The Akron Civic Theater

The Akron Civic Theatre a playhouse in Akron, Ohio, is one of only sixteen remaining atmospheric theaters, designed by John Eberson, in the United States. It is an excellent example of the great movie palaces of the 1920s. Located on Akron's Main Street, the entrance lobby extends over the Ohio and Erie Canal. The theater has a small multi-colored terra cotta façade dominated by a large marquee. The interior of the entrance and lobby is designed to resemble a Moorish castle with Mediterranean decor, complete with medieval style carvings, authentic European antiques, and Italian alabaster sculptures. A grand full-sized Wurlitzer Theatre organ is hidden beneath the stage and rises on a special lift. In June 2001, the Akron Civic Theatre closed its doors for the most expensive and extensive renovation in its seventy-five year history to better serve customers, actors and staff.

Alan Page

Alan Cedric Page was born in Canton, Ohio on August 7, 1945. A graduate of Canton Central Catholic High School, he worked on a construction team that erected the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is an American retired jurist and former professional football player. He gained national recognition as a defensive tackle in the NFL and then embarked on a legal career. He served as an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1993 until he reached the court's mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2015. Page was the first defensive player to win the MVP Award. He is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame (1993) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1988). He is considered one of the greatest defensive linemen ever to play the game. In 2018, President Donald Trump awarded Page the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Amish Country

The Amish came to the United States in search of religious freedom. In the 1700s Amish families arrived in America and by the 19th century Amish orders had spread into Holmes County, Ohio. The Amish live in homes without electricity or telephones, ride in horse-drawn buggies and vehicles, and wear very plain, homemade clothing. They maintain the lifestyle of their 16th century European ancestors. Their occupations range from farming, woodworking, cabinetry and carpentry, and blacksmiths. Tourism fuels their economy and their restaurants and shops sell home-style meals and baked goods, handmade quilts, and baskets. It is a peek back into America’s history.

Canal Park

Canal Park is a baseball stadium located in Akron, Ohio which seats 7,630 fans. The venue is the home of the Akron RubberDucks of the Double-A Northeast, which is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Completed in April, 1997, the stadium gets its name from its location adjacent to the Ohio and Erie Canal, which runs behind the left-field wall.

Chrissie Hynde 

Christine Ellen Hynde, born September 7, 1951 in Akron, Ohio, is an multi-Grammy-nominated American singer-songwriter and musician. A graduate of Firestone High School, she is a founding member and the guitarist, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, as well as its only constant member. Hynde formed the Pretenders in 1978. Hynde was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of the Pretenders.

Dan Dierdorf

Daniel Lee Dierdorf, born June 29, 1949, is an American sportscaster and former football offensive lineman. A native of Canton, Ohio, and a graduate of GlenOak High School, Dierdorf played college football for the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1970 and was selected as a consensus first-team All-American in 1970, and a first-team All-Big Ten Conference player in 1969 and 1970. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. Dierdorf played professional football in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals for 13 seasons from 1971 to 1983. He played in the Pro Bowl six times and was chosen as a first-team All-Pro five times. He was named to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Since his playing career ended, Dierdorf has worked as a broadcaster, and in 2008 he received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

First Ladies National Historic Site

First Ladies National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in Canton, Ohio. The location consists of two properties in downtown Canton, Ohio - the home of First Lady Ida Saxton-McKinley, and a small visitor center with an exhibit and film. During her residency in Washington, D.C. Mary Regula, wife of Ohio congressman Ralph Regula and founder of the Site, spoke regularly about the nation's first ladies. The 1895 building, formerly the City National Bank Building, was given to the National First Ladies’ Library in 1997.

Hoover Company Historic District

The Hoover Company Historic District is an area of commerce, industry and invention. The district is composed of two large factory complex buildings, two warehouses (one is non-contributing), a company store, and the international headquarters building that retain their historic architectural features. In 1908 James Murray Spangler invented the first upright vacuum, naming it the “Electric Suction Sweeper”. He sold his patent to his in-law William Henry Boss Hoover who was a leather-goods manufacturer in New Berlin, Ohio (present day North Canton, Ohio). On August 8, 1908, the Electric Sweeper Suction Company was formed, later to be renamed the Hoover Company. Boss Hoover also established a research and development department in 1909 which provided the company with numerous patents and improved products that maintained the company as an industry leader.

Howard Street District

The center of African-American culture in Akron, Ohio during the mid-20th century, Howard Street was home to many of the city's black-owned business and entertainment establishments, and provided an atmosphere in which minority-owned businesses could thrive. The 1930-1950 era saw the heyday of Howard Street as a vibrant cultural center. The Matthews Hotel was a regular stop for black entertainers such as Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie when these mucicians performed in Akron. Local music clubs included the Green Turtle, the Cosmopolitan, the High Hat, and Benny Rivers.

Hugh Downs

Hugh Malcolm Downs was born on February 14, 1921 in Akron, Ohio. A graduate of Lima Shawnee High School and Bluffton College, he was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer, television host, news anchor, TV producer, author, game show host, and music composer. A regular television presence from the mid 1940s until the late 1990s, he had several successful roles on morning, prime-time, and late-night television.

LeBron James

LeBron Raymone James Sr., born December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio is a  graduate of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. He is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. Widely considered one of the greatest NBA players in history, he’s played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Lakers. James is the only player in NBA history to have won NBA championships with three franchises as the Finals MVP. He has competed in 10 NBA Finals and been named an All-Star 17 times, including 3 All-Star MVP selections. Having become more involved in philanthropic and activist pursuits later in his career, James's charitable organization, the LeBron James Family Foundation, helped open a school, housing complex, and community center/retail plaza in his hometown of Akron.

