Editing Akron, Ohio (section)

==History==
[[File:TownplotpfAkron.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Original town plot of Akron]]

The first settler in the Akron area was Major Miner Spicer,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Oscar |date=October 23, 1952 |title=He Digs Up History Of City's Street Names |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-akron-beacon-journal/30692687/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=[[The Akron Beacon Journal]] |pages=33}}</ref> who came from [[Groton, Connecticut]]. He built a [[log cabin]] in the forest in 1810, and became the region's first citizen.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=First Universalist Church |date=1904 |title=Views of Akron, Ohio and Environs |url=https://www.akronlibrary.org/images/SpecCol/views_of_akron.pdf |page=4}}</ref> In June 1811, Spicer sent for his family, who came that same year by ox teams accompanied by Capt. Amos Spicer and Paul Williams.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Portrait and Biographical Record of Portage and Summit Counties, Ohio |publisher=A. W. Bowen & Company |year=1898 |pages=307}}</ref>

In 1811, Paul Williams settled near the corner of what is now Buchtel Avenue and Broadway. He suggested to General [[Simon Perkins]], who was surveyor of the [[Connecticut Land Company]]'s [[Connecticut Western Reserve]], that they found a town at the summit of the developing [[Ohio and Erie Canal]]. The name is adapted from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word {{lang|grc|ἄκρον}} ({{em|ákron}}), meaning summit or high point.<ref>{{LSJ|a)/kron|ἄκρον|ref}}.</ref> It was laid out in December 1825, where the south part of the downtown Akron neighborhood sits today. Irish laborers working on the [[Ohio Canal]] built about 100 cabins nearby.

After Eliakim Crosby founded "North Akron" (also known as Cascade) in the northern portion of what is now downtown Akron in 1833, "South" was added to Akron's name until about three years later, when the two were merged and became an incorporated village in 1836.<ref name=ReferenceA>{{cite web|title=Akron's Historic Timeline: 1800–1849|url=http://www.akronohio.gov/cms/site/2cdaf98b9523ff5c/index.html|publisher=City of Akron|access-date=June 9, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607103741/http://www.akronohio.gov/cms/site/2cdaf98b9523ff5c/index.html|archive-date=June 7, 2015}}</ref> In 1840, Summit County formed from portions of [[Portage County, Ohio|Portage]], [[Medina County, Ohio|Medina]], and [[Stark County, Ohio|Stark]] Counties. Akron replaced [[Cuyahoga Falls]] as its county seat a year later and opened a canal connecting to [[Beaver, Pennsylvania]], helping give birth to the stoneware, sewer pipe, fishing tackle, and farming equipment industries.<ref name="akronhistory.org"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/> In 1844, abolitionist [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] moved into the [[John Brown House (Akron, Ohio)|John Brown House]] across the street from business partner [[Colonel Simon Perkins]], who lived in the [[Perkins Stone Mansion]]. The Akron School Law of 1847 founded the city's public schools and created the [[K–12 (education)|K–12 grade school system]],<ref name="ohiohistorycentral.org">{{cite web |url= http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1508 |title= Akron School Law |publisher= Ohio History Central |access-date= February 6, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110628204130/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1508 |archive-date= June 28, 2011 |url-status= live }}</ref> which currently is used in every U.S. state. The city's first school is now a museum on Broadway Street near the corner of Exchange.

===1850s–1890s: Summit City===
When the Ohio Women's Rights Convention came to Akron in 1851, Sojourner Truth extemporaneously delivered her speech named "[[Ain't I A Woman?]]", at the Universalist Old Stone Church. In 1870, a local businessman associated with the church, [[John R. Buchtel]], founded Buchtel College, which became the [[University of Akron]] in 1913.

