up; cities leveraging the window of opportunity to give much-needed boosts to social programs that had proven effective in other contexts but politically unfeasible in their own; valuable lessons learned from previous global scares.
I remember shutting my laptop that night with a distinct feeling of calm. It was as though a bubble had cropped up around me like an ozone
layer — a force field of protection for my mental health. Having steeped myself in stories of what was going right, the deluge of things going wrong felt less overwhelming and more manageable. My faith in humanity was bolstered. Maybe, just maybe, I thought, we’ll make it through this.
FEELING GOOD
In truth, I had spent much of my career building that force field without knowing it. For years, I had worked in a niche little corner of journalism focused on producing rigorous reporting not just on problems, but also credible responses to those problems. This practice goes by many names. Some call it catalytic or constructive journalism, but most just call it by the simplest and most descriptive term: solutions journalism. And after over a decade practicing it, I had learned something: When you go out of your way to expand your view of what’s happening in the world to include not just what’s going wrong, but also what’s going right, a shift happens inside you. You become optimistic without being naive. You see potential alongside barriers. You look around the world and see just how many people are working so hard to fix the problems that are plaguing us — and how a lot of the time, they’re actually helping make a dent. You feel good about the world not just despite what’s happening in it — but because of it. And it fortifies you to keep on going.
My start in solutions journalism was less glamorous than I’d like to admit. I was slumped over a flimsy plastic chair in a stuffy conference room nursing a hangover and an adrenaline crash. It was the final day of a student journalism summit and the agenda had been packed with the usual carrots for tempting ambitious young souls into the world of reporting: a war correspondent who had risked her life to protect a source; a small-town reporter who had solved a murder case before the local police; an investigative editor who had cut his teeth embedded undercover in the Ku Klux Klan. I had spent the week moving from room to overlit room getting high on the grit of it all. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” said one of the speakers to roaring applause. In other words, expose the wrongs and things will right themselves. That’s our job.
The image of a brave life fighting the power with the pen was tantalizing. It had also left me with a vague sense of unease. Sloshing around in my stomach with the cheap beer from the previous night was the distinct feeling that there was a piece missing from the puzzle.
I had grown up steeped in the Clorox approach to saving the world. While my mom was a teacher — an inherently optimistic and futurefocused profession — my dad had spent most
of my upbringing trying desperately to plug the holes in humanity’s moral fiber. He worked as a homicide detective before eventually decamping to Sierra Leone to investigate some of the most horrific war crimes of the past century. The work was essential, worldaltering stuff, but I had also watched it erode his faith in humankind along with his capacity for compassion.
What’s more, daylighting crimes and finding justice for past wrongs, while critical, also felt increasingly like cold comfort when it came to the issues keeping me up at night. It was the aughts and the realities of 21st century problems that were crashing down all around me. An Inconvenient Truth (2006) had recently been released, waking the world to the realities of the climate crisis. Income and wealth disparity had widened from a ravine first carved in the 1970s to a Grand Canyon of inequality. Not one but two major economic bubbles had burst within the decade and the entire Western housing system seemed to be crumbling at its foundation. And it wasn’t just the systems that were falling apart: Studies showed that individual human empathy was taking a nosedive too. In the 30 years between 1979 and 2009, the average level of empathic concern had dropped by a whopping 48%.
WATCH Artist and musician David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) speak at SXSW 2019 about his personal journey to create his multimedia positivity project Reasons to be Cheerful c
So when a tall and gangly elven man took the stage in front of the student press and began talking about a wild new practice of solutions journalism that he had been experimenting with at his muckraking political rag, it yanked me from my stupor. I knew him as an editor famous for taking politicians to task and challenging the creeping spinelessness of mainstream outlets. And yet he stood in front of me whimsically comparing solutions journalists to bumblebees — critical ecosystem stewards going from source to source cross-pollinating new ideas that could potentially help solve our biggest problems. The message I took away that day was that solutions journalism wasn’t counter to the journalistic drive to hold power to account. By illuminating potential paths forward and proving that those in power could do better if they wanted to, it was the MSG that enhanced journalism’s core purpose. I was sold.
When I went to work in his newsroom he took me under his wing like a gentle giant. He taught me to report on solutions without being a cheerleader, and that looking at what was working didn’t mean letting anyone off the hook. Under his thoughtful and kind guidance, I learned to balance optimism and skepticism in my reporting — and, by proxy, in my life. Slowly, as time went on, I discovered a growing tribe of similar solutions warriors hellbent on painting a picture of a brighter possible future. They were a ragged and unlikely army — grizzled veteran journalists who had grown tired of passively reporting only on the bad.
I started working with a brilliant, decorated journalist who had chosen a shockingly sunny topic for his next book — the link between urban design and the science of happiness. While we spent months picking apart the history of how urban designers had catastrophically failed communities in North America over the past half century, we spent even more time up to our elbows in the science of human well-being. We spoke with neuroscientists, neuroeconomists, sociologists and psychologists all in an effort not just to understand where we’d gone wrong —
but also how we could go right in the future. The book, published in 2013 under the on-the-nose title Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design, took readers on a journey through the cities and neighborhoods that had done just that: optimized for human happiness. It was such a revelatory approach to thinking about design that The Economist later deemed Happy City one of the top five essential books for understanding cities, alongside the works of greats like Lewis Mumford and Jane Jacobs.
