School Children Playing at Belterra, Brazil, 1939

Summary

Henry Ford established Fordlandia and Belterra in the Brazilian rainforest to supply rubber for automobile production. He began shipping machinery and supplies to the Amazon in 1928. Ford paid the indigenous workers good wages and supplied various amenities -- he also imposed foreign work traditions and behavioral restrictions which the workers resented. The plantations failed and Ford Motor Company disposed of the project in 1945.

Henry Ford established Fordlandia and Belterra in the Brazilian rainforest to supply rubber for automobile production. He began shipping machinery and supplies to the Amazon in 1928. Ford paid the indigenous workers good wages and supplied various amenities -- he also imposed foreign work traditions and behavioral restrictions which the workers resented. The plantations failed and Ford Motor Company disposed of the project in 1945.

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

27 February 1939

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1660.P.833.73227.1.3

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 4.75 in

Width: 8.25 in

Inscriptions

Handwritten in image on front border bottom: #596 BELTERRA 2-27-(1)939

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