By Carrisa Signore

The 1900 Akron Riots occurred on August 22, 1900 after a man named Louis Peck allegedly lured a small girl out of town and raped her. After being held in the jail, located within Akron’s City Building, a mob formed outside the building demanding for Peck’s head. When the police did not give up Peck to the crowd, the mob turned violent and shots fired from both sides wounded many and ended up killing 4 year old Rhoda Davidson and 10 year old Glen Wade. The mob, about 300 people, began to throw bricks and dynamite into the City Building, trying to draw the police out. When that did not succeed, they set the City Building on fire as well as the neighboring building, Columbia Hall. When the fire department showed up to put out the fire, the mob cut the fire hoses to stop them but the fire department continued to battle the flames heroically despite the violence. To quell the riots, President William McKinley sent two regiments of United States Army troops to stop the violence and maintain peace as city officials could regain control of Akron. In the aftermath, many of the rioters were put in jail on rioting charges and Louis Peck was found guilty of rape and sent immediately to a jail in southern Ohio. This riot is still the largest on record in the city’s history.