Akron Beacon Journal: The Akron History Center is a local gem

The Beacon Journal staff recently took a field trip back in time — and we didn’t even have to go very far to get there.

About 15 reporters, photographers and editors made the trek about half a mile from our downtown newsroom to the new Akron History Center, a free museum located in the historic Bowery building at 172 S. Main St.

All of us left extremely impressed by this new community gem.

Akron Beacon Journal staff members, from left, Stephanie Warsmith, Theresa Bennett and Patrick Williams take note of a Beacon Journal-sponsored soap box derby car on display at the Akron History Center during a recent tour led by, far right, retired Beacon Journal reporter Bob Downing, a volunteer at the museum.
The Akron History Center has been a labor of love years in the making for Dave Lieberth, former deputy mayor and president of Akron History Center Inc. The tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation raised more than $2 million to make the museum a reality.

The center’s debut coincides with a yearlong celebration to mark Akron’s bicentennial.

The Akron-Summit County Public Library operates the three-floor, 3,000-square-foot museum. Caitlyn Conley, the library’s local history and museum specialist, oversees the space.

The Summit County Historical Society provided most of the historic artifacts that are on display — many for the first time. But new items are constantly being solicited and accepted from other organizations and community members.

Lieberth graciously offered to give the Beacon Journal a private tour of the museum after I expressed interest in having the staff pay a visit.

I thought it would be a great way for all of us — from veterans like me with 25+ years experience to newbies who joined the staff within the last year or two —to learn more about the community we serve.

We weren’t disappointed.

Lieberth and Conley joined retired Beacon Journal reporter Bob Downing, a volunteer at the center, to lead us on a journey through Akron’s rich history.

One of the first items to greet us was a familiar face; a painting of John S. Knight that hung in the stairwell of the old Akron Beacon Journal building at 44 E. Exchange St. for decades was on the display to our right as we walked through the museum’s front doors off Main Street. I definitely was proud to see a part of the Beacon Journal’s legacy represented.

Knight, Beacon Journal editor and publisher and founder of the Knight newspaper empire, is also one of 64 people who were born, educated or grew up in Akron whose stories are highlighted on flatscreens in the museum.

The lower level, accessible from Lock 4, is largely dedicated to Akron’s founding on Dec. 6, 1825, and features the maps for the Ohio & Erie Canal, which were pivotal to the city’s rapid growth. It’s fascinating to step back in time and picture our city in its earliest days.

There also are items from Akron founder Gen. Simon Perkins, including his surveying compass and pistols, and tributes John Brown and Sojourner Truth, national figures with Akron ties who played key roles in the abolishment of slavery.

Throughout the museum, there are items and exhibits that capture the things that make Akron unique: a door from Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Dr. Bob Smith’s downtown office, a working model of the Airdock, dozens of items (not just tires) made in Akron, a tribute to our city’s musical influences and items from musicians from our community who made it big, an old soap box derby car and so much more.

Lieberth told us he consistently hears from visitors that they learned something they didn’t know about the city after touring the new history center.

I never knew, for example, that Mickey Mouse-inspired gas masks were made and distributed to children in Akron during the World War II era because the city was considered a target due to its rubber production. The mask was supposed to be “less scary” for kids than a typical gas mask, but I personally found it a bit creepy.

And after working in the Rubber City for more than 28 years, I had never seen or touched actual raw rubber until I got the chance at the museum.

Even the Beacon Journal’s own history guru Mark J. Price learned something new as we toured the museum. (I won’t tell you what he discovered — you’ll have to wait to read a future This Time, This Place: Local History column by Price to find out for yourself!)

“I was, in general, just impressed with how well put together the history center was,” longtime Beacon Journal reporter Stephanie Warsmith told me after our tour. “I thought the exhibits were interesting and covered a lot of ground involving Akron’s history.”

Warsmith thought the “coolest item” at the center was a door from Dr. Bob’s office, which visitors are allowed to touch. It’s expected to be a big draw during Founder’s Day Weekend, when Alcoholics Anonymous make an annual pilgrimage to the birthplace of AA.

“I love the idea that people will come to see this during the annual Founder’s Day weekend, which shows the importance of preserving Akron’s history in this way,” Warsmith said.

The museum is free and open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

If you haven’t visited the Akron History Center yet, you need to check it out. I know I’ll be going back.

And if you have suggestions for must-see spots for the Beacon Journal staff’s next field trip, drop me a line at cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com

• • •

For more visit the Akron Beacon Journal.