[[Ferdinand Schumacher]] bought a mill in 1856, and the following decade mass-produced [[oat|oat bars]] for the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]; these continued to sell well after the war. Akron incorporated as a city in 1865.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Philanthropist [[Lewis Miller (philanthropist)|Lewis Miller]], Walter Blythe, and architect Jacob Snyder designed the widely used [[Akron Plan]], debuting it on Akron's First Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872.<ref name="nrhpinv_ny" /> Numerous [[Congregational church|Congregational]], [[Baptist]], and [[Presbyterian]] churches built between the 1870s and World War I use it.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eYNjS56yx-0C&pg=PA185 |title=When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-Century America|first= Jeanne Halgren|last = Kilde|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]|date= 2005|isbn = 978-0-19-517972-9|page =185}}</ref><ref name="American Religious Buildings" /> In 1883, a local journalist began the modern toy industry by founding the Akron Toy Company. A year later, the first popular toy was mass-produced [[clay]] [[marbles]] made by Samuel C. Dyke at his shop where Lock 3 Park is now. Other popular inventions include rubber balloons, ducks, dolls, balls, baby buggy bumpers, and little brown jugs. In 1895, the first long-distance electric railway, the [[Akron, Bedford and Cleveland Railroad]], began service.<ref>http://omp.ohiolink.edu/OMP/NewDetails?oid=955184&scrapid=566&format=yourscrap&sort=title&searchstatus=0&count=1&hits=1{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On August 25, 1889, the [[Boston Daily Globe]] referred to Akron with the nickname "Summit City".<ref name="PopikSmoky" /> To help local police, the city deployed the first police car in the U.S. that ran on electricity.<ref name="Police Technology" />

===1900s–1990s: Rubber Capital of the World===
{{See also|Akron Rubber Strike of 1936}}
[[File:Macon construction struct.jpg|thumb|An airship under construction at the [[Goodyear Airdock]], c. 1930]]
The [[Crime in Akron, Ohio|Riot of 1900]] saw assaults on city officials, two deaths, and the destruction by fire of Columbia Hall and the Downtown Fire Station (now the City Building since 1925).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ci.akron.oh.us/history/Riot_1900.htm |title=Akron Ohio History: 1900 Riot |publisher=Ci.akron.oh.us |access-date=September 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215182049/http://www.ci.akron.oh.us/history/Riot_1900.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2012 }}</ref> The American [[trucking industry]] was birthed through Akron's Rubber Capital of the World era when the four major tire companies [[Goodrich Corporation|B.F. Goodrich]] (1869), [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company]] (1898), [[Firestone Tire and Rubber Company]] (1900),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/history/history_overview.html |title=Goodyear Corporate &#124;&#124; Historic Overview |publisher=Goodyear.com |access-date=April 3, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090409024843/http://goodyear.com/corporate/history/history_overview.html| archive-date= April 9, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> and [[General Tire|General Tire & Rubber Company]] (1915)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.generaltire.com/generaltire/ |title=General Tire * Our Company |publisher=Generaltire.com |date=March 23, 2009 |access-date=April 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301152422/http://www.generaltire.com/generaltire/ |archive-date=March 1, 2009 |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.summitmemory.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOBOX1=William&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP2=all&CISOBOX2=postcards&CISOFIELD2=subjec&CISOROOT=all&t=s |title=CONTENTdm Collection |publisher=Summitmemory.org |access-date=September 9, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120085421/http://www.summitmemory.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOBOX1=William&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP2=all&CISOBOX2=postcards&CISOFIELD2=subjec&CISOROOT=all&t=s |archive-date=January 20, 2013  }}</ref> were headquartered in the city. The numerous jobs the rubber factories provided for deaf people led to Akron being nicknamed the "Crossroads of the Deaf".<ref name="deaftoday.com"/> On Easter Sunday 1913, {{Convert|9.55|in}} of rain fell, [[Great Flood of 1913|causing floods]] that killed five people and destroyed the Ohio and Erie Canal system. From 1916 to 1920, 10,000 schoolgirls took part in the successful Akron Experiment, testing [[iodized salt]] to prevent [[goiter]] in what was known as the "Goiter Belt".<ref>[http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/history/40932322.html]{{Dead link|date=September 2012}}</ref>

In 1914, [[Marcus Garvey]] founded the [[Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League|Universal Negro Improvement Association]] in Kingston, Jamaica; its Akron branch opened in 1921.<ref name="Akron: Akron's Black History Timeline: 1900-1919: The New Century" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Giffin|first1=William|title=African Americans and the Color Line in Ohio, 1915–1930|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2MCDFaRcD0C&q=United+Negro+Improvement+Association+%28UNIA%29+was+founded+in+Akron&pg=PA210 |publisher=Thompson Shore, Inc.|isbn=9780814210031|year=2005|page = 210|via = Google Books}}</ref>

