The Leland Chapter, Detroit fall gathering was held virtually by Zoom on October 22, 2020, from the Automotive Hall of Fame (AHF) in Dearborn, Michigan by President Brian Baker. The event started off with the attendees from two states and one province engaging in a lively discussion about how they were coping with the pandemic by reading, researching, writing, organizing personal libraries, wrenching, etc.
President Baker provided an update on the Bio Project, the Chapter’s work revising and updating the biographies, tribute pages and timelines of 286 of the inductees at the AHF. This long-term project will further develop the print and digital assets of the AHF with revised and expanded content, which will benefit the public when visiting the Hall. While work on over 60 of the biographies has been completed to date, Sarah Cook, President of the AHF, appealed to Chapter members to continue contributing their knowledge, and their writing skills, emphasizing that many more biographies, tribute pages and timelines are available for revision.
The relationship between the Leland Chapter and the Automotive Hall of Fame has been a significant development for the Chapter this year. As historians born of the 20th century, our members possess an intimate knowledge of automotive events which they can record and share with the generations of the 21st century and beyond.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Brian Baker gave his recent AHF presentation Mobility in the Future: How did we Get Here? This entertaining and informative talk did indeed address the question “How did we get here?” with examples of early attempts at autonomous vehicles and the development of advanced mobility concepts over the past few decades, as they relate to present efforts.