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Akron book a snapshot of city’s industrial past and future
NATALIE PEACOCK
Legal News Reporter
Published: January 16, 2014
Of all the areas of expertise that have made up Dave Lieberth’s career -- government, history, news media and attorney – the one area he doesn’t include is photography. Yet Lieberth describes his new book “Inventive. Industrious. Inspired: The Story of Greater Akron” as a snapshot of Akron in the 21st century.
Lieberth said he has spent his whole life being involved in what is going on in Akron. In addition to his professional experience in both public and private sectors, Lieberth was the cofounder of Leadership Akron, first president of The National Inventors Hall of Fame and member of a host of legal organizations.
“I spent 40 years involved in the life of the community,” he said. “Everything I’ve done has prepared me to be in a position to write this book about how we got to where we are today. It is really is a snapshot of Akron in the 21st century.”
Mayor Don Plusquellic says that the book will be a valuable tool for the city.
“Dave’s knowledge of Akron’s history, his work experiences and his devotion to the region, make him the perfect author for a book of this nature,” he said. “Our economic development team will be able to use it as a recruiting tool.”
“Inventive. Industrious. Inspired: The Story of Greater Akron” (Cherbo Publishing) has eight chapters that provide the cultural, commercial and educational aspects of the city. The last section has 40 different profiles of Akron corporations and institutions. Lieberth uses the term exceptionalism to describe Akron’s unique place in American history.
“Akron is exceptional,” he said. “There is an Akron exceptionalism, which makes us very different from other cities in the country and our history.”
Lieberth said he feels a lot of pride for the city and he particularly deplores the use of the word rustbelt.
“What we are instead is one of America’s legacy cities, ” he said. “I go to some length in the book to describe why we are a legacy city, why we were part of the manufacturing history of the country in the 20th century.”
Born in Barberton, history has been in Lieberth’s blood since his high school days at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
“I’ve been president of the Summit County Historical Society and I’ve been on their board three different times,” he said. “I wrote for the (Akron) mayor for the 10 years that I was there. I produced the video documentaries on Akron history in 2000 and 2001. So writing about Akron and its history, it’s not too far of an exaggeration to say that it has been a lifelong interest and hobby of mine.”
Lieberth picked up much of his knowledge while writing history pieces for a city magazine but the primary purpose of this book, according to Lieberth, is economic development.
“The primary purpose of the book,” he said, “was to give the city, the chamber, a tool that they could use to take to potential investors and clients and companies and show them how the city got to be where it is today and what the nature of Akron is for people who don’t know about it.”
The 195-page book is divided into two parts. Half of the book is Lieberth’s historical narrative, richly illustrated with photographs. The other half consists of corporate and institutional profiles sold by representatives that paid for the publication of the book. In writing the book, Lieberth said he discovered several interesting aspects about emerging technologies in the Akron area.
“I had a general awareness that we had been at the cutting edge of some computer technology back in the 1950s, but I had never seen anything written about it,” he said. “I found an old history of Goodyear and there was one sentence in there about a Goodyear computer called Staran.”
Lieberth Googled it and found a short history of Staran.
“Low and behold, it was one of the first analog computers made in Akron and manufactured in the United States,” he said. “It was the first computer used by the FAA for air traffic control. How about that? Long before Silicon Valley they were making computers in Akron.”
Another technological advance pioneered in Akron came from Telxon, a Fairlawn company.
“In the 1970s and ‘80s, Telxon was at the cutting edge of handheld computing devices,” he said. “They eventually placed one in every Wal-Mart store in the country by 1980. What they developed at their laboratories in Fairlawn was the basic concepts of wireless technology. So when we talk about wifi today, that technology was first developed at Telxon in Fairlawn. These were parts of history that I thought were really significant and by and large were new to me.”
Of all the historical figures in the book, Lieberth said a personal favorite was Lewis Miller. An industrialist in 19th century Akron, Miller’s house still overlooks downtown Akron.
“In that house in 1888, Thomas Edison married Lewis Miller’s daughter, Mina,” he said. “It really is kind of a history connection to the whole world of invention and innovation. Miller was grossly underestimated in his lifetime. He created tremendous industries in Akron.”
Miller cofounded Chautauqua Institute in New York. He was president of Mount Union College and designed a plan for churches that is still widely in use today.
“He was one of those figures that not only succeeded in business and industry but made a huge investment in the civic life of the community,” he said.
A graduate of The University of Akron, Lieberth said the university is a key partner to everything that has contributed to the city’s success.
“Whether it’s in innovation or manufacturing or whether it’s in arts or culture or education, the university is a key player to the city and to the other major institutions,” he said.
Lieberth said he believes his book will be part of the fabric of Akron history.
“In the future years, when people want to find out what Akron was like in the first decade of the 21st century, they will have this resource to use,” he said. “And it’s not just what I wrote; it’s just as important that those 40 institutional profiles flesh out that snapshot of what Akron is like.”
The book is available through Amazon.com