The same year that Happy City was released, a team of The New York Times reporters launched the Solutions Journalism Network — an organization dedicated to formalizing and spreading the practice that had taken me under its spell. For years, the reporters — whose credentials included Pulitzers and a host of other top-tier prizes — had been reporting on solutions in a groundbreaking column called Fixes. Now they were dedicating their lives to bringing the practice to newsrooms all around the world. Citing research that showed how hoards of citizens were disengaging from the news — and, therefore, from democracy — due to its overwhelming negativity, they described solutions journalism as an antidote providing realistic, grounded and rigorous reasons to stay engaged and informed. They called it “Hope, with teeth.” And it was going mainstream.
REASONS TO HOPE
I once came across a quote published in a philosophy journal by Cambridge University Press that described the scorn with which optimists are viewed in society:
The optimist may be secretly envied, but he is publicly despised. His pronouncements are regarded as expressions of simple-minded blindness or as cynical propaganda. Optimism is not regarded as intellectually respectable. It was not always so: there have been times when optimism was not merely considered worthy of rational argument, but was widely accepted by thinking men. Now, however, we react with a growing embarrassment …
READ Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by awardwinning author and urbanist Charles Montgomery to find out how cities and neighborhoods can — and do — make people happierc
DID YOU KNOW? /
The World Happiness Report is a well-known source of cross-country data and research on selfreported life satisfaction.
That quote was published in 1966 when, in many facets of society, things were mostly getting better. When I read this quote today in our current context, it strikes me that it is pessimism, not optimism, that is an intellectual luxury.
The week after my colleague Will and I tore up our editorial calendar at Reasons to be Cheerful in favor of stories that balanced out the paralyzing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recently launched site hit its highest day of readership yet. A few days later, those readership numbers more than tripled as people poured onto the site, desperate for a life raft to hang on to. In part, they were drawn by our pandemic coverage. And in part, they were drawn by the publication’s founder David Byrne, held by many as a The New York Times article once described him: “The thinking man’s rock star.”
By putting his stamp on a publication dedicated to finding tangible reasons for hope, he had quietly succeeded in making optimism, when grounded in reality, cool again. He had given people the means — and the permission — to build up a force field of protection against the deluge of darkness so that they could keep moving forward and participating as engaged
citizens in finding ways to get us all out of the mess the world had become.
Indeed, when we surveyed Reasons to be Cheerful readers later that year and asked what brought them to the publication, many responded that they came for courage. And the optimism cultivated was not unrealistic either: the 2023 World Happiness Report showed that the pandemic had in fact, against all odds, actually increased global kindness, generosity and yes, even happiness.
Now, nearly two decades into my career in media — a field perceived, correctly, as being on the front lines of nearly every global crisis — people sometimes ask me how I remain optimistic and positive despite everything going on in the world. I tell them that it’s not despite what’s happening, but rather because of it. Because I’ve had the privilege of spending each day looking straight into the face of one of the many terrifying problems of our time with a healthy dose of realism before turning my attention to yet another example of how someone somewhere is doing a remarkably good job of working to help fix it. l
What is Solutions Journalism?
Take a read of these past story headlines from the nonprofit magazine Reasons to be Cheerful and then investigate the online publication’s many articles meant to inspire optimism and offer solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
ONLINE Learn more about how the Solutions Journalism Network is providing access to news that helps people envision a more equitable and sustainable worldc
TILLING THE FLOODPLAIN: HOW FARMERS EMBRACE THE POWER OF FLOODS
HOW UNFAMILIAR FISH ARE HELPING MAINERS FIGHT FOOD INSECURITY
COLLEGES ARE BECOMING ‘LIVING LABS’ TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
THE HOSPITALS THAT SEND PATIENTS HOME WITH NUTRITIOUS FOOD
THE SMART HEART: HOW AI IS SHARPENING CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE HOW PHILADELPHIA IS GIVING FALLEN TREES NEW LIFE
HOW AN ‘OLD-SCHOOL’ APPROACH BOLSTERS STUDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH
HOW MORE CITIES COULD WORK TO END UNSHELTERED HOMELESSNESS
GREENING THE DESERT WITH WASTEWATER
FACING A HOUSING SHORTAGE, SCOTLAND IS BRINGING NEW LIFE TO ABANDONED HOMES
SHOPPING ‘WONKY’ KEEPS IMPERFECT GOODS FROM GOING TO WASTE
A DOSE OF INSPIRATION: WHY DOCTORS ARE PRESCRIBING MUSEUM VISITS
THE SLOW, POWERFUL WORK OF BRIDGING THE WOMEN’S HEALTH GAP
BENEATH THIS SEA, A SCULPTURE GARDEN IS SAVING AN ECOSYSTEM
HOW DEATH CAFES CELEBRATE LIFE
THE ‘COSMETICS SHOP’ USING CODE TO HELP PEOPLE ESCAPE THEIR ABUSERS
“When you go out of your way to expand your view of what’s happening in the world to include not just what’s going wrong, but also what’s going right, a shift happens inside you.”
