About Us

In 2019, female community leaders in Summit County came together to plan the celebration of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. We worked to educate the public on the progress made over the last 100 years and to honor the fight for voting rights for all women — especially many women of color who were excluded from voting until the 1960’s. We were ready to help our community reflect on today’s voting equality and the future of equity for all women, and then COVID created a detour.

From this initiative came a renewed effort to erect a statue of Sojourner Truth in downtown Akron. The Sojourner Truth Project - Akron is working to raise funds for Sojourner Truth Memorial Monument, a new National Monument that will feature a statue of Sojourner Truth, situated next to the United Way of Summit & Medina Counties’ Sojourner Truth Building on North High Street. The Statue has been designed by Akron-native, internationally known artist, Woodrow Nash. Truth Plaza has been designed by Dion Harris, Landscape Architect for the Summit Metro Parks. Individual citizens, non-profits, local government offices, and private businesses have all come together to achieve this goal.