EDISON, Thomas A. FORD, Henry. HOOVER, Herbert. Black and white photograph signed by all three ("Thos. A Edison"), ("Henry Ford"), and ("Herbert Hoover"), AS PRESIDENT, Dearborn, Michigan, n.d. [21 October 1929]. 7 5/16 x 6 3/16in., mounted on card, signed by each on the mount.

EDISON, Thomas A. FORD, Henry. HOOVER, Herbert. Black and white photograph signed by all three ("Thos. A Edison"), ("Henry Ford"), and ("Herbert Hoover"), AS PRESIDENT, Dearborn, Michigan, n.d. [21 October 1929]. 7 5/16 x 6 3/16in., mounted on card, signed by each on the mount.

TWO GREAT INVENTORS AND THE ENGINEERING PRESIDENT, gather for this photo on 21 October 1929, when President Hoover came to Dearborn to dedicate the Edison Institute (also known as The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village). Ford timed the opening of his museum to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb. Here Edison sits before Hoover and Ford in the museum's recreation of Edison's laboratory. The Wall St. crash followed three days later, and the ensuing Great Depression would tarnish both Hoover's and Ford's reputation. Edison, however, remains today a revered exemplar of American innovation.