Description: This photograph shows two Goodyear blimps in the air, flying above a body of water. Canoes and motorboats are visible on the lake. The name and number of each airship is visible on its tail. The Columbia (N2A) is the left; the Mayflower (N3A) is on the left. Both of these airships likely were built in the 1960s, when the Goodyear-Zeppelin Company developed the GZ-19A model (an airship named "Mayflower" was built in 1963). The GZ-20 model was introduced in 1968; an airship named "Columbia" and based on this model was built in 1969. Zeppelins are a type of airship, named for and invented by Ferdinand von Zeppelin. They are also known as blimps, airships, and dirigibles. Zeppelins once used heated air to become airborne. Over time, hydrogen and helium replaced the heated air. Zeppelins are different than hot-air balloons because balloons float with the wind, while zeppelins have engines that can steer the airship. Militaries have used them in wartime to observe and bomb enemy positions and companies have also utilized them to advertise products. The center of zeppelin production in the United States was Akron, Ohio. In 1916, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company purchased land near Akron to build a plant that could produce zeppelin aircraft. In 1917, the main Goodyear Company created a subsidiary known as the Goodyear Zeppelin Company to manufacture the zeppelins. That same year, the firm received a contract from the federal government to manufacture nine zeppelins for the United States military during World War I. Unfortunately for the company, its manufacturing facilities were not complete in 1917, so Goodyear completed the first airships inside of a large amusement park building in Chicago, Illinois. The military used these airships to bomb and to spy upon enemy positions. At the conclusion of World War I, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company continued to manufacture zeppelins. The firm used most of these ships to advertise its products. Zeppelins originally used heated air or hydrogen, but most of these ships utilized helium to become airborne. During this period, other companies, especially European ones, were constructing airships to transport passengers, including across the Atlantic Ocean. Goodyear also manufactured two airships, the "Akron" and the "Macon," for the United States military during the early 1930s. During World War II, the company manufactured 104 airships for the military at its Akron facility. Following World War II, the Goodyear Zeppelin Company continued to manufacture airships, but it also expanded into producing other types of aircraft and aircraft parts. The main thrust of the company, however, remained the airships. The company now used the zeppelins almost exclusively for advertising purposes. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06156
Subjects: Airships; Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation; Zeppelin (airship); Akron (Ohio)
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of employees of the B.F. Goodrich Company in Akron, Ohio, attaching the exterior surface of a "De-Icer" to an airplane wing, ca. 1940-1969. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03332
Subjects: Manufacturing industries--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Economy--Business; B.F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio; Aviation--History
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1880-1909, this broadside advertises the academic excellence of the Morning Sun Institute in Tappan Hall in Akron, Ohio. The virtues of the school and opportunities for students are described, including a tuition guarantee, rooming with private families, and more. Also listed are the instructors currently selected to teach at the institute. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: OVS1042
Subjects: Akron (Ohio); Advertisements; Cultural Ohio--Education; Schools--Ohio
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads; "Student elections take on the color of municipal elections at the University of Akron, 'sandwich men' being a regular feature". View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F02_029_001
Subjects: Education; Universities and colleges; Politics; University of Akron; College campuses; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Quaker Oats Bldg. Akron, O. District 6 files." In 1891 the Schumacher interests, which had suffered a $1 million dollar fire in 1886 but had recovered by means of a merger, incorporated as the American Cereal Company, absorbed other units, including the Quaker Oats Mills in Ravenna, and adopted 'Quaker Oats' as a trade mark. The Quaker Oats Company Plant was located at the southwest corner of Mill and Howard Streets. A second plant, housed in a 10-story brick building at Mill Street and South Broadway, receives the grain, which was washed and then whisked through underground tubes beneath three downtown streets to the Howard Street plant, where it was processed and packed. The company's expansion program, under way in 1939, included the construction of an elevator with a capacity of 400, 000 bushels. The Howard Street plant stood on the site of the Old Stone Mill, completed in 1833 and operated by power from a race that brought water from the Little Cuyahoga River. Quaker Oats built 36 grain silos in 1932. Each silo was 120 feet tall and 24 feet in diameter, and together they housed 1, 500, 000 bushels of grain. Quaker Oats terminated production in Akron in 1970. The facility was repurposed in March 1973, and reopened 1 April 1975 with four shops and an ice cream parlor. The entire complex is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The silos were