Ford of Canada Factory staff, 1907. (Courtesy Museum Windsor via Ford of Canada Archives/ University of Windsor)
By Lindsay Charlton
Ford Motor Company helped establish Windsor as the automotive capital of Canada, but the people who worked on its assembly line built much more than vehicles.
When Henry Ford established the first international Ford plant in the early 1900s at the corner of Riverside Drive and Drouillard Road, immigrants and workers from various backgrounds came with it, building a community in Ford City.
Those stories were the focus of University of Windsor History MA student and Botsford Scholar Sean Amyot’s upcoming talk, Many Hands on the Line: Immigration and Cultural Development in Ford City Between 1904-1945, at the Chimzuk Museum, launching the Museum Volunteer Group Lecture Series in September.
“Even today, this region is very much driven by the automotive industry, and the inciting question I wanted answered was, how did Windsor get here?” Amyot said. “Through researching and engaging with the community, I learned there’s a lot more nuanced history involved.”
Originally a company town, meaning most entities were owned by Ford and most people were employed there, Amyot said Ford City was unique in that workers were allowed to bring their families, and they were paid in American dollars.
“They got the freedom of mobility that was kind of at that point unseen in company towns, because oftentimes workers would be paid in goods or tokens that could only be redeemed in company stores. So, there really weren’t outside influences, but in Ford City it was different,” he said.
Workers came to the plant from a variety of communities, including significant Finnish, Jewish, Russian and Italian populations.
While Amyot said it was common for people to stick to their own social circles at the time, that wasn’t the case in Ford City. Instead, they became a more homogeneous community, connected by the fact that they all worked for Ford.
One example he points to is the 1945 strike, the longest automotive strike in Canada, lasting 99 days.
“The church nearby on Riverside Drive served as a central hub for people to meet,” Amyot explained. “People couldn’t put food on the table, so the church eventually emerged as a place of alms for these workers to continue their strike.”
He said stories like these could be lost if they aren’t shared, as much of this history is oral, with few stories documented in newspapers or other records.
“I was able to learn a few other things that may have been more of a family history as opposed to something recorded.”
His research came from two papers on Ford City in his senior undergraduate year as a history major that earned him the Botsford Scholarship and will inform his talk Saturday.
“Public history is telling the story of the people who are here. You’re thinking more about the little guy, the people who are actually, pardon the pun, making the engine work. To focus on them, you get a more holistic picture of the time and what it was like, and I hope this sparks engagement with those who attend,” Amyot said.
History professor Dr. Steven Palmer, who was Amyot’s adviser on one of the papers and sits on the department’s awards committee, said the event is one way to reconnect scholars with the community.
The scholarship, named for and established in memory of David Botsford, a pioneering historian and the first curator of the museum at Fort Malden who played a pivotal role in having it recognized as a national historic site, is a flagship scholarship for the History Department, Palmer said.
“I love the Botsford because it's undergraduates being declared scholars,” he said. “You're representing the department in the community.”
Years ago, each Botsford Scholar would give a presentation at an Essex County Historical Society dinner and have their name engraved on a plaque at Fort Malden. While the scholarship itself continued, the community aspect of it faded when the society dissolved.
“Now the Chimzuk will start their autumn series with a Botsford scholar giving their presentation, so this is a way of reviving it, giving it new life and connecting it with the region's premier historical institution,” Palmer said.
Like the scholars before him, Amyot will have his name engraved on the plaque at Fort Malden.
The names of students who earned the award while the practice was on hold will also be added to the plaque, Palmer said.