Akron Stories Takes Novel Approach to Commemorate Rubber Workers
[AKRON, OHIO, January 28, 2020] – Art x Love, a local creative and interactive brand agency, created AkronStories.com to support the Rubber Worker Stories & Statue project, which is selling commemorative bricks and leading an oral history project for the visitor’s kiosk and rubber worker statue that is being installed in downtown Akron this summer. The Akron Stories team has scheduled “Recording Sessions” across the county and is looking forward to hearing stories from rubber workers and their descendants.
“This is our opportunity to celebrate the people who made Akron the Rubber Capital of the World,” says Mac Love, Chief Catalyst at Art x Love and leader of the Akron Stories project. “We want to help visitors and residents learn about Akron’s unique history, how it shapes our identity, and how it is driving our future.”
Since launching the campaign, the Akron Stories team has sold 130 commemorative bricks and collected dozens of stories from rubber workers and their families. Those stories will be archived with the Akron-Summit County Public Library, made accessible online, with excerpts featured as part of the interactive visitor’s kiosk being installed on the northeast corner of S Main and Mill Streets, across from the sculpture.
Miriam Ray, the Akron resident who has championed this project since 2016 says “From the very beginning I asked people for their stories, and quickly realized they were as important as the rubber worker statue itself. We are three generations removed from these workers and it is so important that future generations get to know them.”
“We are hearing from people who remember their family members coming home coated in black tire remnants. They remember the sounds and energy of Main Street and the brilliance and resilience of their working mothers. Children and grandchildren of Black people and immigrants speak of the pride their loved ones had for their work,” says Josy Jones, the project’s Director of Storytelling, “Many of them were actively involved in the Union, standing up for their rights and shaping a future for their children.”
“This was an important and innovative period of American industry,” says Love. “A lot of people died on the job, and yet the stories we’re hearing are not of tragedy but triumph. Rubber workers were determined to succeed and provide for their families. That spirit shines through in these stories, and colors in corners of our history that visitors and future generations might not otherwise experience.”
The Akron Stories team encourages rubber workers and their descendants to share their stories by scheduling an interview at AkronStories.com, calling (330) 238-8588, or attending one of the following community recording sessions:
March 9 @ 6:00pm at Goodyear Branch Library, 60 Goodyear Blvd., Akron – 330.784.7522
March 11 @ 12:30pm at Northwest Akron Branch Library, 1720 Shatto Ave., Akron – 330.836.1081
March 14 @ 2:00pm at North Hill Branch Library, 183 E Cuyahoga Falls Ave., Akron – 330.535.9423
March 18 @ 1:00pm at Nordonia Hills Branch Library, 9458 Olde Eight Rd., Northfield – 330.467.8595
March 24 @ 1:00pm at Richfield Branch Library, 3761 S Grant St, Richfield – 330.659.4343
March 28 @ 1:00pm at Green Branch Library, 4046 Massillon Rd., Uniontown – 330.896.9074
March 31 @ 1:00pm at Ellet Branch Library, 2470 E Market St., Akron – 330.784.2019
April 4 @ 1:00pm at Kenmore Branch Library, 969 Kenmore Blvd., Akron – 330.745.6126
April 22 @ 1:00pm at Mogadore Branch Library, 144 S Cleveland Ave, Mogadore – 330.628.9228
May 6 @ 6:30pm at Main Library, 60 S High St., Akron – 330.643-9000
May 7 @ 6:00pm at Springfield-Lakemore Branch Library, 1500 Canton Rd., Suite 360, Akron – 330.643.4770
May 12 @ 1:00pm at Portage Lakes Branch Library, 4261 Manchester Rd., Akron – 330.644.7050
May 18 @ 6:00pm at Norton Branch Library, 3930 S Cleveland-Massillon Rd, Norton – 330.825.7800
May 21 @ 6:30pm at Fairlawn-Bath Branch Library, 3101 Smith rd., Akron – 330.666.4888