Melina Kanakaredes 

Melina Kanakaredes was born in Akron, Ohio, April 23, 1967. At age 8 Kanakaredes made her stage debut in a production of Tom Sawyer at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron. She graduated from Firestone High School in Akron and attended Ohio State University. She is widely known for her roles in U.S. primetime television, including shows CSI: NY and Providence.

Ohio & Erie Canalway  

The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. The Canal connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. The canal carried freight traffic from 1827 until 1861, when the construction of railroads ended demand. From 1862 to 1913 the canal served as a water source for industries and towns. The canals are now used for various recreational purposes by the public, and still provide water for some industries. Parts of the canal are preserved, including the Ohio and Erie Canal Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.

Perkins Mansion and John Brown House 

Perkins Stone Mansion: Completed in 1837, the Perkins Stone Mansion was built by Colonel Simon Perkins, son of Akron’s founder General Simon Perkins in Akron, Ohio. As one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in Ohio, the Mansion is now a historical house museum whose objects and rooms not only bring to life the Perkins family’s lifestyles over 3 generations, but interpret the history of Akron and Summit County from Akron’s founding to the turn of the century.

John Brown House: John Brown was raised in an abolitionist household, and moved his family to Hudson, Ohio in 1805. In 1844, after years of financial struggle and debtor’s prison, he was offered a rental home and a position by Colonel Simon Perkins, the son of Akron’s co-founder, to  work in the sheep and wool business. Brown continued his activity in the Underground Railroad, and even harbored escaped slaves at the Akron home. On October 16, 1859, Brown and his fellow abolitionists, “The Secret Six”, attacked  the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry and armed slaves with the stolen weapons, took hostage the great-nephew of George Washington, and continued to make progress in acquiring the armory. Brown was eventually captured by local militia and hanged on December 2nd, 1859. Many historians believe that Brown’s call to arms and raid was the catalyst that sparked the American Civil War.

Pro Football Hall of Fame 

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the historical and enshrinement institution for professional American football. Located in Canton, Ohio, the National Football League (NFL) was founded on September 17, 1920. The Hall of Fame opened in 1963. It enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coaches, franchise owners, and front-office personnel, almost all of whom made their primary contributions to the game in the NFL. For 2021, an additional 15 members, known as the "Centennial Slate", were inducted into the Hall of Fame to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the NFL.

Richard Smalley

Richard Errett Smalley was born in Akron, Ohio on June 6, 1943. He was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. In 1996, along with Robert Curl, also a professor of chemistry at Rice, and Harold Kroto, a professor at the University of Sussex, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of a new form of carbon, buckminsterfullerene, also known as buckyballs. He was an advocate of nanotechnology and its applications. Upon Smalley's death the U.S. Senate passed a resolution to honor Smalley, crediting him as the "Father of Nanotechnology”.

Rita Dove

Rita Frances Dove, born August 28, 1952 in Akron, OH  is an American poet and essayist. A Presidential Scholar  graduate of the Buchtel High School , Dove went on to graduate summa cum laude from Miami University. From 1993 to 1995 she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986. Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000. Dove is the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1987 and was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1991.

Shawn Porter

Shawn Christian Porter was born October 20, 1987 in Akron, OH, and a graduate of Stow-Monroe Falls High School, where he earned All-Conference in football his junior and senior years. He is an American professional boxer. He is a former two-time welterweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2013 to 2014 and the WBC title from 2018 to 2019. He is particularly known for his aggressive pressure fighting style, physical strength, and high workrate.

Sojourner Truth: “Ain’t I A Woman?” Speech

"Ain't I a Woman?" is a speech, delivered, by Sojourner Truth, at the 1851 Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. Born into slavery in 1797, Isabella Baumfree, who later changed her name to Sojourner Truth, would become one of the most powerful advocates for human rights in the 19th century. Some time after gaining her freedom in 1827, she became a well known anti-slavery speaker. Truth's speech argues that the convergence of sexism and racism during slavery contributed to Black women having the lowest status and worst conditions of any group in American Society.

The O'Jays

The O'Jays are an American R&B group. The group was formed in Canton, Ohio while its members were attending Canton McKinley High School. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the hit "Lonely Drifter" in 1963, and reached their greatest level of success  with "Back Stabbers" (1972). The group topped the US Billboard Hot 100 the following year with "Love Train”. Several other US R&B hits followed. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and in 2013 were inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.

The Onesto Hotel 

Opened on August 20, 1930, the Onesto Hotel, located in downtown Canton, Ohio was one of the most modern and lavish structures of its day. Onesto’s exquisite jewel-like lobby was adorned with Travertine marble staircases and terrazzo flooring, brass railings, marble benches and walls, American walnut woodwork, Italian Renaissance ornamental relief ceilings, and a stunning crystal chandelier. The stunning Historic Onesto – an immaculately renovated 12-story luxury hotel built in 1930 – is now a fully restored residential gem showcasing 42 luxury loft apartments and a beautiful event center in the heart of downtown Canton’s historic district and arts neighborhood.

The Timken Company

The Timken Company is an American manufacturer of bearings and related components and assemblies. For many decades, Timken is was also a steelmaker concentrating mainly on alloy steel tube. In 2014, the steel business line was spun off to TimkenSteel. Timken operates from 33 countries and is headquartered in North Canton, Ohio. In 1901 the company began steel and tube-making operations in Canton. It has grown into a global company and a strong community partner for Canton, Ohio.