Artifacts & Exhibits
Main Place Lobby: Brewing Beer at the Summit Exhibit:
SCHS installed a temporary exhibit in April at Main Place covering the history of beer brewing in Akron. Brewing has been an important industry in Akron and the City was once home to three major brewing companies, The Burkhardt Brewing Company, the Akron Brewing Company, and the George J. Renner Brewing company. Amazingly, nearly all the buildings where these breweries were located are still standing. In fact, the Burkhardt complex now houses the Thirsty Dog Brewing Company, one of the City's three modern brewing companies.
The basic brewing process is also discussed in this exhibit. Artifacts that are on display relate to all the historic breweries. Items from some of today's local brewing companies are also on display. The artifacts come from the Historical Society’s collection and the personal collection of John Najeway, owner of Thirsty Dog Brewing Company. This exhibit was also made possible by the assistance of the Special Collections Department of the Akron-Summit County Public Library and Abruzzo's Homebrew and Suppy.
This exhibit can be viewed at: The Main Place Lobby at 121 S. Main Street in Akron, OH through August. The next exhibit topic will be "A Gamble that Paid Off: The 140th Anniversary of the Rubber Industry in Akron".
The exhibit was curated by Charlotte Gintert, SCHS staff.
Edwin Shaw Exhibit at the Ohio Building downtown:
SCHS has installed an exhibit presenting artifacts and information from the Edwin Shaw Sanatorium in the fourth floor lobby of the Ohio Building. The Edwin Shaw Sanatorium has a long and rich history serving the Summit County and the surrounding region. Many residents of the area were touched by the Edwin Shaw facility either as employees or as patients. The history of medicine and the Sanatorium can be revisited through the artifacts and photographs on display. The exhibit recalls simpler times in the medical profession as well as our lives.
In 1910, Summit County partnered with Stark, Portage and Columbiana Counties to build an institution to treat patients with tuberculosis after a 1908 act in the Ohio Legislature stated that these individuals could not be admitted into any county infirmary. Finally in 1915, with the additional support of Mahoning County, the Springfield Lake Sanatorium opened. It was later renamed the Edwin Shaw Sanatorium after one of its early trustees and biggest supporter.
Some of the saddest cases of TB were those of young children, who like their adult counterparts, were exposed to as much sunshine as possible along with special treatments to help rid their body of the devastating disease.
SCHS would like to thank Russell Pry, County Executive and his County of Summit Executive Offices of Law and Communication for assistance in this project.
This exhibit can be viewed at: The Ohio Building Fourth Floor Lobby at 175 S. Main Street in Akron, OH through March. The next exhibit at this location will be "Boy Scouting: Celebrating 100 Years".
The exhibit was curated by Leianne Neff Heppner, Executive Director