Contributions Of African Americans To Akron's Rubber Industry

Contributions Of African Americans To Akron's Rubber Industry. . , During the 20th century heyday of the rubber and tire industry in Akron, approximately 4,000 African-American men and women were employed at jobs in the big companies. World War I brought about a marked increase in opportunities and in the number of Black residents, which expanded eight-fold between 1910 and 1920., Overt Racism was evident at every level of the rubber companies until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forced new hiring practices., Black men and women had the worst jobs in the factories. Almost exclusively, they were hired as janitors or charwomen assigned to scrubbing floors, cleaning toilets or emptying spittoons. Some were laborers who dug ditches in freezing weather as part of yard gangs, or they worked in the hellish heat of "the pit” where tires underwent their final curing. Some spent 10-hour days in the Mill room where they would be drenched in soot and the lampblack used to color tires., Until the 1960's, cafeterias at Goodyear and Firestone were segregated. Company-sponsored housing developments in Goodyear Heights and Firestone Park were for Whites only. Persons of "African or Ethiopian ancestry" were prohibited from purchasing property in either subdivision. Black families were consigned to the least desirable neighborhoods, little more than shantytowns, that sprouted in the shadow of Goodyear, Goodrich and Firestone., By the time of World War II, labor shortages forced more diversity in hiring. Akron's Black population was nearly 24,000., Just 2,000 men - the tire builders - were regarded as "the royalty of the rubber shops,” but only 12 of these coveted positions were held by Black men. Their hiring prompted a sit-down strike by White tire builders to protest integration of the department in 1955., The first Black Chemistry graduate of the University of Akron, Ray Dove, could only find work as an elevator operator until Goodyear gave him an opportunity in the laboratory, where he would have a distinguished career as a researcher. His daughter Rita Dove would become the Poet Laureate of the United States., [Captions:] , Black men were a small part of the rubber companies' work force until the 1950's, employed primarily as janitors and laborers., An exception to the practice of placing Blacks in menial positions was Goodyear's decision to elevate Ray C. Dove, the first African American chemistry graduate of the University of Akron to the Goodyear Research laboratory, where he would develop a series of innovations and a long career before retiring. His daughter Rita would become the Poet Laureate of the United States., African American laborers were called on to build roads in Harvey Firestone's housing development, Firestone Park in 1916, even though deed restrictions prohibited sales to black employees.