THE RECORD
What changed
Ford's Highland Park plant combined earlier factory practices into a moving line in 1913.
EVIDENCE
What remains
Photographs, production records, worker testimony and wages reveal productivity and control.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
It joined mass production to mass consumption while intensifying monotony and surveillance.
OPEN QUESTION
Where interpretation begins
Ford did not invent assembly lines; the five-dollar day came with surveillance and high turnover.