Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society
Automobility : Conference on the 100th Anniversary of the Model T
November 6 and 7, 2008
Copeland Room
Hagley Museum and Library
Wilmington, Delaware
Conference Poster | Registration Form
Thursday, November 6
7 p.m. Keynote address
Steve Meyer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
"The Legacy of the Model T: 'Modern Times' and the New World of Work, 1908-1945"
Friday, November 7
8:30 - 10 a.m. - Panel 1: Driving, Riding, and Fixing
Joseph Corn, Stanford University
"Automotive Literacy for the Masses: The 'Model Garage' Stories in Popular Science"
Maggie Walsh, University of Nottingham
"Gender on the Road: By Motor Coach or Motor Car?"
Comment: Patrick Fridenson, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
10:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Panel 2: Overcoming Problems
Amy Gangloff, Mississippi State University
"Selling Safety: Crashworthiness, Ford and the 1956 Lifeguard Campaign"
Steven R. Hatch, Heritage Museums & Gardens
"Mother Nature vs. The Model T: The Problem of Snow Removal in the Adoption of the American Automobile"
Michael Fein, Johnson & Wales University
"Tunnel Vision: Motorists, Cities, and the Politics of the 'Big Dig'"
Robert Buerglener, DePaul University
"The 'Modern Monster:' Ordering the Automobile Driver in the US, 1898-1918"
Comment: Thomas Zeller, University of Maryland
1:30 - 3:30 p.m. - Panel 3: Making Vehicles
Jonathan Aylen, University of Manchester
"Induced Innovation: The Auto Industry and Development of the Wide Strip Mill for Steel in the USA During the 1920s"
Nancy Pope, Smithsonian Institution
"Through Rain, Sleet, or Snow: Letter Carriers Go Behind the Wheel"
Craig Semsel, Independent Scholar
"The Quiet Revolution in Kent: Frank Fageol, Twin Coach, and the Birth of the Modern Bus"
Comment: Philip Scranton, Rutgers University/Hagley Museum and Library
3:45 - 5:45 p.m. - Panel 4: Universalizing the Model-T?
Christopher Capozzola, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"The Model T in the American Empire, Or, How Manila Got Hooked on Cars"
Alain Michel, LHEST/Évry University
"Motion Picture and the Making of the Model T: The European Versions of a Film on the Ford Production Methods (1926-1930)"
Gijs Mom, Eindhoven University of Technology
"Model T as Archetype: Universalism and Exceptionalism in the History of Technology"
Comment: Ron Kline, Cornell University
All sessions will take place in the Copeland Room of the Hagley Library in Wilmington, Delaware. There is no fee to attend but registration is required. Lunch will be available on November 7 for $15. A special conference rate is available at the Best Western Brandywine Inn for attendees wishing to stay overnight, e-mail info@brandywineinn.org to reserve a room. To register or to obtain more information, contact Carol Lockman, clockman@hagley.org or (302) 658-2400.