Idabelle firestone biography of barack

Some of the wealthiest wives in Akron’s history will socialize with a woman who never learned to read or write.

That should make for some interesting conversation!

For the fourth year, Akron’s Hower House is the setting for In the Company of Extraordinary Women, a Victorian tea honoring citizens of the past.

Sponsored by the Friends of Hower House, the Women’s History Month event re-creates the formal teas that socialite Grace Hower Crawford (1881-1973) and her mother, Blanche Bruout Hower (1862-1952), held in the 28-room mansion on Fir Hill.

Actresses will portray the hostesses and special guests during four shows March 17-18. Seating is limited to 50 guests at each show.

Need a break?Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

This year’s production, Mrs. Hower’s Neighborhood, will focus on the garden and civic activities of women in the Fir Hill neighborhood during the early 1900s. At the turn of the last century, East Market Street near Fir Hill was the center of Akron’s Millionaires Row.

Prominent families such as the Barbers, Buchtels, Bierces, Firestones, Seiberlings and Schumachers had beautiful homes in the neighborhood. One of the last mansions standing is Hower House, built in 1871 by Akron industrialist John Henry Hower at 60 Fir Hill.

As portrayed by actresses, the guests at this year’s tea are Gertrude Seiberling, Irene Seiberling Harrison, Idabelle Firestone and Valinda Hurley.

Debra Johanyak, English professor at the University of Akron’s Wayne campus, wrote the play. Heather Beyer, a UA graduate student, is the director. The cast features Kathy Romito, Erica Peters, Mariah Queen, April Haugrook, Miranda Roth, Jourdan Matos and Frank Chaff IV.

Care for a spot of tea? Here is more about the guests:

Gertrude Seiberling?(1866-1946)

Mrs. Seiberling, the wife of Goodyear co-founder F.A. Seiberling, was an Akron humanitarian and cultural leader.

A gifted painter, singer

American businessman and United States Naval aviator

Harvey Samuel Firestone Jr. (April 20, 1898 – June 1, 1973) was an American businessman. He was chairman of the board of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.

Biography

He was born on April 20, 1898, to Harvey Samuel Firestone and Idabelle Smith Firestone and educated at Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina. He served as a naval aviator during World War I. After Harvey Jr. graduated from Princeton University in 1920, Harvey Sr. placed him in charge of his company's steel products division; Harvey Jr. took over the leadership of the company in 1941.

Firestone helped establish the company's supply and service stores, and guided its operations during World War II. He was also president of the Firestone Foundation.

Firestone married Elizabeth Parke Firestone in 1921. They had four children: Elizabeth, Anne, Martha, and Harvey Samuel III. Martha married William Clay Ford Sr. and was, as of his death in 2014, the owner of the Detroit Lions. Harvey III died in Havana in 1960. Harvey Jr. died on June 1, 1973

Liberia

During World War I, Britain and the Netherlands controlled 98% of the raw materials necessary for the production of rubber. After the Rubber Restriction Act was passed in Britain in 1922, the costs that the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company paid for its supplies rose. Starting in 1924, Firestone was assigned to travel worldwide in search of locations where the company could grow its own rubber. After visits to Asia and to Mexico, he settled on Liberia as the base for Firestone Natural Rubber Company. He arranged for the lease of 1,500 square miles (3,900 km) of Liberian territory, a little more than 3 percent of that nation's area. The 12,000 Liberian employees were paid low wages and many were alleged to have been slaves, because, as former employee Arthur Hayman described, the Liberian government felt that

The Voice of Firestone collection is organized into the following eleven series:

1. Correspondence
2. Photographs
3. Music
4. Publicity
5. Program Transcripts and Details
6. Awards
7. Scrapbooks and Memorabilia
8. Firestone Library Plans
9. Copyright and Artist Waivers
10. Lending and Licensing Agreements
11. Kinescope Film Program Listings

The correspondence is organized into several categories and spans from 1929-2000, with the bulk spanning 1929-1973. This first series consists of: acknowledgements; requests; professional correspondence; correspondence from The Voice of Firestone performers; letters from listeners; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (A.S.C.A.P.) correspondence and related documents; correspondence and attached documents about copyright; and correspondence related to the donation to the New England Conservatory. Highlights from the professional correspondence sub-series include letters from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and letters from President Dwight D. Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower. Though the majority of the A.S.C.A.P. material is housed in Box 1, there is an oversized, framed certificate confirming Idabelle Firestone’s membership which is housed with several other oversized items in Box 2.

The Photographs are organized into three sub-series. The first consists of photographs of members of the Firestone family, primarily of Idabelle Firestone, Harvey S. Firestone, and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. Those with dates attached span the years 1895-1928. The second features photographs of members of the Firestone family with others, generally those involved in the show. This assortment spans from 1928-1959. The final sub-series consists of photographs of The Voice of Firestone performers and productions. This sub-series features some dated and some undated photos. Those with dates range from 1928-1959. This portion contains many photographs of The Voice of Firestone orchestra, as well as headshots of

American businessman (1868–1938)

Not to be confused with Harvey Fierstein.

Harvey Samuel Firestone Sr. (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.

Family background

Firestone was born in 1868 in Columbiana, Ohio, and grew up on the farm built by his grandfather. The family name was originally Feuerstein; Nicholas Feuerstein, Firestone's paternal ancestor, immigrated from Alsace in 1752 and settled in Pennsylvania. He was the second of Benjamin and Catherine (née Flickinger) Firestone's three sons; Benjamin also had a son and a daughter by his first wife. In 1983, the original farm was disassembled and moved to Greenfield Village, a 90-acre (360,000 m) historical site in Michigan founded by Henry Ford, and is now part of a larger outdoor museum.

On November 20, 1895, Firestone married Idabelle Smith. They eventually had seven children. Notable great–grandchildren include: Andrew Firestone, Nick Firestone, and William Clay Ford, Jr. (the son of Henry Ford's grandson and Harvey and Idabelle's granddaughter Martha).

Education and career

After graduating from Columbiana High School, Firestone worked for the Columbus Buggy Company in Columbus, Ohio before starting his own company in 1890, making rubber tires for carriages. In 1900, he founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. In 1926, he published a book, Men and Rubber: The Story of Business, which was written in collaboration with Samuel Crowther.

Liberia

According to a joint investigation from ProPublica and PBS, Firestone - while directly working as the head of his eponymous company - orchestrated a deal with Liberia to lease over 1 million acres of land to establish a rubber plantation, the largest in the world. This plantation took up over 10% of the count