The culture of

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

is an amalgamation of local features of the city, which was founded in Summit County in 1825.

Cuisine

While the city originally had German roots, the influx of immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s brought Jewish, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovenian and Ukrainian food to the table:

pastrami Pastrami is a type of cured meat originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. Like corned beef, pastrami was created as a way to pres ...

, pierogis,

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

, and sauerkraut balls. Today's restaurants also feature African, Asian, Middle-Eastern, and Mexican cuisine. Urban farming is part of Akron's cultural landscape. The city has provided many places to grow food, and has also supported many new restaurants: Bricco, Cilantro, Crave, and Lockview. Independent grocery stores include Krieger's, Mustard Seed Market, and Seven Grain Market. Akron has a longstanding claim to being the birthplace of the

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

. A "National Hamburger Festival" was held in the city annually for many years.

Fine arts

Founded in 1922, the

Akron Art Museum The Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, United States. The museum first opened on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library. The Institute offered clas ...

was vastly expanded in the early 2000s and now hosts international exhibitions along with its local collections. Directly across the street from the museum is the small Nightlight Cinema, an independent enterprise. As ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' describes it, the theater "focuses exclusively on locally produced movies, as well as obscure documentaries, foreign films, and first-run indie features (in other words—titles you’ve likely never heard of, and that’s the point)".

Literature

The award-winning

Knight-Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

newspaper chain began in Akron as two separate companies, the ''

Akron Beacon Journal The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon Jo ...

'' and the German-language ''

New Yorker Staats-Zeitung The ''New Yorker Staats-Zeitung'' (), nicknamed ''The Staats'', is a German language, German-language newspaper in the United States. Its publisher claims it to be the leading German-language weekly newspaper in the country. In the late 19th ce ...

''. The city is the birthplace of

Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as United States Poet Laureate, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have bee ...

, former

Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress The poet laureate consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress, commonly referred to as the United States poet laureate, serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national consc ...

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Bomefree; November 26, 1883) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women's rights, and Temperance movement, alcohol temperance. Truth was ...

gave her famous "

Ain't I A Woman "Ain't I a Woman?" is a speech, generally considered to have been delivered extemporaneously, by Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), born into slavery in the state of New York (state), New York. Some time after gaining her freedom in 1827, she becam ...

" speech in Akron at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851. The city is and has been home to award-winning writers

David Auburn David Auburn (born November 30, 1969) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director. He is best known for his 2000 play ''Proof'', which won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also wrote the scree ...

and

Terry Pluto Terry Pluto (born June 12, 1955) is an American sportswriter, newspaper columnist, and author who primarily writes columns for ''The Plain Dealer'', and formerly for the ''Akron Beacon Journal'' about Cleveland, Ohio sports and religion. Pluto ...

. A former literary editor of ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', Adrienne Miller, came from the Akron suburbs; she later wrote the novel ''The Coast of Akron''.

Comic books

The landmark Akron pizza shop Luigi's is the inspiration for the pizza shop Montoni's in the

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

Funky Winkerbean ''Funky Winkerbean'' was an American comic strip by Tom Batiuk. Distributed by North America Syndicate, a division of King Features Syndicate, it appeared in more than 400 newspapers worldwide. While Batiuk was a 23-year-old middle school art ...

'', written by Akron native

Tom Batiuk Thomas Martin Batiuk (born March 14, 1947) is an American comic strip creator, best known for his long-running newspaper strip '' Funky Winkerbean''. Career Born in Akron, Ohio, Batiuk attended Kent State University, from which he graduated i ...

. In the

Flaming Carrot Comics ''Flaming Carrot Comics'' is an American superhero comic book created by Bob Burden, featuring the absurd, surreal adventures of the Flaming Carrot. The series first appeared in ''Visions'' #1, a magazine-size comic book publication. Flaming Ca ...

, Iron City, where the Carrot lives, was made similar to Akron and another working-stiff town,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Writer and illustrator

Bill Watterson William Boyd Watterson II (born July 5, 1958) is an American cartoonist who authored the comic strip ''Calvin and Hobbes''. The strip was syndicated from 1985 to 1995. Watterson concluded ''Calvin and Hobbes'' with a short statement to newspa ...

has also lived in the county.

Music

Akron has been home to a wide variety of musical artists including: *

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. He ini ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

singers

Howard Hewett Howard Hewett Jr. (born October 1, 1955) is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He si ...

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song. After beginning his career ...

, and Ruby Nash Curtis *

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician

Jeff Golub Jeff Golub (April 15, 1955 – January 1, 2015) was an American jazz guitarist who had a solo career and who led the band Avenue Blue. He worked as a sideman for a number of rock and pop musicians. He was arguably best known for his work with Rod ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

musician

Len Chandler Len Hunt Chandler Jr. (May 27, 1935 – August 28, 2023) was an American folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Chandler was known for his powerful voice and socially conscious songs. Early life and education Chandler wa ...

