Henry Ford Museum Adds Civil Rights Home to Dearborn Complex

The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn will open a house that was restored where Martin Luther King Jr. spent weeks planning voting rights marches in 1965. This summer, guests can walk through it in the village section.

King's stay left behind many items from that time. They're still there. "The chair that King sat in when he took phone calls with the president is the actual chair and is in the room in the exact position," said Cynthia Jones, the director of museum experience and engagement, according to Mid Michigan Now.

"The Civil Rights Movement I think is one of those things that helps us as Americans truly live the promise of America," Jones added.

Inside, you'll find pieces from big moments that changed our nation. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in 1955—that bus sits here now. So does the chair where President Abraham Lincoln drew his last breath after being shot.

"We're giving people that immersive moment because history can feel far away," Jones said, per the source. What matters most isn't just famous faces but the regular people who made things happen.

Stop by "Liberty and Justice for All," which opened two decades back. Inside waits something rare. "An early copy, an very rare copy of the Declaration of Independence," Jones said, according to the source.

America turns 250 this July, but Jones thinks we should look back even farther than 1776. "We think about the indigenous people that were here before us," she said, according to the source. "We think about people who came to America in many different ways, including people that were enslaved and were brought here."

Most visitors know Henry Ford built cars, yet he saved ordinary things others tossed out. Stoves and cookbooks line the halls. They show how families cooked, ate, and survived back then.

"Very often we move on, right? The next big thing and we don't really care about the old thing," Jones said, as per the source. "Well we're a place that cares about the old thing because the old thing is often times the thing that created now."

Craftwork from across three centuries fills the space too—pottery that tells stories through clay, glaze, and the hands that shaped each piece.