My grandfather worked for Henry Ford, and according to the oral history that I was told, had a very interesting career with the Ford Motor Company.
How can I corroborate this? When I do google searches for his name (Rhodes Walters), nothing comes up. He was quoted in a book about Ford, and I was told that a graduate student from Wayne State University did a paper on him, but they don't know how to find that. (I can share the oral history if you're interested).
My broader question is, how does anyone corroborate family stories? Is there a process to go through? Where should one start?
Does this help? Apparently relatives of ex-employees of the Ford Motor Company can request those records.
Contact the company before you go on a wild goose chase. They might have that info right at their fingertips.
I know you've already contacted Ford, but I'd suggest checking out the Benson Ford Research Center at Greenfield Village too. It has a fairly extensive archive and while most of it is about the cars and running of the company, they might have some employee records.
I was told that a graduate student from Wayne State University did a paper on him, but they don't know how to find that. //
Perhaps put a bounty out for students there (eg via their Facebook) to do library research for you? I'd be surprised if the library didn't keep copies of all papers published by their graduate students under University auspices??
When was the paper written, what was the focus (just your grandfather?), what department, where was it published - answers to any of those would probably be quite pertinent. Some here may have access to databases they can search that you don't.