A Memorable Evening at the Wayside Inn
Sharing the story of 'The Mechanical Boy'
Last Thursday, I had the honor of presenting my book, The Mechanical Boy: An Aviation Enthusiast at Henry Ford's Wayside Inn Boys School, alongside Professor Michael McCluskey of Northeastern University, to a small yet enthusiastic audience at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. While the focus was on my father’s story and the two airplanes he constructed during his time there, it was also an exploration of an era and a place that continues to command attention as a cultural landmark in America's history. While the Inn continues to attract visitors from around the world, the legacy of Henry Ford’s Boys School remains largely untold, especially regarding its profound influence on the young, disadvantaged boys who made it their home from 1928 until the mid-1940s.
The presentation was highly interactive, with attendees posing numerous questions about the school's location, the dormitories, the laboratory where planes were constructed, and the methods used to transport these aircraft to the aviation field depicted on 1930s maps. There was a palpable curiosity about the era, the burgeoning fascination with aviation in America, and the potential role of the Ford Motor Company's Aviation Division in supporting Joe and his peers in fulfilling their aircraft-building dreams.
One aviation historian in attendance suggested that the boys' initial plane looked a lot like the Mignet HM.14 Pou du Ciel, or "Flying Flea," a simple French design biplane aimed at enabling amateurs to build the plane from a simple kit.
This mention sparked a long-forgotten memory from my father. He spoke of the Flying Flea, but that was long before I began researching for the book. However, the HM.14 was not introduced until the early 1930s. Earlier models like the Mignet HM.8 fit the time frame, but it was a monoplane, and my archival photos clearly show the construction of a biplane. Every new insight is exciting, and this one prompts me to delve back into the archives to see what new information I can uncover about this early project.
Perhaps the most poignant moment of the evening was toward the end when the President of the Wayside Inn Foundation expressed gratitude to me for sharing my father’s story with such sensitivity. He revealed that the Foundation occasionally receives ‘hate mail’ correspondence urging the removal of Henry Ford's name from the Wayside Inn because of his well-documented anti-Semitic views. He went on to say that history is replete with complex figures whose visionary contributions have profoundly impacted our world. While we cannot condone their prejudices, erasing them from history would overlook the multifaceted nature of their legacies.
This experience reinforced the importance of presenting a balanced narrative, acknowledging both the achievements and flaws of historical figures like Henry Ford. It is through such nuanced storytelling that we can truly understand and learn from the past.