— CHRISTINE MCLAREN, JOURNALIST
MeaningfulMessages
Artifacts in The Henry Ford’s collection share stories of hope and action
Isle of Printing is located in Nashville, considered a hotbed for letterpress specialty printing services. In early March 2020, soon after much of the United States went into its first lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, printmaker and Isle of Printing owner Bryce McCloud went to work, creating a series of public service announcement posters under the title Public Art Works Project.
The posters helped spread important directives about social distancing, handshakes, handwashing and mask wearing in an easy-todigest manner with clever imagery and simple language. More importantly, they told a story of how one business decided to support the community it serves in times of need. Profits from posters sold under this initiative were split 50/50, with half of the funds going to people who lost their income due to COVID-19 and the other half funding artist commissions to create additional works in the series.
McCloud also received a Metro Arts Nashville “Thrive” grant, which supported local artists and businesses whose income was affected by COVID-19 and a March 3, 2020 tornado. With that, he devised a revival of community connection and sharing of ideas “in a social distanced analog manner” via a postcard. Participants were asked to use one of his postcards to send a positive message or share a vision for a better future. His call to action: “As our world changes and we change with it, connecting with our friends, neighbors, and community in concrete ways is vital to re-affirming our humanity.”
ENCOURAGING WORDS
Isle of Printing’s postcard project (above) helped create community connection while capturing aspects of the physical, social and emotional isolation experienced during the pandemic; the aesthetic of Isle of Printing’s PSA pandemic posters (left) reflects traditional letterpress print design. However, due to social distancing, lockdown restrictions and limited resources, it had to pivot and print them digitally.
PHOTOS FROM THE HENRY FORD ARCHIVE OF AMERICAN INNOVATION
— KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX, CURATOR OF COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, THE HENRY FORD
ONLINE View the Isle of Printing poster and postcard collection in The Henry Ford Digital Collectionsc
ONLINE Learn more about Isle of Printing, its projects and belief in the power of public art and positive thoughtc
Looking for the Positives
The Solutions Journalism Network lays out four helpful pillars of good solutions journalism. They say that it should:
a) report on a response to a problem
b) offer insights that make the response relevant to others
c) show evidence that the response was effective
d) examine its limitations
I think there is a mirror version of these four pillars to be written not just for journalists, but for news consumers to help counter their negative reactions to difficult news every day. Those pillars go something like this.
— CHRISTINE MCLAREN
Evidence
LOOK FOR EVIDENCE THAT CONVINCES YOU
Look for signs that the solution you’ve come across had the impact it intended to have.
Pro tip: Don’t mistake implementation for impact. Just because something happened, doesn’t mean it worked. Find the information or data to show the latter. This will help ground your sense that progress has been made and that there might be a way to truly gain ground on the issue at hand.
Response
FIND A RESPONSE TO AN ISSUE THAT’S WORRYING YOU
When you read a news story that sends you reeling, the first question you can ask is: Who has done this better? Go searching for those stories. It doesn’t need to be a place that has solved the whole problem full stop. But who has made a dent in it? In the world of solutions journalism, this is called looking for “positive deviants.” Instead of looking at who has failed, try finding stories or examples of who has succeeded.
Insights
FIND INSIGHTS THAT MAKE THE EXAMPLE RELEVANT TO YOUR ISSUE
No two contexts are ever the same, but don’t let that hold you back. The best way to do this is to move past the question of what the response is, and learn more about how it worked. For example, decommissioning coal plants is a very different technical challenge than decommissioning nuclear reactors. But in both cases, those responsible must find a way to safely and reliably transfer regions on to a new source of energy. What can one learn from the other? There’s almost always something to learn.
Limitations
EMBRACE THE LIMITATIONS
Understanding and accepting the limitations of an issue helps us have a realistic sense of how much can be achieved by one solution. Very few ideas are a silver bullet and we’re not looking for the one ring to rule them all that will save the world. We’re looking for tangible progress, however big or small. At the end of the day, this helps us by grounding us in a reality that is believable.
Step back into the legacy of over 150 years of American diner culture and experience an eclectic assortment of artifacts including memorabilia, scale models, furniture, fragments and a photographic history of diners at Dick Gutman, DINERMAN
THIS NEW LIMITED EDITION EXHIBITION IS ON DISPLAY IN THE COLLECTIONS GALLERY.
HENRY FORD MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INNOVATION® • THF. org/DINERMAN
ALL-ACCESS GARAGE
New Texaco Experience is geared toward guests of all ages, abilities
LAST FALL MARKED THE reopening of the Texaco service station garage for interactive play inside Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation’s Driving America exhibition. A landmark artifact within the museum since 1987, the 1960s-era station’s garage, now renamed the Texaco Experience, is totally reimagined to be more inclusive to guests of all ages and abilities.
“This has been a space we wanted to renew, especially for our younger visitors,” said Fern Linziger, an exhibit designer at The Henry Ford. Previously interactive, the station’s garage had been closed to active play since 2018. “Supported in part by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, we created a team and wrote up a proposal, deciding to focus on the accessibility of the space.”
When guests enter the Texaco Experience today, they can help assemble mock vehicle systems, inspect the engine block, check a tire’s pressure, pull out an oil
dipstick, charge an electric vehicle, build vehicle circuitry and so much more. Many of the on-site tools of the trade are actual artifacts, complemented by reproductions.
A large portion of the activities are inspired, designed and approved using guest feedback and guidance from The Henry Ford’s accessibility advisory group as well as special needs caregivers.
