119 HRES 918 IH: Honoring and commemorating 200 years of historic contributions to American culture made by the city of Akron.
U.S. House of Representatives
2025-12-01
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EN
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Whereas the town of Akron was founded 200 years ago, on December 6, 1825;Whereas the land that is now Akron was home to numerous native Tribes for thousands of years;Whereas the land was owned by France under the papal doctrine of conquest
;Whereas, following the French and Indian War, the land was ceded to Britain;Whereas, following the American Revolutionary War and the Treaty of Paris of 1783, Britain ceded claims to territories west of the Appalachian Mountains to the new confederation of States;Whereas, in 1798, Simon Perkins, a 27-year-old land agent employed by the Erie Land Company, a group of investors that included Moses Cleaveland, came to the Western Reserve of Connecticut, where he helped build a town on the banks of the Cuyahoga River at Lake Erie;Whereas, in 1803, Ohio became the 17th State and the first State carved out of the Northwest Territory;Whereas, in 1806, Simon Perkins surveyed much of the Western Reserve, land that presently constitutes Summit and Portage Counties and was then part of the original Jefferson County;Whereas, in 1807, the Ohio Legislature created Portage County, which encompassed most of present-day Summit County, including Akron;Whereas, in 1810, early settler Major Miner Spicer from Groton, Connecticut, built a log cabin on land now owned by the University of Akron;Whereas, during the War of 1812, Simon Perkins, now a brigadier general, led 400 men in the Ohio militia in defense of the State against British forces;Whereas, in 1812, Paul Williams purchased 109 acres of land for $2.50 per acre for farming;Whereas Paul Williams built a log cabin for his family near what is now the intersection of Buchtel Avenue and Broadway;Whereas, in the summer of 1825, Simon Perkins asked Connecticut surveyor Joshua Henshaw to create a plat map of a new village that would rise on land straddling one of North America’s great watershed divides;Whereas the founders named the town of Akron after the Greek word ákros
, meaning summit
or high point
;Whereas, on December 6, 1825, the plat map was recorded, and the town of Akron was officially established;Whereas John Brown and his family lived in Akron, Ohio, between 1844 and 1854, during which he harbored enslaved persons traveling North on the Underground Railroad;Whereas, in 1851, during the Women’s Convention in Akron, abolitionist and activist Sojourner Truth delivered her extemporaneous speech Ain’t I A Woman?
highlighting the plight of Black women and encouraging equal treatment under the law;Whereas the city of Akron became known as the Rubber Capital of the World
, serving as headquarters for 4 major tire companies;Whereas, during the Akron Rubber Strike of 1936, more than 5,000 workers and supporters protested for 5 weeks, leading to the recognition of the United Rubber workers union;Whereas Akron continues to revolutionize the manufacturing and use of polymers through the Economic Development Administration’s Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub;Whereas Akron is the birthplace of historic athletes such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Butch Reynolds, leading to the city being referred to as the Birthplace of Champions
;Whereas Akron is the birthplace of generations of people who have impacted society, art, education, science, and American life, including world-renowned bands such as Devo and The Black Keys and musicians such as Chrissie Hynde and Howard Hewett;Whereas Akron is the birthplace of renowned actors such as Melina Kanakaredes, Angie Everhart, Lola Albright, John Magaro, and Elizabeth Franz, and television personalities such as Hugh Downs; Whereas Akron is the birthplace of American astronaut Judith Resnik, the first Jewish woman to fly in space, who tragically perished during the space shuttle Challenger disaster; and
Whereas Akron is the birthplace of Rita Dove, the first African-American to serve as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives—(1)honors and commemorates 200 years of historic contributions to American culture made by the city of Akron;(2)recognizes the city’s longstanding history of fighting for economic, gender, and racial justice; and(3)encourages Akron to continue standing up to injustices and supporting workers’ rights for another 200 years.