Rubber companies responded to housing crunches by building affordable housing for workers. Goodyear's president, [[Frank Seiberling|Frank A. Seiberling]], built the [[Akron neighborhoods|Goodyear Heights]] neighborhood for employees. Likewise, [[Harvey S. Firestone]] built the [[Akron neighborhoods|Firestone Park]] neighborhood for his employees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ci.akron.oh.us/planning/cp/neighborhoods/FirestonePark.pdf |title=Firestone Park |access-date=September 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220033031/http://ci.akron.oh.us/planning/cp/neighborhoods/FirestonePark.pdf |archive-date=February 20, 2012 }}</ref> During the 1910–1920 decade, Akron became a [[boomtown]], being America's fastest growing city with a 201.8% increase in population. Of the 208,000 citizens, almost one-third were [[immigrants]] (also [[Clark Gable]])<ref name="Clark Gable - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society"/> and their children from places including Europe and West Virginia. In 1929 and 1931, Goodyear's subsidiary [[Luftschiffbau Zeppelin|Goodyear-Zeppelin Company]] manufactured two airships for the United States Navy, [[USS Akron|USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4)]] and [[USS Macon (ZRS-5)|USS ''Macon'' (ZRS-5)]]. Goodyear built a number of [[blimps]] for the Navy during WWII and later for advertising purposes.<ref name="blimp"/><ref name="Guide to military installations"/><ref>{{cite web|last = [[Akron-Summit County Public Library]]|website=  Summit Memory|title = Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, Facts About the World's Largest Airship Factory & Dock|url = http://www.summitmemory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/fulton&CISOPTR=97&CISOSHOW=93|access-date = November 15, 2008|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090418022205/http://www.summitmemory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=%2Ffulton&CISOPTR=97&CISOSHOW=93|archive-date = April 18, 2009|df = mdy-all}}</ref>

Akron again grew when [[Kenmore, Akron, Ohio|Kenmore]] was annexed by voter approval on November 6, 1928. Found hiding under a bed at one of his hideouts in the city, notorious bank robber Charles Arthur "[[Pretty Boy Floyd|Pretty Boy]]" Floyd was arrested under the name "Frank Mitchell" in March 1930.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Charles_Arthur_%27Pretty_Boy%27_Floyd |title=Charles Arthur 'Pretty Boy' Floyd |publisher=Ngeorgia.com |access-date=September 9, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513045345/http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Charles_Arthur_'Pretty_Boy'_Floyd |archive-date=May 13, 2012  }}</ref> Goodyear became America's top tire manufacturer after merging with the [[Kelly-Springfield Tire Company]] in 1935.<ref name="Claims to Fame - Products" /> Lasting five weeks and consisting of roughly 5,000 strikers including union sympathizers from other factories and neighboring states, the [[Akron Rubber Strike of 1936]] successfully used the [[Sitdown strike|"sit-down" tactic]] to force recognition of the [[United Rubber Workers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=461 |title=Akron Rubber Strike of 1936 – Ohio History Central – A product of the Ohio Historical Society |publisher=Ohio History Central |date=July 1, 2005 |access-date=September 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730091514/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=461 |archive-date=July 30, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 1950s–60s Akron surged as use of the automobile did. The historic [[Rubber Bowl]] was used by the [[National Guard of the United States]] as a base during the racial [[Crime in Akron, Ohio|Wooster Avenue Riots of 1968]]. Like many other industries of the [[Rust Belt]], both the tire and rubber industries experienced major decline. By the early 1990s, Goodyear was the last major tire manufacturer based in Akron.

===2000s: City of Invention===
[[File:Goodyear Polymer Center at Sunset.jpg|thumb|Goodyear Polymer Center, [[University of Akron]]]]
Despite the number of rubber workers decreasing by roughly half from 2000 to 2007, Akron's research in [[polymers]] gained an international reputation.<ref name="Akron, Ohio"/> It now centers on the Polymer Valley which consists of 400 polymer-related companies, of which 94 were located in the city itself.<ref name="newsweek.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2001/04/29/a-new-brand-of-tech-cities.html|title=A New Brand Of Tech Cities – Newsweek and The Daily Beast|date=April 29, 2001|publisher=Newsweek.com|access-date=September 9, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126150813/http://www.newsweek.com/2001/04/29/a-new-brand-of-tech-cities.html|archive-date=November 26, 2010}}</ref> Research is focused at the [[University of Akron]], which is home to the [[Goodyear Polymer Center]] and the National Polymer Innovation Center, and the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering. Because of its contributions to the [[Information Age]], ''[[Newsweek]]'' listed Akron fifth of ten [[high tech|high-tech]] havens in 2001.<ref name="newsweek.com"/> In 2008 "City of Invention" was added to the seal when the [[All-America City Award]] was received for the third time. Some events of the [[Gay Games|2014 Gay Games]] used the city as a venue. In 2013, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company opened its new global headquarters on Innovation Way, further cementing the company's relationship with the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mackinnon |first=Jim |date=May 8, 2013 |title=Goodyear's new headquarters reflects a new company |url=https://www.ohio.com/akron/business/goodyear-s-new-headquarters-reflects-a-new-company |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083012/https://www.ohio.com/akron/business/goodyear-s-new-headquarters-reflects-a-new-company |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |website=[[Akron Beacon Journal]] Ohio.com}}</ref> [[Bridgestone]] built a new technical center with state-of-the-art R&D labs, and moved its product development operations to the new facility in early 2012.<ref name="Mobile Edition"/><ref name="Bridgestone Americas, Inc"/>

