0 The Society of Automotiverna Historians, Inc . Issue 223 July-August 2006 The Three Henrys 7 By Jim Schild here were three men named Henry who had more influence on the auto­ mobile business then anyone else. These three Henrys created and nur­ www.autohistory.org T tured automobil e manufacturing businesses and concepts that li ve today, and their ideas continue to affect the way automobiles are built and marketed. They were all born in the middle of the nineteenth centu1y, but their vision gave Inside life to the legacy of the twentieth centu ry. There were a number of similarities in these men's lives, but their differences lay in the way each approached the busi­ ness of producing automobiles. The contributions to automotive perfec ti on and Ed itorial Comment 2 advancement of these three men cannot be overstated. The oldest of the three He 111ys was Henry Martyn Leland. Leland was born President's Perspective 3 February 16, 1843 to Leander and Zilpha Leland in Barton, Vermont. He n1y's Quaker parents taught him Christi an ethics and moral standards that included fa ir­ ness, kindness and the desire to help others. Henry was also taught that doing a SAH News 4 job properl y wa important not onl y because it was right but also becaus it was the most economical thing to do. Book Reviews 7 Henry Leland began working at age 11 in a wheel factory and later moved to the Crompton & Knowles loom works with his fa ther and brother. Henry MINI-Technik + Typen worked 60 hours a week for 3.00. By 1865 Leland had moved from the loom The Big Book of Car Culture works to the Springfi eld Armory and later to the Colt firearms factory in Hartford . After two years with Colt Leland went to work fo r precision machinery maker Motormen & Yachting- Brown & Sharpe in Providence, Rhode Island. It was at Brown & Sharpe that The Waterfront Heritage Leland began to utilize all of his experience and skills. of the Automobile Industry The second of our three Henrys was Frederick Henry Royce, born on March 27, 1863 to James and Mary Royce in AI walton, United Kingdom. Royce, like Pebble Beach Concours Leland, was not born to wealth and as a boy he sold new papers for W.H. Smith d'Eiegance-The Art & Sons. Because he needed to contribute to his family's support, Royce was only of the Poster able to attend school from age 11 to 12 and then went to work as a telegraph messenger at the Mayfair Post Office. It was around this age that Henry's aunt paid 20 pounds a year fo r an apprenticeship at the new Great Northern Ra ilway Letters 8 at Peterborough. Royce's landlord was a skilled fitter and machinist so Henry had the opportunity to learn the trade from him. Billboard 11 When Henry was 16 his aunt could no longer afford his apprenticeship so he found employment with a toolmaker in Leeds who paid him 11 shillings for a 54-hour week. Royce later went to work as a tester with the London Power and Light Company and was soon sent north as a technical advi or to the Lancashire Also Inside and Western Electric Company in Liverpool. Bios of Board of Director Candidates The third Henry is Henry Ford. Born in Greenfield Township, Michigan on 2006- 2009 and an Official Ballot­ July 30, 1863, he was the first of six children of William and Mary Ford. Henry Deadline for ballots is September 1st. learned to read and write at home and although he began school at age even or Registration for Annual Banquet at eight, by age 16 he left school and decided that he would be a mechanic, not a Hershey-Deadline for reservations farmer li ke his fa ther. Like the other two Henrys, Ford started his career at an is September 30th. continued on page 6 Keep a Light On for the Car Folks Mike's involvement with SAH never consider themselves historians? and the Society's recent recognition peaking for myself, history was as an affi liate society of the American my favorite subject in high school; I Historical Association are strong evi­ have stackfulls of coll ector magazines; dence that automotive histo1y is a and I am definitely an old-car hobby­ legitimate area of scholarl y study­ ist. As for historian, the dictionary as legitimate as art or music hist01y , defines the term as a writer, student which you ca n enjoy without being or scholar of history. That's a wide able to draw a straight line or cany a enough spectrum to include me, but tune. one of this surprises you nor I would expand it to also include me. What surprises me is the lack of ·'curiosity about histo1y." So I find it Thomas S. Jakups, Editor interest in