Mission & Values
Mission
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.
Vision
The Henry Ford will be a force for inspiring every individual to innovate, create and invent.
Values
We are curious: We are a community of learners committed to growing as a collaborative and inclusive team.
We are authentic: We set high standards of excellence to bring the past forward by sharing what we know and respecting what others bring.
We are passionate: We are flexible and resilient as we think big, work smart, and grow wisely to create engaging and fulfilling experiences for everyone.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility Commitment
The Henry Ford is an international destination, an educational resource, and an equitable employer. We strive to actively increase equity and inclusivity in all our work to create meaningful and accessible experiences and engagements that foster a sense of belonging for people of all backgrounds and abilities.
Embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across the institution is an ongoing process. As such, The Henry Ford will intentionally make decisions that celebrate diversity and that prioritize representation and acceptance.
It is the policy of The Henry Ford to prohibit discrimination based on age, gender expression, gender identity, learning, mental, and physical abilities, race, religious beliefs, sex, sexual orientation, or any other such characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
This pledge is a shared responsibility extended to all people who work and partner with us and is upheld by our institutional mission, vision, values, strategic goals, and service commitment.
Henry Ford and Antisemitism
Henry Ford was a well-documented anti-Semite and racist. He was one of the world’s most influential innovators who shaped the 20th century and changed the way we live as a society, but he also leveraged his wealth and power in harmful ways. Most egregiously, Henry Ford encouraged the virulent spread of conspiracy theories and hate speech directed towards Jewish people.
As a public, educational institution and globally-recognized American history destination that documents the stories of innovation, ingenuity and resourcefulness, we acknowledge the harmful impacts of Henry Ford’s antisemitism and racism at a local, national, and international level.
The Henry Ford decries hate speech and discrimination in any form. While currently, we do not exhibit a personal history of our founder that includes his anti-Semitic and racist beliefs, we do not pretend that this ugly side of his story did not exist. We believe it is our responsibility to our staff, students, and guests to share this truth and to take action to combat antisemitism and all forms of racism within our organization. We have created and will continue to provide opportunities for open and honest conversations using the authentic stories of America’s past to help inspire a better future for all.
Land Acknowledgement
The venues of The Henry Ford stand on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded homelands of the Three Fires Council—the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi peoples. The Miami, Wyandot, and Fox Nations also called this land their home. The 1807 Treaty of Detroit led to the forcible removal of these First Peoples, and they dispersed throughout the United States to parts of current-day Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas, and into Canada. The Henry Ford acknowledges the impacts of settler colonialism and commits to deepening its relationship with Indigenous communities in the present—and future.