*vocalist

Helen Jepson Helen Jepson (November 28, 1904 – September 16, 1997) was an American lyric soprano. Early years Jepson was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania, on November 28, 1904, (Two sources give her birthday as November 28, 1906.) DeLong, Thomas A. (19 ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

leader

Vaughn Monroe Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter and big band leader who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for recording and another f ...

*opera singer

Russell Oberlin Russell Keys Oberlin (October 11, 1928 – November 25, 2016)Millington, Barry "Russell Oberlin obituary" ''The Guardian'', December 5, 2016; retrieved December 15, 2016. was an American singer and founding member of the New York Pro Musica Antiq ...

*composer Nikola Resanovic *singer-songwriters

Joseph Arthur Joseph Lyburn Arthur (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur has built his reputation over the years t ...

, Roger Hoover, and Pete Nischt *

avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

musician

Ralph Carney Ralph Carney (January 23, 1956 – December 17, 2017) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer. While his primary instruments were various saxophones and clarinets, Carney also collected and played many instruments, often un ...

*novelty songwriters

Buckner & Garcia Buckner & Garcia was an American musical duo consisting of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia from Akron, Ohio. Their first recording was made in 1972, when they performed a novelty song called "Gotta Hear the Beat", which they recorded as Animal Ja ...

Rock music

In the late 1970s, following the international success of local band

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

, talent scouts combed the city. Soon, several compilation albums promoted the "Akron Sound", a multifaceted music scene led by

the Waitresses The Waitresses were an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, best known for their singles " I Know What Boys Like" and " Christmas Wrapping." The band released two albums, '' Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?'' and '' Bruiseology'', and one EP, '' ...

and

Rachel Sweet Rachel Sweet (born July 28, 1962) is an American singer, television writer and actress. Early life and education Rachel Sweet was born in Akron, Ohio.Campbell, Mary (1979)Rachel Sweet: Busy Singer at 16, Made Debut at 5, Lewiston ''Daily Sun ...

, and many artists of regional prominence including

Tin Huey Tin Huey is an American experimental rock and new wave band from Akron, Ohio, United States, that formed in 1972 and disbanded in 1982. History Original lineups Initially named Rags, the band started with Mark Price (then known as Wesley the ...

Liam Sternberg Liam Sternberg (born July 28, 1949) is an American songwriter and producer who wrote the Bangles hit "Walk Like an Egyptian". Career Sternberg began his musical career as part of the late-1970s " Akron Sound" which included Devo and the Waitre ...

Bizarros The Bizarros are an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1976. The nucleus of the band was formed early, when Don and Jerry Parkins met Terry Walker while Terry and Don were in the second grade. Nick Nicholis joined the group of friend ...

, and

Rubber City Rebels Rubber City Rebels are an American punk band from Akron, Ohio, that formed in 1976. Early years The original lineup of the band consisted of Rod Firestone (vocals), Buzz Clic (guitar), Donny Damage (bass), Stix Pelton (drums) and Pete Sake ( ...

. Other major rock musicians from the city are: The city's music scene is chronicled and commemorated in the Akron Sound Museum, established in 2015.

Concert venues

The Akron Art Museum has hosted free outdoor concerts every summer since 1984. Major venues for music in Akron include the Akron Civic Theatre, E.J. Thomas Hall, and

Blossom Music Center Blossom Music Center, locally referred to simply as Blossom, is an outdoor amphitheatre in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, United States. The venue is the summer home of The Cleveland Orchestra and the site of the ensemble’s annual Blossom Festival. Blo ...

. Residents and fans of alternative music still miss the Lime Spider, but continue to appreciate new bands and live poetry at Annabelle's and Paolo's. The North Hill neighborhood was known for

during the early 1900s.

Sports and recreation

The city is home to basketball superstar

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

, and renamed part of its Main Street to "King James Way" in his honor. The city hosts a

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team, the

Akron RubberDucks The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park (Akron, Ohio) ...

, who play in Canal Park. The World Championship finals of

Soap Box Derby The Soap Box Derby is a youth-oriented gravity racer program, founded in 1934 in the United States by Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio native Myron Scott, a photojournalist employed by the Dayton Daily News, and preceded by events such as ''Kid Aut ...

are held annually at

Derby Downs Derby Downs, in Akron, Ohio, has been the home track of the All American Soap Box Derby since it was built as a Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Admini ...

. Hikers and bikers have long enjoyed the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, which runs through Akron and on to Cleveland.

References

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