the Society among more hard to understand how automotive members of the coll ector hobby-at coll ectors and/ or hobbyists could not n his inaugural address to the SAH least the crowd I hang around with. consider themselves histori ans. membership in ]ouma/219, Pres­ At shows, cruises and club meet­ As a member of SAH I have I ident Michael Berger felt compe ll ed ings I have brought up AH. The been exposed to many facets of auto­ to explain why he joined and became response? Not even feigned cu riosity. motive histo1y-and that was just by active in SAH even though "The oldest Why is this so? Could it he that the attending the conferences-and it is car I own was built in 2001 .... If I very word history scares them off with an experience I would recommend to owned an antique car and needed a all those painful memories of sitting eve1yone who is ''into automobiles." part for it, I think I would rather shop through du ll high school classes? Or is So as we seek inclusion within for it on Ehay than walk the Hershey it that their concept of automotive his­ the academic world , let's also practice fie lds in October, especially when it's tory doe not go beyond anicles in inclusion and "keep a light on" for raining." Mike then went on to describe Old Cars Weekf:y or Hemmngs Classic those fo lks who have always appreci­ how his fascination with the automobile Car? Or is it that whil e they would ated automobiles. Just a midsummer and its impact on human behavior and naturally ca ll themselves coll ectors or thought. Let me know what you think. culture led hin1 to SAH. hobbyists or gearheads they would -Tom jakups QJ.J[..I1~,1 .- J Issue 223 july-August 2006 Officers Publications Committee SAH Journal (ISSN 1057-1973) Michael l. Berger President Christopher C. Foster, Chair is published six times a year by the Darwyn H. Lumley Vice President Taylor Vinson Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. Susan S. Davis Secretary Thomas S. Jakups Christopher C. Foster Treasurer Michael Lamm Subscription is by membership Beverly Rae Kimes in the Society. Board of Directors Through October 2006 Membership dues are $40 per year. Samuel V. Fiorani Robert R. Ebert Past Editors Send dues, membership inquiries Patricia Lee Yongue Richard B. Brigham and changes of address to Through October 2007 Issues 1-29 Sept. 1969-(undated) 1973 Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. Michael Bromley Paul N. Lashbrook C. Marshall Naul 1102 Long Cove Road Stanton A. Lyman 30-50 July 1973-Dec. 1976 Cales Ferry, CT 06335-1812 USA Joseph S. Freeman, ex officio John Peckham Through October 2008 51 - 59 Feb. 1977-July 1978 ©2006 John A. Marino Arthur W. Jones Walter Cosden The Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. Joseph R. Malaney 60-87 Nov. 1978-Dec. 1983 Find the Society of Automotive Historians SAH Journal Richard B. Brigham on the web at www.autohistory.org. Thomas S. Jakups, Editor, Adv. Mgr. 88-117 Jan.jFeb. 1983-Nov.jDec. 1988 37 Wyndwood Road Christopher C. Foster West Hartford, CT 06107 USA 118-157 Jan.jFeb. 1989-July/Aug. 1995 Copy Deadline for Journal 224 860-233-5973 Fax 860-232-0468 August 31st [email protected] Samuel V. Fiorani [email protected] 158-194 Sept./Oct. 1995-Sept./Oct. 2001 2 SAH Journal No. 223 NASCAR Nation such a section at the October meeting Philadelphia City Council felt com­ of the SAH Board in Hershey. pelled politica ll y to shut them down I suspect the majority of mem­ after three years. bers responding to the call have a his­ More recendy, even d1e increas­ torical interest in the technical or com­ ingly popular A CAR racing series petitive aspects of auto racing, and that ( extel Cup, Busch, and Craftsman is laudable, especiall y given its emer­ Truck) have not found themselves gence as the most popular spectator above controversy. Like od1er profes­ sport in the United States. There is sional sports in the ruted States, alle­ much to study, analyze and record, gations of heavy-handed governance including the engineering develop­ have been brought against it<> manage­ Michael L. Berger, President ments that were first pioneered in rac­ ment, and questions have been raised . ing cars, the land speed records set, about who is granted and, more signifi­ ''Itis October of 1910. The the emergence of Formula One racing ca nd y, denied press passes and inter­ Philadelphia A's and their and the creation of formal league com­ views wid1 d1e owners, drivers and pit manager, Connie Mack, are petition, to name just a few of the pos­ crews.