“The experiences around the garage gallery focus on key actions of a mechanic and they also correlate to The Henry Ford’s Model i learning components,” said Linziger. “By pulling the functions of the mechanic out and placing stations around the gallery for assembly, inspection, maintenance, repair and testing, we have created a space that works more efficiently for everyone.
A space that gives you a peek into an era of time, but one that brings in important elements of modern technology too.”
— JENNIFER LAFORCE, MANAGING EDITOR, THE HENRY FORD MAGAZINE
INCLUSIVE SPACE
While the new Texaco Experience is designed for all guests, accessibility for those with special needs was a top priority. The new design not only meets Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, but also ensures that the space can be equitably enjoyed by young learners, their chaperones, older guests as well as those individuals with special needs and their caregivers too.
Exhibit designer Fern Linziger points out that the previous iteration of the interactive exhibit included a scaled-down replica of a 1964 Ford Falcon in the center of the space. This feature was a barrier for those using wheelchairs, especially if the exhibit area was crowded, noted Linziger. With the new design, the replica is elevated so all guests can easily move about the underside of the automobile. Plus, there are experiential zones along the walls of the gallery for easy viewing and interaction.
“What’s notable is that we found a way to repurpose part of the old exhibit,” shared Linziger. “That model car that took up too much of the footprint has been repurposed and suspended from the ceiling, giving it life in a different way and making the space more active for more people.”
DID YOU KNOW? /
The Henry Ford received the Autism Alliance of Michigan’s Seal of Approval for its long-term work to increase access to individuals with autism spectrum disorder/sensory processing disorder and their families.
ONLINE Learn more about The Henry Ford’s Model i learning frameworkc
READ Curator of Transportation Matt Anderson’s blog post “Building a Brand ... with Buildings” for a little history on Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation’s Texaco station and its designer Walter Dorwin Teaguec
dThe museum’s reimagined Texaco Experience is highly interactive and accessible. As part of the redesign, elements of the previous exhibit were repurposed, including a scaled-down replica of a 1964 Ford Falcon.
PHOTO BY EE BERGER
GREENFIELD VILLAGE
A SYMBOL OF COURAGE
The Jackson House: a curated story from Selma, Alabama, to Greenfield Village
AT THE END OF last summer, the story of the Jackson House, a landmark symbol of the Long Civil Rights Movement, took a historic turn. On Maple Lane in Greenfield Village, initial repositioning of the more than 100-year-old structure began, marking the next chapter in a meticulous reconstruction project. With its relocation from Selma, Alabama, to Dearborn, Michigan, the Jackson House is set to give millions of visitors to The Henry Ford the opportunity to hear stories of family, friendship, leadership and Selma’s role in one of the most momentous movements in U.S. history — the organized 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches that helped ensure all Americans would have the civil rights and voting rights promised to them.
It was Dr. Sullivan Jackson and Mrs. Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson who opened their Selma home to close friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his allies in Dallas County and nationally as a place to rest and strategize the path forward to secure voting rights for African Americans. Hundreds of people came through the home, including several Nobel Peace Prize winners, international dignitaries, media representatives, and activists and supporters of civil rights for all. This activism helped lead to the passing of the Voting Rights Act in June 1965.
Much work still needs to be done in the home’s reconstruction in Greenfield Village,
which first required preparing the site between the George Washington Carver Memorial and the William Holmes McGuffey Birthplace. Last fall, further reassembling of the house’s structural components, such as its covered front porch, commenced. Over the coming months, the roof will be replaced, floors and walls repaired, electrical and plumbing systems connected, central heating and air-conditioning will be installed, and fire protection and security systems will be added.
Less visible, yet just as critical, behindthe-scenes work also continues, said Amber N. Mitchell, The Henry Ford’s curator of Black history. “The home will look much different than what it appeared in Selma before the relocation,” she said. “We are renovating it to look similar to what it did around 1965, and there are many ways to interpret that time period that we are investigating.
“This is a true collaboration,” she added. “A combination of the actual structure reconstruction, our historical resources and great detective work on the part of our curatorial team and staff to ensure the Jackson House’s story of family and community is as uplifted as the connecting story of the voting rights movement.”
A public opening of the restored Jackson House in Greenfield Village is currently planned for June 2026.
— JENNIFER LAFORCE, MANAGING EDITOR, THE HENRY FORD MAGAZINE
HOME FURNISHINGS
In 2023, the contents of the Jackson House were carefully removed by The Henry Ford for conservation before the structure was taken apart and loaded onto trailers to make the 1,060mile move to Dearborn, Michigan. The home’s contents are a remarkable fusion of the ordinary and the epic. Included are:
A maple dining table around which civil rights leaders, U.S. congressmen and two Nobel Peace Prize winners broke bread and shared dreams.
An upholstered armchair facing a black-and-white television — the chair where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sat as he watched President Lyndon Johnson pledge to pass voting rights legislation.
A bed with a pair of pajamas atop the covers — the bed and pajamas in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent many nights leading up to the Selma to Montgomery marches.
