The Nankin Township Historical Society

I'm committed to the Nankin cause but not $25 committed. Which is how much this 1932 press photo of the Rawsonville Hotel is going for on eBay. The back states that it was located 5 miles from Ypsilanti on the Huron River and was the residence of the Clarence Bennett. The property had been owned by Mrs. Bennett's father Edwin Barlow. Henry Ford also seemingly had a stake in the old hotel having converted a front upper room into a ballroom for children participating in old-time dances. No newspaper is listed on the print.

Situated across the street from the Ford Motor Company Central Office Building, the Rotunda was originally located in Chicago at the site of the World's Fair in 1934. Henry Ford liked the building so much that he had it dismantled and shipped to Dearborn. It became a tourist attraction (the 5th largest in the US ahead of such stalwarts as the Statue of Liberty and Yellowstone Park) and was beloved by metro Detroiters for its annual Christmas shows that began in the 1950s after an extensive remodeling of the building. Coloring books were given away to young visitors and this was the last one distributed before the building was gutted by flames.

It's common knowledge that Henry Ford lent a helping hand to residents of Inkster who were living in squalor in the 1930s by not only employing them but also helping to rebuild parts of the city. The housing project included new schools, refurbished homesteads, discount (price wise, not quality) food pantries, soup kitchens and a re-payment plan that would make the Inksterites self-sufficient with some aid from their benefactor. The plan nearly paid for itself with only 3% of the nearly $1.75 million loaned out paid back. Ford, of course, paid the difference. Detroit Free Press , February 27, 1938 In the book Detroit Divided the authors claimed that Ford's housing project, as beneficent as it was, was not merely an act of charity but one of political bias. Not against the people that he was helping but rather Jewish merchants whom Ford thought would take advantage of the poor blacks and keep them indebted. Ford's antisemitism was well-known--he had an admirer in Adolf Hit...