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goal is to collect, preserve and display 
the public materials related to his life so 
that “researchers, students, historians and 
the general public will know and appre-
ciate how his designs and ideas changed 
industrial America and helped make 
Detroit the manufacturing capital of the 
United States during the first half of the 
20th century.”

POP-UP EXHIBIT
The Legacy Foundation wants to provide 
a space for archives preservation and 
plans to create traveling exhibits and offer 
educational programs. Their first effort 
is a “pop-up” exhibit introducing Albert 
Kahn and his achievements, designed by 
Eric Keller, a volunteer. (Some images 
from the pop-up exhibit are included with 
this article.)
Volunteer board members are con-
sidering possible exhibition locations 
— museums or libraries in Detroit and 
Ann Arbor as well as Kahn-designed 
buildings. However, they may wait until 
the COVID pandemic restrictions are 
loosened and permit greater foot traffic 

in public buildings. 
Long-term, the board is considering 
the feasibility of creating an Albert Kahn 
museum. “Ideally, we want something 
permanent,” Pfannes says, “but there are 
pop-ups in the meanwhile. We need to 
raise money for a feasibility study for 
a museum. We’re working on partner-
ing with the Fisher Building, Argonaut 
Building and Urban League (which has its 
headquarters in Kahn’s family home) — 
all designed by Kahn.” 
“He is part of the Detroit community, 
the Jewish community. We have so much 
history, but people aren’t aware of it,” says 
Barbara Cohn, Kahn Legacy Foundation 
board member and co-author of Detroit 
Public Library — An American Classic. The 
Foundation is hoping to attract paying 
members (beginning at $25) as a finan-
cial base. Members will receive discounts 
for events, such as educational programs. 
A bicycle tour of Albert Kahn buildings 
in Detroit is planned for later this year. 

For more information about the Albert Kahn Legacy 

Foundation, visit www.albertkahnlegacy.org.

Albert Kahn 
and Henry Ford

One of the ironies of Kahn’s career is that 
his single most prominent client was Henry 
Ford, automotive pioneer, who was well-
known for public expressions of antisem-
itism in his newspaper, The Dearborn 
Independent. The newspaper published 
numerous articles about a conspiracy of 
Jewish bankers and Jews being the insti-
gators of World War I. Eventually, a Jewish 
businessman sued 
Henry Ford for libel, 
there were protests of 
its contents by multiple 
organizations and the 
newspaper was closed. 
“Ford had no ani-
mus toward Jewish 
people individually,” 
says Michael G. Smith, 
a historian. Ford’s 
antisemitism stemmed 
from an experience 
with bankers when he 
sought a loan, Smith 
says. They wanted 
more control of the company than Ford was 
willing to provide. The bankers happened 
to be Jewish and from that encounter, Ford 
began to support a conspiracy theory about 
Jewish bankers and businessmen. 
Eventually, Kahn would no longer meet 
with Ford, sending someone else in his 
place.
Why would Ford seek out a Jewish archi-
tect for his factories? It was basically due 
to Kahn’s ability to fulfill Ford’s ideas. “They 
had a great deal of respect for each other,” 
Smith says.
Factories at the end of the 19th and 
beginning of the 20th centuries were multi-
floored, dark, airless buildings that were 
prone to fires. Ford wanted a factory that 
would accommodate his new assembly 
line rather than requiring cars to be built 
and transported between several levels 
of a building. Kahn was able to design a 
single-floor factory with lots of natural light, 
more floor space and better ventilation.
This resulted, in part, from his brother 
Julius’ development of an improved rein-
forced concrete that was stronger and 
required fewer support columns. Walls of 
windows provided much better lighting than 
other factories of the era. 
This kind of construction provided a safer, 
more pleasant environment for workers and 
improved productivity. Kahn’s firm was also 
known for its efficiency and willingness to 
adapt to clients’ needs.

IN 
THE
JEWS D
ON THE COVER

Hill Auditorium, the 

University of Michigan

Ford Motor Company Highland 

Park Assembly Plant. Built in 

1910, it was nicknamed the 

“Crystal Palace.”

MICHAEL G. SMITH
WIKIPEDIA
ALBERT KAHN ASSOCIATES

