In Your Skin

Kevin Robinson is the grandson of Otis Spurling, who came to Akron from Birmingham, Alabama. during the great migration. Otis got a job with the WPA (Work Progress Administration) in the 1940’s and moved to Akron to live with his brother, who helped him find work at the arsenal in Ravenna. When Otis started working in the rubber industry, he was restricted to work in the mill rooms because of segregation. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, Otis pursued work in the tire rooms and taught himself how to operate the machinery. He became Firestone’s first African American tire builder, and was featured in articles in TIME Magazine and the Akron Beacon Journal.