Mill Talk: The Longest, Hardest Race

Mill Talk: The Longest, Hardest Race-Henry Ford & the Cross-Country Contest That Changed America

Presented by author Eric Moskowitz

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eric Moskowitz tells a riveting, fast-paced story of the first true coast-to-coast automobile race in U.S. history. This is a colorful tale of corporate ambition and subterfuge braided through a gripping account of the gritty drivers who braved hostile terrain, mechanical failure, and, shockingly, sabotage, while chasing victory.

In 1909, America was home to 253 automakers, a landscape of visionaries, schemers, and would-be barons of the new century. But when playboy millionaire M. Robert Guggenheim announced an audacious coast-to-coast auto race from New York City to the Seattle World’s Fair, only three of those companies were brassy enough to show up at the starting line: Acme, Ford, and Shawmut.

Henry Ford was intent on proving that the Model T could go the distance and beat out the muscular luxury cars—and he didn’t plan to leave it to chance. Indeed, a little over three weeks after the race began, a Ford crossed the line hours ahead of the Shawmut.

Except that victory was a fraud.

Eric Moskowitz spent 12 years at The Boston Globe, where he covered transportation and was part of the team that received the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. He has writtenfor The Atlantic and The New York Times, and his work has appeared in The Best American Sports Writing and The Best American Newspaper Narratives anthologies. He studied American history at the University of Pennsylvania and lives near Boston with his wife and children