The city also continues to deal with the effects of air and [[soil pollution]] from its industrial past. In the southwestern part of the city, soil was contaminated and noxious [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCB]]-laden fumes were put into the air by an electrical transformer deconstruction operation that existed from the 1930s to the 1960s. Cleanup of the site, designated as a [[Superfund]] site by the [[Environmental Protection Agency]], began in 1987 and concluded in 2000. The area remains restricted with regular reviews of the site and its underground aquifer.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Downing|first1=Bob|title=EPA begins new review of Superfund cleanup at Akron's Summit Equipment|url=http://www.ohio.com/news/local/epa-begins-new-review-of-superfund-cleanup-at-akron-s-summit-equipment-1.356906|agency=Beacon Journal|publisher=Ohio.com|date=December 10, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102221215/http://www.ohio.com/news/local/epa-begins-new-review-of-superfund-cleanup-at-akron-s-summit-equipment-1.356906|archive-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Harper|first1=John|title=When PCBs, heavy metal spewed from smokestacks in southwest Akron: Toxic Remains|url=http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2015/12/when_pcbs_and_heavy_metal_spew.html|access-date=December 31, 2015|publisher=Cleveland.com|date=December 28, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231042745/http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2015/12/when_pcbs_and_heavy_metal_spew.html|archive-date=December 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=SUMMIT EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES INCORPORATION|url=http://www3.epa.gov/region5/superfund/npl/sas_sites/OHD055523401.html|website=epa.gov|publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102221216/http://www3.epa.gov/region5/superfund/npl/sas_sites/OHD055523401.html|archive-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref>

===Racial history===
{{See also|City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health}}
City founder [[Simon Perkins]] negotiated a treaty with [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] to establish a mail route from the [[Connecticut Western Reserve]] to Detroit in 1807, an early example of historic humanitarian affairs in Akron. Aside from being part of the [[Underground Railroad]], when active, [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] was a resident, today having two landmarks (the John Brown House and the John Brown Monument) dedicated to him. During the 1851 Women's Rights Convention, [[Sojourner Truth]] delivered her speech entitled "[[Ain't I A Woman?]]". In 1905, a statue of an Indian named Unk was erected on Portage Path, which was part of the effective western boundary of the [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|White]] and [[Indigenous people of the Americas|Native American]] lands from 1785 to 1805.<ref name="ASCPL Digital Exhibit"/> The [[Summit County, Ohio|Summit County]] chapter of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] reported having 50,000 members, making it the largest local chapter in the country during the 20th century. At some point the sheriff, county officials, mayor of Akron, judges, county commissioners, and most members of Akron's school board were members. The Klan's influence in the city's politics eventually ended after [[Wendell Willkie]] arrived and challenged them.<ref name="Ku Klux Klan - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society"/> Race played a part in two of Akron's major riots, the Riot of 1900 and the Wooster Ave. Riots of 1968. Others giving speeches on race in the city include [[W.&nbsp;E.&nbsp;B. Du Bois]] (1920)<ref name="Akron: Akron's Black History Timeline: 1900-1919: The New Century"/> and President [[Bill Clinton]] (1997).<ref name="Akron Ohio Historical Timeline 1950 - 1999"/> In 1971, [[Alpha Phi Alpha|Alpha Phi Alpha Homes Inc.]] was founded in Akron by the Eta Tau Lambda chapter, with [[James R. Williams (lawyer)|James R. Williams]] as chairman. The centerpiece, [[Henry Arthur Callis|Henry Arthur Callis Tower]], is located in the Channelwood Village area of the city. In 2008, 91-year-old Akron native, Addie Polk, became the [[poster child]] of the [[Great Recession]], after shooting herself.<ref name="Ohio foreclosure prompts suicide attempt"/> In 2022, Akron resident [[Jayland Walker]] was killed by police after shooting at them while fleeing, sparking days of protest and the institution of a police review board.