DID YOU KNOW? /
In August 2024, a group of distinguished panelists, including Jawana Jackson, daughter of Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, and filmmaker Nelson George featured in this magazine on Page 36, came together at The Henry Ford to discuss the significance of the Jackson House, its place in the Civil Rights Movement and its future in Greenfield Village. Watch the publicly held panel discussion on YouTubec
READ The House by the Side of the Road: The Selma Civil Rights Movement by Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, childhood friend of Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife, Coretta Scott King, and former owner of the Jackson House. The book, a firsthand account of private meetings held at the Jackson House in the months preceding the Voting Rights March, is available for purchase in retail shops on The Henry Ford campus and onlinec
bIt took nine days for the carefully deconstructed and packed Jackson House to make the more than 1,000-mile journey from Selma, Alabama, to Dearborn, Michigan, in 2023. The structure is now being reconstructed in Greenfield Village where thousands of annual visitors will be able to share in its enduring legacy and hear its inspiring stories of family, leadership, community and civil rights activism.
PHOTO BY BRIAN EGEN
BUILDING THE TRADES
DAYS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Ford Rouge Factory Tour has record number of students on site
for Manufacturing Days
SOME 850 STUDENTS FOUND themselves at the Ford Rouge Factory Tour over two days last October. It was all part of an organized effort to recognize both county and national Manufacturing Days.
The Henry Ford’s Ford Rouge Factory Tour has been recognizing and participating in Manufacturing Day since the event’s inception in 2012.
Celebrated annually on the first Friday in October, with activities continuing throughout the month and beyond, Manufacturing Day is a national grassroots movement meant to highlight the reality and future of modern manufacturing careers.
Michigan’s Wayne County Manufacturing Day activities commenced on Oct. 3, 2024, with the Ford Rouge Factory Tour hosting over 500 students from across the county throughout the day. The students spoke with personnel from the Dearborn Truck Plant, which is a key element of the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, and the Ford Model E team about careers in manufacturing. The Ford Rouge Factory Tour team also created special programming for the students to participate in, testing their knowledge about RPM and encouraging them to learn more about the inner workings of
the V-8 engine. Tour technology engineers even had their 3D printer out on display, speaking to the students about the 3D printing process and printing parts for them to see.
This was a record day for us in more ways than one. The 500 student-count was our largest attendance ever during a Wayne County Manufacturing Day.
On Oct. 4, 2024, which was the official National Manufacturing Day, the Ford Rouge Factory Tour welcomed around 350 students from all around the metro Detroit area and even the nearby state of Ohio. We partnered with Ford STEM to bring students from area schools that they collaborate with. Corey Williams, Dearborn Truck Plant manager, was a surprise guest for the day. He spoke with students, who also had the opportunity to take part in the same programming from the day before — from the V-8 engine presentations to the 3D printing demonstrations.
It was a busy couple days at the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, but very rewarding. We continue to be one of the largest host sites in the county, state, and possibly the country, for Manufacturing Days.
— DOUG PLOND, SENIOR MANAGER, FORD ROUGE FACTORY TOUR
ONLINE For the most up-to-date information, hours and pricing for the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, visit THF.org/rougec
ONLINE View more artifacts related to Henry Ford Trade School in our Digital Collections, and read the blog post about the school’s historyc
Did you know that Henry Ford Trade School trained more than 8,000 boys for skilled industrial trades over more than 35 years? The school, open from 1916-1952, was formed for boys age 12-19, many of them orphans or from low-income families in the Detroit area. They received an hourly wage as well as an education as Henry Ford Trade School students.
Many of the young men attending the school learned trade skills — everything from tool and die making to welding and foundry work — on the Ford Rouge Complex.
Demand for skilled trades professionals is now burgeoning in this country, but today the trades and other manufacturing careers are much more inclusive, welcoming all genders to participate in specialized training programs and learn a trade.
Learn more about National Manufacturing Day and careers in manufacturing.
DID YOU KNOW? / Doug Plond (right), senior manager of the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, was recognized in November 2024 by SEMCA Michigan Works! for his 10 years of service on the organizing committee that develops and executes activities around National Manufacturing Day across southeastern Michigan’s Wayne County.
bAutomotive manufacturing is one of the many industries celebrated the first Friday of every October as part of National Manufacturing Day. In 2024, the Dearborn Truck Plant (below) and Ford Rouge Factory Tour participated by hosting hundreds of students for a variety of activities.
PHOTO BY ROY RITCHIE
A MOTHER LODE OF DESIGN
Recent acquisition of the Stewart Program Collection deepens The Henry Ford’s storytelling about objects and their origins
IN AUGUST 2024, a monumental design collection arrived at the doors of The Henry Ford after an international journey nearing 600 miles. The collection was donated by the Stewart Program for Modern Design in Montreal, Canada, and represents decades of collecting by founder and philanthropist Liliane Stewart alongside her incredible staff, especially curator David Hanks and registrar Angéline Dazé.
While Stewart and her husband, David, had a longstanding formal relationship with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (a pavilion named for the Stewarts houses a significant design collection donated by them in 1999), this portion of the considerable collection was offered to The Henry Ford upon the closing of the Stewart Program for Modern Design in 2024.
The Stewart Program Collection at The Henry Ford includes over 500 objects, a library of more than 100 books and 500 periodicals, and an archive nearing 40 linear square feet. As design touches nearly every area of the museum, so too does this collection. The range in object type is vast — from ceiling lamps to bicycle helmets, teapots to stools, studio glass to adding machines and more, and
spans over 140 years of design history, from the 1880s through 2020.
