Ernest G. Liebold papers, 1906-1951 (bulk 1918-1933)
Liebold, Ernest Gustav, 1884-1956
Details
0.4 cubic ft
The papers are comprised of copied documents that Liebold offered the Ford Motor Company Archives after he was interviewed by Ford Archives staff as part of an oral history program conducted in the 1950s. The only original material in the collection are bank books dated 1918-1927 which Liebold kept as treasurer of the Dearborn Publishing Company. The papers include a file of correspondence covering the years 1925 to 1928 detailing the arrangements made by Liebold, Thomas Edison, and others for the movement of Edison's Fort Myers, Florida, laboratory to Dearborn, Michigan; a folder of material with copies of an agreement entered into in 1912 between Ford and Edison on the production of storage batteries; and a copy of the letter of apology sent to Louis Marshall, President of the American Jewish Committee, June 30, 1927. Other items of interest include a diary kept by Liebold when he accompanied Ford on a European trip in the fall of 1930; transportation arrangements for guests attending the Light's Golden Jubilee celebration at the Henry Ford Museum in October, 1929; documents concerning the establishment of a rubber plantation in South America in 1927; a 1933 interview with Henry Ford by George Sylvester Viereck; a summary of an interview with A. Y. Malcolmson, 1919; and a report on the potential for development of hydroelectric water power in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, undated. There is also a folder of correspondence in German and folders of routine correspondence, such as Liebold's resignation letters from banks where he worked prior to joining the Ford Motor Company
Ernest G. Liebold, executive secretary and business representative for Henry Ford for many years, was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 16, 1884. In 1911, James Couzens, general manager of Ford Motor Company, offered Liebold a position in a new bank created by the company, and soon after, Henry Ford asked Liebold to organize the Dearborn State Bank. By 1918, Liebold's duties included holding the power of attorney for both Henry and Clara Ford. Liebold came to wield unparalleled authority in the complex activities of the Henry Ford Office, becoming accountant and financial manager for a multitude of personal projects Henry Ford was involved in beyond the Ford Motor Company. Projects included Henry Ford Hospital; the Dearborn Independent; Detroit, Toldeo, and Ironton Railroad; Dearborn Realty and Construction Company; the Dearborn Country Club; and the purchase and operating of Ford's first and largest yacht, Sialia. Projects managed by Liebold were almost always self-supporting and profitable. He retired from Ford Motor Company in 1944 at age 60
See also Ernest G. Liebold oral history, Acc. 65
The papers are open for research
Item, folder, box, Accession 64, Ernest G. Liebold papers, Benson Ford Research Center, The Henry Ford
Inventory available
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