Black, Fred L., 1891-1971

Fred L. Black was always interested in aviation and received his pilot's license in 1928 while working for the Ford Motor Company. He had a keen interest in preserving the records of early fliers and approached Edsel Ford about creating a museum in connection with the Edison Institute Museum at Dearborn, Michigan. Ford was very interested in doing so and Fred Black then began acquiring photographs and printed materials about the Wright Brothers and their experiments with flight. He was in contact with Orville Wright several days each month and together they negotiatiated for the house where Wilbur and Orville grew up and the bicycle shop in which they made parts for their first plane. The Wright home and shop was acquired and became a memorial to the Wright Brothers in Greenfield Village in 1938. Mr. Black retired from Ford Motor Company in 1942, worked as an attorney for many years, and died in Arizona in 1971.

From the description of Black collection, 1896-1953. (US Air Force Academy). WorldCat record id: 501078728

Fred L. Black was born on January 26, 1891 in Battle Creek, Michigan. He received a B.A. degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1915. Shortly after graduating he married Maude Thomas and they had one child. Mr. Black worked in Cincinnati for the Whitaker Paper Company and then in Detroit as salesman and advertising manager. He was hired by Henry Ford as business manager for his Dearborn Publishing Company. Mr. Black became head of Ford Motor Company's Advertising Department in 1927. In 1943 he left Ford Motor Company and became Head of Advertising for the Nash Kelvinator Company (eventually American Motors Corporation). He retired from American Motors in 1955 and joined the University of Michigan as Professor of Business Administration. He died in Sedona, Arizona on March 23, 1972.

From the description of The Fred L. Black collection, 1933-1940. (Detroit Public Library). WorldCat record id: 612342610