The designers and companies represented in this donation are also remarkably wide-ranging and include some of the most celebrated names in design, as well as successful works by unknown designers. They were created by designers of various nationalities and manufactured in a range of countries — but every object had significant impact on American society and design, through its retail availability or through its prominence and influence on American designers, reflecting the trajectory of globalization in design.
The Henry Ford and the Stewart Program for Modern Design have compatible philosophies in collecting design. Both institutions hold a deep respect for design’s role in the everyday lives of people, in the problem-solving nature of good design and the practice of prioritizing design in its cultural context.
The Stewart Program Collection fits serendipitously within the museum’s existing holdings, while also stretching, expanding and deepening the collection as well as pushing it into new areas.
— KATHERINE WHITE, CURATOR OF DESIGN, THE HENRY FORD
COLLECTIONS CONNECTION
In numerous instances, the objects donated by the Stewart Program for Modern Design happily supplement the strengths of our collections. For instance, The Henry Ford has an especially strong collection of furniture by pioneering designer Gilbert Rohde for the Herman Miller Furniture Company, including much of the bedroom set Rohde designed for the “Design for Living House” at the 19331934 Century of Progress International Exposition. However, we lacked the table clock (right) exhibited in the bedroom. But as luck would have it, that particular clock was included in the Stewart Collection donation. Reuniting these objects that were designed to coexist will allow us to tell a fuller story about this moment in design history.
The documentary short The Art of Giving Portrait of Liliane Stewart by Philippe Baylaucq for an introduction on how collector and philanthropist Liliane Stewart helped Montreal, the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec, establish itself as an international design cityc
dThe Stewart Program Collection donated to The Henry Ford in summer 2024 includes more than 500 objects and represents some 140 years of design history. Artifacts in this recent donation include (from top left) New York’s Public Theatre poster “Blade to the Heat,” 1994 by Paula Scher; Gail Anderson’s 2018 poster “A Lot of People are Waiting for Martin Luther King ... We Are It. It is Up to Us. It is Up to You. Marian Wright Edelman”; an Eero Saarinen Executive Side Chair from 1948; a circa 1932 coffeepot designed by Lurelle Van Arsdale Guild; an Eliot Noyes Selectric Typewriter from 1961; and a Gilbert Rohde table clock (center) from the 1930s. See sidebar on Page 64 for the clock’s backstory.
PHOTOS FROM THE HENRY FORD
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
WHAT’S YOUR SPARK?
An unusual introduction to The Henry Ford leads to longtime loyalty for member Peter Shin
NAME: Peter Shin
NUMBER OF YEARS AS A MEMBER: 6+
MUST-DO EVENT: Day Out With Thomas™ in Greenfield Village
FAVORITE
MEMBER PERK:
Unlimited views of the trains in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation’s Railroads exhibit
DAY OUT WITH THOMAS™
MAY 3-4, 10-11, 17-18
GREENFIELD VILLAGE TICKETS REQUIRED.
MEMBER PRESALE: MARCH 26
PUBLIC SALE: APRIL 2 SEE THF.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION.
PETER IS A TRANSPLANT FROM SEATTLE. His first experience at The Henry Ford was all about a job — he was invited to his company’s product launch party at Eagle Tavern in Greenfield Village. Hooked on the site immediately, Peter soon became a member, along with his family. Today, Peter and his boys, Pablo and Parker, are regulars at The Henry Ford campus. They spend days in the museum wowing over the locomotives and mini model trains in the Railroads exhibit, and spend quiet moments of reflection at the Rosa Parks Bus and President Kennedy’s 1961 Lincoln Continental. In Greenfield Village, they can often be found riding around in a Model T. The trio lives for springtime when Thomas the Tank Engine can, as Peter exclaims, “be seen live and in person!”
With more than a decade in Michigan now, Peter embraces his earned Michigander status, saying, “There’s nothing like being a member of The Henry Ford to show some good ole Michigan pride.”
Take It Forward as a Member
Enjoy benefits like free general admission and parking, discounts on ticketed events, exclusive member previews and more.
ONLINE THF.org/ membershipc
dParker (left), Peter and Pablo Shin in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation
PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER SHIN
2025 EVENTS
Other Premier Exhibitions + Events
HENRY FORD MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INNOVATION
OUR LIMITED-ENGAGEMENT EXHIBITIONS AND COLLECTIONS GALLERY EXHIBITIONS ARE FREE FOR MEMBERS OR INCLUDED WITH MUSEUM ADMISSION.
HENRY FORD MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INNOVATION, THE GALLERY BY GENERAL MOTORS
Wallace & Gromit™ and Shaun the Sheep™ : Shear Genius!
Member Preview: Feb. 1
Open: Feb. 2-April 20
In this hands-on exhibit, visitors will step into the environments of the animation franchise Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep — 62 West Wallaby Street and Mossy Bottom Farm — to explore the contraptions, antics and escapades of Wallace, Gromit, Shaun and other familiar Aardman characters through dramatic play and interactive opportunities.
Designed for children ages 3 through 9, Wallace & Gromit™ and Shaun the Sheep™: Shear Genius! builds on problem-solving themes found throughout both shows. Exhibit components and activities encourage children to playfully solve STEM-based and social-emotional problems in fun and engaging ways — from completing a circuit and deciphering expressions to fixing a machine and using the power of collaboration to help a farmyard friend.
