Portal:Michigan/Selected Biography
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Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American film director, author and political activist known for his outspoken, critical views on globalization, large corporations, gun violence, the Iraq War, the United States, and President George W. Bush. Born in Flint, Michigan, Michael Moore grew up in the city of Davison. He was brought up Roman Catholic and attended a Diocesan seminary at age 14. He then attended Davison High School, where he was active in both drama and debate.
After dropping out of the University of Michigan-Flint (where he wrote for the student newspaper The Michigan Times) at the age of 22, he founded the alternative weekly magazine The Flint Voice, which soon changed its name to The Michigan Voice. Currently Moore runs Michigan's annual Traverse City Film Fest.
Moore is famous now for his documentary films, including: Roger & Me, The Big One, Bowling for Columbine, and Fahrenheit 9/11. He is also the author of three bestselling books: Downsize This!, Stupid White Men, and Dude, Where's My Country?.Portal:Michigan/Selected Biography/2
John David Dingell, Jr. (born July 8, 1926) is a Democratic United States Representative from Michigan and is currently the Dean (longest-serving member) of the House of Representatives, with a tenure longer than the entire lifetimes of 121 of his current colleagues. He is the 2nd longest serving Representative ever and the 4th longest serving Congressman ever. Since 1955, he has represented a district in the western suburbs of Detroit, currently numbered as the 15th district.
He attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with a law degree in 1952. He was a lawyer in private practice, a research assistant to U.S. Circuit Court judge Theodore Levin, a Congressional employee, a forest ranger, and assistant prosecuting attorney for Wayne County until 1955, when he won a special election to succeed his father, who died in office in the House of Representatives. He has since been reelected 26 times, including a run in 2006 with no major opponent. Dingell is generally classed as a liberal Democrat, and throughout his career he has been a leading congressional supporter of organized labor, social welfare measures and traditional progressive policies.
With the Democrats' victory in the 2006 midterm elections, Dingell became chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a panel he previously chaired from 1981 to 1995.Portal:Michigan/Selected Biography/3
Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943), son of Henry Ford, was born in Detroit. He was president of Ford Motor Company from 1919 to 1943. Edsel Ford, 49-year-old president of the Ford Motor Company, died this morning at his home at Grosse Pointe Shores following an illness of six weeks.
As the Fords' only child, Edsel was groomed to take over the family business, and had grown up tinkering on cars with his father. He became secretary of Ford in 1915 and married Eleanor Clay, niece of department store owner J. L. Hudson, on November 1, 1916. Together they had four children: Henry Ford II, Benson, Benson Ford, a grandson of the automobile pioneer Henry Ford and a vice president and director of the Ford Motor Company, died early today of an apparent heart attack aboard his yacht, which was docked in the Cheboygan River in Michigan. He was 59 years old. Josephine (1923-2005), Josephine Clay Ford, a philanthropist who was the sole granddaughter of the automotive pioneer Henry Ford, died on Wednesday. She was 81 and lived in suburban. Her death was announced in an e-mail message to Ford Motor Company employees by the company chairman, Bill Ford Jr., a nephew. The message did not give a place or cause of death. Mrs. Ford, known as Dody, established a foundation with her husband that donated millions of dollars. Mrs. Ford was born in 1923, the third of Edsel and Eleanor Ford's four children. Edsel was Henry Ford's only son. They made their home at 2171 Iroquois St, in the Indian Village neighborhood of Detroit.
The younger Ford showed more interest than his father in flashier styling for automobiles. He indulged this proclivity in part with the purchase of the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922. His affinity for sporty cars was demonstrated in his personal vehicles: Edsel bought the first MG motorcar imported to the United States. In 1932 he had a V-8 boat-tailed speedster custom-designed for him, and two years later had another car designed, this one a low-riding aluminum-bodied speedster. The latter two cars he kept for the remainder of his life and inspired the design of the Lincoln Continental.
After becoming president of Ford, Edsel long advocated the introduction of a more modern automobile to replace the Model T, but was repeatedly overruled by his father. Flagging sales and dwindling market share for the company, however, finally made introduction of a new model inevitable.
During the design phase for the Model A, Henry Ford assured mechanical quality and reliability, leaving it to his son to flesh out the body design. This the younger Ford accomplished with the help of designer József Galamb. Edsel also prevailed upon his father to allow the inclusion of four-wheel mechanical brakes and a sliding-gear transmission on this model. The resulting Model A was a commercial success, selling over four million during four years of production.
As president, Edsel Ford was often at loggerheads with his father on major decisions, but he nevertheless managed to accomplish several lasting changes. Edsel Ford founded and named the Mercury division, and significantly strengthened Ford Motors' overseas production. He was also responsible for the Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln Continental.
Edsel Ford died in 1943 in Grosse Pointe Shores of cancer at age 49. His father, Henry, resumed the presidency of the company and all of Edsel Ford's nonvoting stock was donated through a codicil in his will to the Ford Foundation, which he had founded with his father seven years earlier. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Each Ford child inherited a large number of shares in the Ford company and the three sons all worked in the family business. Henry Ford II succeeded his grandfather as president of Ford on September 21, 1945. He is generally credited with rescuing the company after World War II.
Edsel Ford was one of the most significant art benefactors in Detroit history. As president of the Detroit Arts Commission, he commissioned the famous Diego Rivera Detroit Industry mural contained within the Detroit Institute of Arts. He was an early collector of African art and his contributions became part of the core of the original DIA African art collection. After his death his family continued to make significant contributions.
