The Mathews Hotel was Akron’s main Black hotel. Owned by George W. Mathews, the hotel was located at 77 N. Howard Street. Born on a farm in Thomaston, Georgia, in 1897, Mathews worked as a waiter in a Montgomery, Alabama, hotel from 1915 to 1920. He migrated to Akron in 1925 and opened the Mathews Hotel, which operated until 1978. The building was demolished in the 1980s. In its heyday in the mid-20th century, the Mathews Hotel hosted prominent Black performers such as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Additional information coming soon
Green Book Details
The Mathews Hotel appears in the Green Book from 1938 to 1967 in the category “Hotels.”
Resources
- “The Akron Heritage Music Project: S3: Episode 2 – Akron Jazz and Howard Street – The Howard Street Shuffle.” Roots of American Music. February 19, 2021. www.rootsofamericanmusic.org/rootsrearview/2021/2/19/the-akron-heritage-music-project-episode-2-akron-jazz-and-howard-street-the-howard-street-shuffle
- “Matthews Called Akron’s ‘Modern Period Moses.'” Call & Post. July 15, 1937.
- “Mathews Hotel, Akron, 1973.” Summit Memory. www.summitmemory.org/digital/collection/ABJarchives/id/5511/rec/195