This folder contains correspondence and other documents concerning Edison's friendship and collaboration with industrialist Henry Ford. Among the documents for 1915 are letters relating to the Edison Day event at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Also included are items pertaining to Ford's attempt to organize a peace mission to end the war in Europe. Although Edison rejected Ford's invitation to join the mission, he did indicate his support by witnessing the departure of the "Peace Ship" SS Oscar in December. A letter from Carl Laemmle, president of Universal Film Manufacturing Co. (later Universal Studios), expresses sympathy for Ford's efforts "to stop the most frightful slaughter in the history of the world." Other correspondents include automobile executive Charles E. Sorensen, who refers to Theodore Edison's visit to the Ford plant in July, and New York City civic leader Robert E. Ely, who writes about Edison's attendance at a banquet at Carnegie Hall to accept the Civic Forum Medal of Honor for Distinguished Public Service.
Approximately 20 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected material consists primarily of requests for introductions to Ford and other unsolicited correspondence concerning his celebrated friendship with Edison. Also not selected are telegrams by Ford's personal secretary, Ernest G. Liebold, and Edison's assistant, William H. Meadowcroft, that duplicate the material from the Henry Ford Museum published in the digital edition.
Documents relating to Ford can also be found in E-15-20 (Cigarettes), E-15-37 (Exhibitions), and other folders in the Edison General File. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.