ONLINE To learn more, visit THF.org/Shear-Geniusc
Wallace & Gromit™ and Shaun the Sheep™: Shear Genius! was created by Minnesota Children’s Museum and TM Aardman Animations Limited. © and TM Aardman Animations LTD 2024. All Rights Reserved. Shaun the Sheep (word mark) and the character ‘Shaun the Sheep’, Wallace & Gromit and the characters ‘Wallace’ and ‘Gromit’ © and TM Aardman Animations Limited.
Open: Feb. 22
This pop-up exhibit explores and celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, introduces the Jackson family and showcases how they opened their doors to help further a movement.
ONLINE To learn more, visit THF.orgc
HENRY FORD MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INNOVATION, THE COLLECTIONS GALLERY
Bicycles: Powering
Possibilities
Member Preview: May 2
Open: May 3
In the late 19th century, the bicycle introduced Americans to the freedom and power of personal transportation. Though its popularity has ebbed and flowed since, the bike remains a fixture in our lives. Trace the story of pedalpowered mobility through more than 15 historical and contemporary bicycles, and assorted accessories, drawn from The Henry Ford’s collections.
ONLINE To learn more, visit THF.orgc
All programs and dates are subject to change. For the latest updates and more information on special events and programs, call 313.982.6001 or visit THF.org.
What if your next big event could inspire the next big idea?
Imagine an event that could truly change people’s perspectives. One that could open minds and widen eyes as guests stand in awe of the power of unlimited inspiration. Make your event stand out in a place where innovation sets the stage for unforgettable experiences. From awards galas to product launches, we’ll make sure your vision is fully realized and your event is completely inspired.
Book your next big event at:
• Henr y Ford Museum of American Innovation®
• Greenfield Village®
• Lovett Hall
• Ford Rouge Factor y Tour
See why The Henry Ford is the most awarded venue in Michigan. THF.org/privateevents
How to make your travel plans to The Henry Ford quick and easy
PLAN YOUR VISIT
At The Henry Ford, you’ll discover America — its culture, inventions, people and can-do spirit — and hundreds of ways to explore it, enjoy it and be inspired by it.
Maximize your visit — whether it’s for three hours, three days or throughout the year — and see for yourself why The New York Times called The Henry Ford one of the world’s coolest museums.
OVERNIGHT VACATION PACKAGES
The Henry Ford offers overnight packages through several lodging partners that meet a variety of needs, including full and limited service.
Our partners offer great overnight rates, plus exclusive discounts of 10% or 15% on packages for your choice of two or more venues — Museum, Village, Factory Tour and Giant Screen.
Don’t wait; book your date at America’s
Greatest History Destination today at THF.org/vacations.
Contact hotel directly for room availability. Packages and pricing vary by hotel.
LIMITED SERVICE
COMFORT INN NEAR GREENFIELD VILLAGE
20061 Michigan Ave.
Dearborn, MI 48124
313.380.3146
choicehotels.com/ michigan/dearborn/ comfort-inn-hotels/mi385
Location: Dearborn
Drive time*: 4
Sleeping rooms: 116
Pool: Indoor
Pets: No
Meeting rooms: 1
Meeting space (sq. ft): 250
SEE AD ON PAGE 73
LIMITED SERVICE COMFORT SUITES SOUTHGATE
18950 Northline Road Southgate, MI 48195
734.287.9200 comfortsuitessouthgate.com
Location: Downriver (I-75 corridor) Drive time*: 15
Sleeping rooms: 78 Pool: Indoor
Pets: No
Meeting rooms: 1 (50)
SEE AD ON PAGE 76
BEST WESTERN
GREENFIELD INN
3000 Enterprise Drive
Allen Park, MI 48101
313.271.1600 bestwestern.com
Location: Dearborn (I-94 corridor)