converted into a Hilton Hotel which opened in 1980. Later it became a Crowne Plaza hotel. The hotel is built into the suite of silos and is famed for its 196 completely round rooms. In mid-June 2007 the University of Akron bought the complex for $22, 679, 000 with plans to convert it into student housing and office space. The university planned to house more than 400 students in the converted hotel starting with the 2008 spring semester. As of January 2008, the university has begun to use the upper floors of the hotel as a residence hall. Under contract with UA, RDA Management of Fairlawn will operate 95 hotel rooms on the four bottom floors of the silos for the next two years. The university agreed to keep those rooms available to the public for that period to give the city an opportunity to secure more hotel space for downtown visitors and tourists. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F03_002_001
Subjects: Business and Labor; Factories; Industries--Ohio--Akron; Quaker Oats Company; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Polsky Department Store opened on Sept. 15, 1930, in downtown Akron, OH. The building features an Art Deco design. The building was acquired by the University of Akron in 1987 and is now used as an academic building for the university. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F06_016_001
Subjects: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio); Department stores; Architecture
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Akron area YMCA was founded in 1896. The Akron YMCA Building was constructed in the 1920s to house the organization. As a Christian organization, the goal of the YMCA was to give those in need a place to stay, eat, and worship. The indoor pool at the Akron YMCA Building is pictured in the photograph. The building, including the pool, is still in use by the Akron YMCA, as one of their branch locations. The location now houses exercise and sports facilities, while the remodeled living quarters are now private apartments. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F02_024
Subjects: YMCA; Akron (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works; Swimming; Sports and recreation facilities; Diving for men; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1930-1943, this photograph shows seven young ladies from the University of Akron posing with a judge after winning a beauty pageant, with a caption that reads "Akron University claims the most beautiful co-eds in the world, a claim sustained in inter-collegiate competition. Shown above is one team of beauties surrounding the judge who declared them victors in a 'beauty battle'." This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F02_030
Subjects: University of Akron; Beauty pageants; Beauty contestants--United States; Akron (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: This illustration of the city of Akron appears in "Historical Collections of Ohio," published by Henry Howe in 1907. Akron was originally laid out in 1825 and in 1841 became the seat of Summit County. The name came from a Greek word meaning "an elevation" or "point." Originally, the community was located slightly south of its present location, in modern-day South Akron. Many of the town's earliest residents were Irish migrants employed to build the nearby Ohio and Erie Canal. After 1827, when the canal was completed between Akron and Cleveland, the community's business interests really began to prosper. Its location along the canal meant that many farmers brought their crops to Akron to be milled and then transported to other markets, and manufacturing interests such as mills, furnaces, and textiles also emerged. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04206
Subjects: Akron (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Cities and towns--Ohio
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: The caption reads: "Student handling raw rubber. University of Akron." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F08_004_001
Subjects: Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project; Rubber; University of Akron
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: Probably dated to the 1930s, this photograph shows a home economics class at Akron University. Originally founded in 1870, the University of Akron was known as Buchtel College. The college was established by the Universalist Church with financial help from Akron industrialist, and Universalist Church member, John Buchtel. In 1909, Buchtel College became a private, non-denominational school, before becoming a municipal university of the city of Akron in 1913. By this time, courses were offered in engineering, commercial subjects, secretarial science, teaching, and home economics. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F02_031
Subjects: University of Akron; Home economics; Students; Universities and colleges; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows six blimps in the air flying above a semi-rural area or a small town. All but one of the blimps bear the name "Goodyear"; the sixth blimp (far left in the group) has the name "Bird & Son Inc./Roofs - Rugs." The blimps appear to be of different sizes. Writing in white ink appears on the lower right corner: " K-1-912-11-6-30." Bird & Son, Inc. was established in 1795 in East Walpole, Massachusetts. During the 1880s it produced the first felt-based asphalt roofing product manufactured in the U.S. It also manufactured floor coverings. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06157
Subjects: Airships; Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation; Zeppelin (airship); Akron (Ohio)
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)