Edsel Ford also helped to finance exploratory expeditions, including Admiral Richard Byrd's historic flight over the North Pole in 1926. Byrd, in his Antarctic expeditions, also financed by Edsel, in gratitude named the Edsel Ford Range of mountains for him. Other Antarctic homages include Ford Massif, Ford Nunataks, and Ford Peak.
Edsel Ford's name continues in two of the three local high schools in Dearborn: Edsel Ford High School and Fordson High School. Fordson was the brand name of a line of tractors and was originally started as a separate company, Henry Ford & Son, later absorbed into the Ford Motor Company. Interstate 94 in the Detroit Metropolitan Area is named the Edsel Ford Freeway.
In 1958 Ford started a new car division called Edsel. The Edsel is remembered as an enormous failure, even though the car sold moderately well in its first year. The Edsel line was discontinued after the 1960 model year.
In 1929 the Ford family moved into their new home, designed by Albert Kahn on shores of Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Shores. Edsel Ford died in this house in 1943 and his wife lived there until her death in 1976. It was her wish that the property be used for "the benefit of the public." The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House is now open to the public for tours. Located on 87 acres at 1100 Lake Shore Road
Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan 48236, the house has a fine collection of original antiques and art, and beautiful lakefront grounds. The house currently hosts special events, classes and lectures, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Portal:Michigan/Selected Biography/4
David Dunbar Buick (September 17, 1854 - March 5, 1929) was a Scottish-American inventor best known for founding the Buick Motor Company. He was born in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland but moved to Detroit, Michigan at the age of two when his parents emigrated to the United States.
During the 1890s, Buick developed an interest in internal combustion engines and began to spend his time on experimenting with them. Buick set up a new company, the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company, in 1899 to build engines. Due to monetary troubles, he set up a second company in 1902, the Buick Manufacturing Company, with the twin aims of marketing engines to other car companies and of manufacturing and selling its own cars. His concentration on development had also produced the revolutionary "Valve-in-Head" overhead valve engine. This method of engine construction produces a much more powerful engine than the rival side valve engine design which all other manufacturers used at the time. Overhead valve engines are now used by all car companies.
The money had run out again by 1903 and Buick was forced to raise more money via a $5,000 loan from a friend and fellow car enthusiast, Benjamin Briscoe and form the Buick Motor Company which was to become the foundation stone of the General Motors empire.Portal:Michigan/Selected Biography/5
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President (1974–1977), and 40th Vice President (1973–1974) of the United States. Ford was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment. Upon succession to the presidency, Ford became the only person to hold that office without having been elected either President or Vice President. Prior to 1973, he served for over eight years as the Republican Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; he was first elected to Congress in 1948 from Michigan's 5th congressional district.
Ford was a member of the House of Representatives for twenty-four years, holding the Grand Rapids congressional district seat from 1949 to 1973. In 1965, Republican members of the House elected him Minority Leader. During his tenure, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Ford to the Warren Commission, a special task force set up to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and Ford was chosen as replacement. When Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal on August 9, 1974, Ford assumed the presidency.
Ford remained relatively active in the years after his presidency and continued to make appearances at events of historical and ceremonial significance to the nation, such as presidential inaugurals and memorial services. In 1977, he established the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at Albion College in Albion, Michigan. This institute is designed to give undergraduates training in public policy. In 1981, he opened the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, and the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ford died at the age of 93 years and 165 days on December 26, 2006 at 6:45 p.m Pacific Standard Time (02:45, December 27, UTC) at his home in Rancho Mirage, California of a heart attack. After the funeral service in Michigan (following services at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.), Ford was interred at his Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.Portal:Michigan/Selected Biography/6
Greg Mathis (born April 5, 1960 in Detroit) is a retired Michigan 36th District Court judge and syndicated television show judge. His show Judge Mathis is seen five days a week in most television markets in North America. A spiritually inspired play, Been there, Done that, based on his life toured twenty-two cities in the U.S. in 2002, and Inner City Miracle, a memoir was published by Ballatine Books.
Mathis was born in Detroit, the fourth of four boys born to Alice Mathis, a devoted Seventh-day Adventist. Mathis was both victim and beneficiary of the rich mix of African-American culture found in Detroit during the turbulent times of the 1960s and 1970s. But, his mother's deep devotion to church and community rescued him from total destruction, something many of his peers could not escape.
A close family friend helped Mathis get admitted to Eastern Michigan University, and he discovered a new interest in politics and public administration. He became a campus activist and worked for the Democratic Party, organizing several successful demonstrations against South African Apartheid policies. Mathis began his political career as an unpaid intern, and his presence in Detroit's City Hall was insignificant until he became an assistant to Clyde Cleveland, a city council member. It was at this time Mathis took the LSAT and applied to law schools; he was fortunate enough to be conditionally admitted to the University of Detroit School of Law. Mathis later became head of Mayor Coleman Young's re-election campaign and after Young's victory was appointed to run the city's east side city hall, a job that took much of his time, but made him certain he could make a difference in the lives of the poor residents.
He has been hosting a television series, Judge Mathis, since 1999, in which he mediates disputes and passes judgments in a civil court recognized by several states. In 2001, Mathis appeared in "1st Annual BET Awards." He also was a guest star as himself in the Steve Harvey show episode "Here Comes the Judge". Mathis has been parodied on Saturday Night Live by Tracy Morgan in the "Judge Horace" persona.Portal:Michigan/Selected Biography/7
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