June 16th of this year was the 119th anniversary of Ford Motor Company. Ford has been an integral part of American history over the past century, and the company’s past is something that’s not only of interest to industry professionals but also to everyday enthusiasts. Because of this, Ford is celebrating its anniversary this year with the release of the Ford Heritage Vault, an online database that houses digitized versions of Ford’s fascinating archival material.
The Ford Heritage Vault contains over 5,000 photos and product brochures for both Ford and Lincoln vehicles, dating from 1903 when the company was founded all the way up to the 100 year anniversary in 2003. The entire collection is free and open to the public and the materials are all searchable and downloadable. The site was also designed with accessibility in mind, particularly for blind and visually impaired users who would be unable to access the original analog version of the archives. Technologies like screen readers were built into the site to make it easier for everyone to use. “These assets were born analog, and we have worked hard to bring them to the digital world,” said Ciera Casteel, who led the accessibility effort. “But digitizing isn’t enough. It was important to us that the Heritage Vault is accessible for everyone to enjoy.”
The archive team at Ford has spent the last two years working with graduate students from Wayne State University’s library and information science program in Detroit as well as Ford employees retirees preparing material for the Heritage Vault by gathering and digitizing materials from the Ford archives. Going forward the vault will be constantly evolving, drawing more material from the archives to expand the history preserved in the Heritage Vault and create a central place to preserve Ford’s rich history.
The site has already been hosting testers, who have been browsing the vault and looking for popular search terms like Ford Bronco, Ford F-Series, Meteor, Fairlane, Galaxie, Model A and Edsel. One of the test users was even able to find the Tempo models that were driven by their mother and grandmother in the 1980s and 1990s, showing how the Ford Heritage Vault has applications outside of journalists, historians, and auto industry professionals.
“We’re opening up in a way we’ve never done before,” said Ted Ryan, Ford archive and heritage brand manager. “Our archives were established 70 years ago, and for the first time, we’re opening the vault for the public to see. This is just a first step for all that will come in the future.”