Drive time*: 10
Sleeping rooms: 209
Pool: Indoor
Pets: Yes
Meeting rooms: 4
Meeting space (sq. ft): 1,047
LIMITED SERVICE THE LEO COLLECTION DETROIT, ASCEND HOTEL COLLECTION
1805 John A. Papalas Drive, Lincoln Park, MI 48146
313.381.5600
theleocollectiondetroit.com
Location: Lincoln Park Drive time*: 12
Sleeping rooms: 82
Pool: Indoor
Pets: Yes with restrictions
Meeting rooms: 1
Meeting space (sq. ft): Holds 100 guests
SEE AD ON PAGE 74
LIMITED SERVICE COUNTRY INN & SUITES BY RADISSON DEARBORN
24555 Michigan Ave.
Dearborn, MI 48124
313.562.8900
choicehotels.com
Location: Dearborn
Drive time*: 4
Sleeping rooms: 100
Pool: Yes
Pets: No
Meeting rooms: Yes
Meeting space (sq. ft): 1,080
SEE AD ON PAGE 75
WESTIN BOOK
CADILLAC
SEE AD ON PAGE 73 FULL SERVICE
1114 Washington Blvd. Detroit, MI 48226
313.442.1600 marriott.com/dtwcw
Location: Detroit
Drive time*: 18
Sleeping rooms: 453
Pool: Yes
Pets: Yes
Meeting rooms: Yes
Meeting space (sq. ft):
Varies, with the largest 7,830
SEE AD ON PAGE 78 FULL SERVICE
LIMITED SERVICE COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT DEARBORN 5200 Mercury Drive Dearborn, MI 48126
313.271.1400 dearborncourtyard.com
Location: Dearborn Drive time*: 10
Sleeping rooms: 147
Pool: Indoor
Pets: No
Meeting rooms: 2
Meeting space (sq. ft): 1,274
SEE AD ON PAGE 77
THE HENRY, AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION
300 Town Center Drive
Dearborn, MI 48126
313.441.2000 behenry.com
Location: Dearborn
Drive time*: 5
Sleeping rooms: 308
Pool: Yes
Pets: Yes
Meeting rooms: Yes
Meeting space (sq. ft):
Varies, with the largest 12,642
SEE AD ON PAGE 75 LIMITED SERVICE
HAMPTON INN DEARBORN
22324 Michigan Ave.
Dearborn, MI 48124
313.562.0000 hilton.com
Location: Dearborn
Drive time*: 4
Sleeping rooms: 102
Pool: Yes
Pets: No
Meeting rooms: Yes
Meeting space (sq. ft): Varies
SEE AD ON PAGE 79
• Free Hot Breakfast
• Complimentary Shuttle to Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village for Families
• Free Wi-Fi
• Heated Indoor Pool and Fitness Center
• Complimentary Business Center
• All Rooms Have Refrigerators and Microwaves
• Irons and Hair Dryers
• Conveniently Located Just Minutes From The Henry Ford
GREENFIELD INN
• Featuring O’Henry’s Restaurant and Squire’s Pub
• Large indoor pool, whirlpool, sauna and fitness center
• AAA 3-diamond rating!
• Complimentary shuttle to and from The Henry Ford
• Groups of all sizes, from students to seniors, love our hotel!
• Group rates and specialized group menus available
• Our red carpet service includes a step-on group welcome and expert luggage service
• Enjoy our 600+ automotive print gallery
• TRIA
• Discount
• Close
Power your passions during your stay at our Dearborn hotel.
Embark on a seamless trip at Courtyard Detroit Dearborn, where convenient amenities and comfortable accommodations will propel your productivity. Ideally located along I-94, our Dearborn hotel boasts quick access to destinations such as Ford Motor Company World Headquarters, The Henry Ford, Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena. Unwind in our spacious rooms and suites featuring complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi, plush bedding, mini-refrigerators and ergonomic workspaces.
Start your day with a satisfying breakfast and Starbucks® coffee from The Bistro. With our 24-hour fitness center and indoor pool, it’s easy to maintain your gym routine during your stay. If you’re planning a brainstorming session or small seminar, our two flexible event venues boast catering options and AV equipment to inspire innovation. Whether you’re traveling to Michigan for business or leisure, Courtyard Detroit Dearborn will exceed your expectations.
Redefine Your Detroit Experience
Explore a revitalized downtown at The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, conveniently located near restaurants, nightlife and casinos. A 1924 landmark restored to its former grandeur, our hotel offers modern furnishings, enriching amenities and unique layouts. Relax in one of our 453 guest rooms, including 35 suites, featuring our signature Heavenly® Beds and Heavenly® Baths. Dine at one of our five award-winning restaurants, including Motor Bar or Roast from celebrity chef Michael Symon. With the rejuvenating Spa 19 and AAA Four Diamond service, every stay with us is a refreshing experience.
To make a reservation, visit Marriott.com/DTWCW or call 313.442.1600
Stop by and see the BRAND-NEW Detroit/Dearborn location for yourself. You’ll see why travelers love Hampton, with amenities like our hot breakfast, free Wi-Fi, and our clean and fresh Hampton bed.
• Complimentary breakfast
• Complimentary shuttle within 5 miles of the hotel
• Easy access to businesses, Detroit attractions, malls, casinos and sports venues
• Walking distance to many local restaurants
• Indoor heated swimming pool
• Free business center
• Free internet/Wi-Fi access in every room
• Gym/fitness center
A LOOK BACK
Marching to A Different Drummer, 1982
This poster serves as an advertisement for Allan Bérubé’s documentary slide presentation, Marching to a Different Drummer
Bérubé — who identified as gay — cofounded the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project in 1978, where he served as an empathetic community historian and advocate for LGBTQ+ people.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, he traveled throughout the United States to present Marching to a Different Drummer — a visual journey that explored the silenced histories of gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans who served in the WWII armed forces. As Bérubé traveled, he met and interviewed WWII veterans about their experiences. His expansive research was transformed into the book Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II, which was in turn adapted into a Peabody Award-winning documentary.
— KRISTEN GALLERNEAUX, CURATOR OF COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF DIGITAL CURATION, THE HENRY FORD
DID YOU KNOW? /
The pink triangle on this poster references the pink patches that homosexual men and transgender women were forced to wear while imprisoned in concentration camps by the Nazi regime. In the 1970s, the triangle was inverted and embraced as a symbol of LGBTQ+ liberation. Learn more
E XP LORE MORE WITH OUR FREE APP
Download
Unlock
MAGAZINE
For access to past issues of THF Magazine, please visit issuu.com/thfmagazine.