James Joseph Couzens (August 26, 1872 – October 22, 1936) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the mayor of Detroit from 1919 to 1922 and a U.S. senator from Michigan from 1922 to 1936. Before becoming a politician, he worked as vice president and general manager of the Ford Motor Company.

Early life and career

Couzens was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada in 1872. He was the son of James Couzens, a soapmaker, and Emma Clift Couzens. He attended public schools in Chatham and later studied at a business college. In 1890, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, and worked as a railroad car checker for the New York Central Railroad from 1890 to 1897. His hard work at the railroad was noticed by Alexander Y. Malcomson, who hired him as a clerk in his coal business. Couzens worked for Malcomson from 1897 to 1903.

In 1898, Couzens married Margaret Manning. The couple had six children: a son born in 1899 who died as an infant; Homer Couzens, born in 1900; Frank Couzens (later mayor of Detroit), born in 1902; Madeline, born in 1904; Margo, born in 1910; and Edith, born in 1911.

Association with Henry Ford

In 1902, Henry Ford was preparing to start the Ford Motor Company. Alexander Malcomson was a major investor in the company. Both men wanted to find more people to invest in the business. James Couzens borrowed money and used $2,500 to invest in the new company. The Ford Motor Company was officially created in 1903. John S. Gray was the first president, Henry Ford was vice-president, Alexander Malcomson was treasurer, and James Couzens was secretary. Couzens managed the company’s daily operations and was paid $2,400 each year. In 1906, Gray passed away, and Malcomson was removed from the business. Couzens then became vice president and general manager. The company helped both Ford and Couzens become wealthy, largely because of Couzens’s strong business skills. Over time, the two men had disagreements, and in 1915, Couzens left his position as general manager, though he remained on the company’s board of directors. In 1919, Ford bought Couzens’s shares in the company for $30,000,000. Couzens was honored by being inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2012.

Detroit work and political career

James Couzens was president of the Bank of Detroit and a director of the Detroit Trust Company. He served as commissioner of street railways from 1913 to 1915 and as commissioner of the metropolitan police department from 1916 to 1918. He was mayor of Detroit from 1919 to 1922. During his time as mayor, he put in place municipal street railways.

Senatorial career

Couzens was appointed on November 29, 1922, as a Republican to the United States Senate to replace Truman H. Newberry, who resigned. His appointment was confirmed after a special election on November 4, 1924, which allowed him to finish Newberry's term. At that time, Couzens was also elected to a full term beginning March 4, 1925. He was reelected in 1930 and served in the Senate from November 29, 1922, until his death on October 22, 1936. He did not win the nomination in 1936, a loss often linked to his support for Roosevelt's New Deal programs. Couzens chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Civil Service during the Sixty-ninth Congress, the U.S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor during the Sixty-ninth and Seventieth Congresses, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce during the Seventy-first and Seventy-second Congresses. His actions in Congress generally aligned with the Progressive Republicans, who supported policies such as a high graduated income tax and public ownership of utilities. Couzens died in Detroit and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery there.

Philanthropy

James Couzens started the Children's Fund of Michigan with a $10,000,000 grant. He also gave $1,000,000 to help people in Detroit who needed assistance and began a program to provide loans to people with physical disabilities. Under the leadership of Dr. Frank Norton, Dr. Kenneth Richard Gibson, and their secretary, Kathryn Hutchison, the Children's Fund offered free health and dental care to poor children in Detroit. The Fund was planned to last for 25 years and ended in the mid-1950s.

After the Bath School Disaster, in which Andrew Kehoe, a frustrated school board member and treasurer, killed 38 children by exploding bombs in the basement of Bath Consolidated School in Bath Township, Michigan, Couzens donated $75,000 to rebuild the school. The new school was named the "James Couzens Agricultural School."

He gave $600,000 to the University of Michigan to build a residence hall for female nursing students near the university hospital and medical campus. The building was named Couzens Hall in his honor. He also supported the construction of a nurses’ home at the Farrand Training School in Detroit, a nursing school connected to Harper Hospital. The building was completed in 1922, and at his request, the Board of Trustees named it McLaughlin Hall after Emily A. McLaughlin, the principal of the Farrand Training School.

In the 1930s, Couzens donated $1 million to Children's Hospital of Michigan after his wife asked for "a simple box in which to keep my pearls." Couzens followed her request by placing the $1 million gift inside the box, along with a note that read, "My dear, your new pearls will be all the children who are eventually treated there." Today, Children's Hospital of Michigan is part of the Detroit Medical Center.

Concerned about problems with low-income housing projects from the Great Depression, Couzens created an alternative solution. He used $550,000 of his own money and $300,000 from Oakland Housing to build Westacres, a managed low-income housing project in West Bloomfield, Michigan. This project allowed low-income factory workers to own homes. Each home was on 1 acre of land, and owners were required to grow food on the land to help feed their families during times when they had no work.

Miscellaneous

When asked how to pronounce his name, he told The Literary Digest: "It is pronounced exactly like cousins."

On November 9, 1937, more than a year after his death, the Detroit City Council, led by Mayor Frank Couzens—James Couzens’ son—voted to rename a part of Northwestern Highway in Detroit. This section of the highway started at Wyoming Avenue and continued into Oakland County. However, the part of Northwestern Highway in Oakland County was not renamed. Later, in the 1960s, when the John C. Lodge Freeway was extended from its end at Wyoming Avenue northward along the route of James Couzens Highway–Northwestern Highway, the Lodge name was added to the new section of the freeway. Meanwhile, the service roads between Wyoming Avenue and Eight Mile Road (M-102) kept the name James Couzens.