Sierra Club, Portage Trail Group, Records

Range: 1971 - 2006 Size: 21 Record Group: $content.recordGroup

The Portage Trail Group of the Sierra Club was founded in Akron, Ohio in 1972. The group advocated for a number of local environmental causes including the creation the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. Today, it offers public education programs, lobbies for outdoor recreation, and offer scholarships for environmental education. The records include meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, bylaws, histories, photographs, budgets, directories, newspaper clippings, maps, newsletters, publications, financial records, subject files and VHS tapes that document the history and work of the group. The records also contain some materials relating to the national organization.


Ruhlin, Mrs. Ben. Prayer Campaign Committee Records

Range: 1970 - 1977 Size: 12 cubic feet Record Group: $content.recordGroup

Mrs. Ben H. Ruhlin was a “prayer crusader” from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio who spent two and a half years crusading to have prayer restored to schools during the 1970s through the Prayer Campaign Committee. The records include correspondence, publicity, petitions, and other materials relating to Mrs. Ruhlin and the committee’s efforts to restore prayer to public schools.


Polen, Edna Mae, Papers

Range: 1936 - 2010 Size: 1.0 Record Group: $content.recordGroup

Edna Mae Polen (1917-2010) of Salineville, Ohio was a 1940 graduate of The University of Akron (UA). She worked for many years as Secretary at the B.F. Goodrich Company and Coastal Trucking Co./Coastal Tank Lines, Inc. of Akron. Her papers include booklets, yearbooks, newsletters, report cards, and photographs documenting student life at UA in the 1930s as well as the B.F. Goodrich Company and several local organizations she was involved with. 


Oral History of the Crime Victim Assistance Field Video and Audio Archive

Range: 2002 - 2002 Size: 3 cubic feet Record Group: $content.recordGroup

The Oral History of the Crime Victim Assistance Field Project was funded in 2002 by a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. It is one of many projects developed by Justice Solutions, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing rights, resources, and respect for victims and communities hurt by crime. The video archive includes 55 hours of digitized video interviews with 65 of the key individuals involved the development of the crime victim assistance field.

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Ohio Canal Sesquicentennial Commission Records

Range: 1974 - 1978 Size: 2.5 Record Group: 99/150

The Ohio Sesquicentennial Commission was organized in 1977 as a subcommittee of the Western Reserve Historical Society. Its chief objective was to inform the public of the economic and historical significance of the Ohio Canal for the canal's 150th anniversary. The records include correspondence, fundraising materials, publications, and newspaper clippings that document the work of the commission during its two-year program. 

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McClain, Dr. Shirla R., Collection

Range: 1918 - 1998 Size: 2.0 Record Group: 99/255

The Dr. Shirla R. McClain Collection includes the writings and research materials of Dr. McClain, a University of Akron alumna who was a public school educator and a Kent State University professor of education. McClain published over 45 academic papers during her career, but is still best known for her doctoral dissertation The Contributions of Blacks in Akron, 1825-1975, which was the first comprehensive history of Akron’s black community.

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Mansfield Education Association

Range: 1939 - 1966 Size: 0.33 cubic feet Record Group:

The collection contains minutes of general and Executive Board meetings, treasurers' reports, newsletters, and correspondence.


Hower House, Friends of, Records

Range: 1974 - 2002 Size: 3.3 Record Group: 99/237

The Hower House is a 28-room Second Empire Italianate mansion in Akron, Ohio. Built in 1871 by Akron industrialist John Henry Hower and his wife, the house was deeded to The University of Akron in 1970 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 1974 the Friends of Hower House was established to preserve the house and its furnishings and merged with the Hower House Victorians in 2016 to form the Hower House Museum Guild. The records document the Friends of Hower House, the Hower House Victorians, and the Conservation and Restoration Committee and includes meeting minutes, publications, and photographs and slides of the house, displays, and artifacts.

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Guzzetta, Dr. Dominic J., Papers

Range: 1964 - 2009 Size: 6.0 Record Group: $content.recordGroup

Dr. Dominic J. Guzzetta (1920-2010) served numerous deanships and vice presidencies at The University of Akron before becoming the institution’s 11th president, serving from 1971 to 1984. During his tenure he oversaw the opening of E.J. Thomas Hall, the acquisition of the Rubber Bowl, and the creation of Wayne College. He later became president of the I-X Center in Cleveland. His papers include photographs, scrapbooks, slides, travel itineraries, and artifacts that document his life and work. 


Gsellman, Barbara, Collection

Range: 1936 - 1989 Size: 0.2 Record Group: $content.recordGroup

Barbara Gsellman (1927-2013) was an instructor/lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, the Community & Technical College, and the Evening College at The University of Akron (UA) from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. Her collection contains materials relating to UA and local history including UA Faculty Women’s Club yearbooks, newspaper clippings of UA faculty and staff, and several pamphlets relating to aeronautics.


Fortnightly Club of Akron Records

Range: 1897 - 2015 Size: 3.0 Record Group: 99/180

The Fortnightly Club of Akron was founded in 1896 as a women’s scholarly club. Meetings were twice a month from October to April and presentations given ranging from nations of the world, to Shakespeare, to literature and authors, to local history. The records date from 1897 to 2015 and include meeting minutes, yearbooks, correspondence, subject files, programs, scrapbooks, and a photo album

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Blair, Charles V., Papers

Range: 1964 - 1973 Size: 4 cubic feet Record Group: 99/94

Charles V. Blair (1933-2004) served in various roles at The University of Akron including Director of the News Bureau and Institute for Civic Education and Dean of the Evening College. His papers include correspondence, meeting minutes, financial statements, project proposals, progress reports, and newspaper clippings of the Summit County Greater Akron Community Action Council, the Akron-Summit Tutorial Program, and Upward Bound.

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Association of the University of Akron Retirees (AUAR) Records

Range: 1998 - 2015 Size: 3.0 Record Group: $content.recordGroup

The Association of the University of Akron Retirees (AUAR) is a group of former UA employees and their spouses and families. Founded in 1998, it provides social and educational activities and volunteer opportunities to its membership and sponsors an endowed scholarship for UA students. The records include meeting minutes and agendas, correspondence, scholarship information, directories, handbooks, newsletters, membership lists, reports, programs, newspaper clippings, photographs, financial summaries, and information about special events. 


Akron Board of Education Records

Range: 1863 - 1989 Size: 1 cubic foot Record Group: $content.recordGroup

The Akron Board of Education is the non-partisan and non-sectarian official body representing the citizens of Akron on all matters of public education. The records consist of 32 reels of microfilm containing minutes of regular and special meetings, correspondence, proposals for bids, newspaper clippings, and publications.

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