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July 30, 1863 - April 7, 1947Inventor and capitalist businessman, Henry Ford installed the first moving assembly line in his Highland Park, Michigan factory on December 1, 1913. The time to produce a Model T was reduced from slightly over twelve hours to 93 minutes. Ford, paying significantly higher wages than competitors and reducing the workday to eight hours, was labeled a socialist while reinventing capitalism. In November 1915 he organized the "Ford Peace Ship," a group of pacifists who sailed to Europe to attempt mediation. In 1918, he lost a campaign for the Senate. His editorials in The Dearborn Independent only confirmed the label of "ignorant idealist" given him by the _Chicago Tribune._By 1940, Ford had amassed a fortune in excess of one billion dollars, much of which he gave to charity through his philanthropic foundations. Raised: November 28,1894 _Palestine Lodge No. 357, Detroit, MI_Member: Zion Lodge No. 1 Source: American Mason, Sag Harbor, NY. Aug/Dec 2001 p. 22; Denslow. |
