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Description
For 170 years, Akron has been linked to the wider world—ever since John Brown, the famous abolitionist and Akron’s most consequential resident, traveled on behalf of Colonel Simon Perkins to the European capitals in 1846 to market the wool that became Akron’s first international export. In the late nineteenth century, Akron industrialist Lewis Miller captured international accolades for the farm machinery manufactured at his Buckeye Mower Works, located where E. J. Thomas Hall stands today. In 1912, Goodyear Superintendent Paul Litchfield established a beachhead for the company in Europe, and through the twentieth century, all Akron tire makers delivered rubber products to the rest of the world. Akron was an international city, and its correspondents delivered the city’s message of progress and prosperity to the world.
“Bringing the World to Akron,” a statement of identity embraced by the Akron Roundtable in its twentieth anniversary year, are five words that belie a complex local network—a spider’s web of community leaders—who have presented major speeches to Akron audiences for forty years. Since its inception in 1976, important people with newsworthy messages have used the Roundtable podium to deliver thoughtful presentations on business, science, civic and social movements, arts, and culture to the thought leaders of Greater Akron. Roundtable audiences are composed of business and civic leaders, government officials, academics, heads of nonprofit agencies, students, and citizens.
This is the history of the Akron Roundtable's first forty years (1976-2016).
Publication Date
10-3-2016
Publisher
The Akron Roundtable
City
Akron, Ohio
Keywords
history, akron, akron roundtable, ohio, public speaking
Disciplines
United States History
Recommended Citation
Lieberth, David, "The Akron Roundtable: Bringing the World to Akron for Forty Years" (2016). University of Akron Press Publications. 201.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/uapress_publications/201