organization and the facility served a deep variety of religious and secular purposes. A Synagogue and all associated functions were just the beginning of the activities of the center. The health of the community was advanced physically, socially, intellectually, spiritually and in civic discourse. The organization was very active in the community at large as well as within the Jewish community of Akron. In addition to the full complement of religious and Jewish cultural programming, concerts, theatrical performances and a civic speaker series aimed at the wider community were put on by the center. The theatrical performances and concerts were popular and the speaker series Akron Civic Forum had developed into a television and radio program in 1986. Notable guests of the speaker series included Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert A. Taft, Edward R. Murrow and Drew Pearson. The program America's Town Meeting of the Air broadcast from the center twice. The property is composed of several lots including one that had been a meeting place for a local Jewish congregation. The cornerstone was laid on November 4, 1928 and the building was dedicated and opened on September 22, 1929. The building's architects were J. Adam Fitcher and Harry A. Brooker namesakes of a firm that left a notable imprint on Akron across two decades. Modern times The Akron Jewish Center organization moved out of the building in 1973, selling it to Shadyside Baptist Church which occupied it until 1985. Today the building is owned by the City of Akron, which uses it as a community center. The property was listed in the United States National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1986. See also History of the Jews in Ohio National Register of Historic Places listings in Akron, Ohio References External links * Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Buildings and structures in Akron, Ohio Jews and Judaism in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Summit County, Ohio