Ford

Ford Motor Company has one of the most recognizable trademarks in the world. From the Model T that put the world on wheels to the Mustang, Ford has been part of the fabric of America for generations.
 
Ford’s first corporate archives was closed when its contents were donated to The Henry Ford Museum in 1963. By 1996, Ford realized that they needed to get control of their records and hired Winthrop Group. Linda Edgerly designed a new corporate archives that included a formal collaborative relationship with The Henry Ford. Winthrop Group found a new archives director and placed the first of a series of Winthrop archivists who have continued to work alongside Ford employees.

 One joint project that won acclaim for its transparency was research regarding slave labor at the Ford plant in Germany during World War II. Winthrop Group worked with archivists around the world to collect all relevant documents, wrote several white papers with results, and made all of the project documents available to the public.
 
In anticipation of the company’s centennial in 2003, the archives team expanded to a peak of over a dozen archivists. They contributed to a three-day celebration and a centennial book and website.
 
Tough times in the auto industry have seen the archives shrink, but the team continues to look for ways to incorporate history into Ford. As part of the Communications team, archivists add historical context to corporate communications, including creating social media content. The archives has even gone global, advising and assisting company archives in the UK, Germany and Australia.