Process Paper

    We chose Henry Ford because we felt that he had a large impact on society in a way that affects our own generation. Although he did not invent the automobile, he made them affordable and available to all who wanted one. Our group had several possible candidates for our History Day project, and we decided to base our decision on who had the greatest impact on the society we live in today, and who was the easiest to find Primary Documents for. After going through about five possible topics, our group decided to go with Henry Ford because of his significant accomplishments in the automobile industry and the numerous Primary Documents we could use, including a book that he wrote himself.

    We conducted our research by going online and finding sources that we could use for the project. First, we went to the South San Francisco High School library both with our class and after school as a group. We also got books from the West Orange library about Henry Ford, and asked the librarians there for reliable resource sites online. We were also able to find primary soruces written during the time Henry Ford was still alive on the NY Times website. We also used the website EBSCO to look for articles about Ford’s life, as well as Google images and Photobucket.com to find pictures of Henry Ford.

    Our group decided to do a website because we thought it provided an orderly way of conveying all the aspects of Henry Ford’s life. With a website, we could use pictures and text to show the information about Henry Ford. The great thing about a website is that videos could be used also, which was really helpful when it came to explaining the assembly line. To create the website, our group used the website Weebly.com. Also, members in our group learned how to use HTML codes, so that we could make our website as organized as possible. Then, we used Photobucket.com to find pictures that could be used for our website, and if Photobucket.com did not have a picture we needed, then we searched Google for the picture. Our group went through two drafts before finishing the final project.

    Henry Ford relates to the National History Day theme because Ford took action in bettering the automobile industry, and this led to a massive change in American culture. Henry Ford left a lasting legacy that is still seen today. The United States is made for automobiles, especially the Western Side, due to the substantial increase in automobile owners during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Also, Henry Ford impacted industry in general by setting the pace for minimum wage with his five dollar work day, and he also set the standards for labor reforms by setting the eight hour work day. Henry Ford is one of the most influential figures in American History, and that is why he makes a perfect topic for National History Day.
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