NORTH CANTON As a tribute to the Hoover Company’s International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union (IBEW) Local 1985, Walsh University formally dedicated and officially opened the new IBEW 1985 Labor Museum and MakerSpace.

Local leaders and members of the community were invited to an opening ceremony and reception on Dec. 6 to showcase the new museum. Students from St. Paul Elementary School joined the group later in the afternoon to try out some of the exhibits.

Associate Vice President of Strategy and Planning Derrick Wyman said, “The new museum with the makerspace is a collaborative effort with our education department.”

“It honors the union leaders while showcasing the future of manufacturing through some of the exhibits such as the 3D printing and coding," he added. "It’s also a way to honor the past and what the workers did at the Hoover Company.”

The makerspace stations replicate some of the processes employed in manufacturing at the Hoover Company. One station is the Electrical Know-How that represents the electrical workers’ specialized craft through an interactive look at circuit boards, control and communication technologies and electrical grids.

Another station is setup as an assembly line where a group of items (raw materials) get assembled into one item by the end of the activity.

The last IBEW member to leave the building in two years ago was Nick Tomey, who was the president and business manager at the time.

“I was the last one out the door of this building. I turned off the lights and locked it up for the last time two years ago,” Tomey said. “I came up with the idea to donate the building to Walsh University. I approached Bill Deets, the International Union Representative and he liked the idea. He took the idea up through the chain. It took a couple of years, but the result is what we are in today.”

When the Hoover Company shut down all operations in Stark County, the IBEW 1985 became defunct.

“This building was a union building since the early 1970s. I’m happy to see the way Walsh made it a community building by combining the museum with a makerspace. That was the main goal, to keep it part of the North Canton community,” Tomey said.

Rachel Hosler, assistant dean of experimental learning at Walsh University, opened the reception. University Provost Douglas Palmer also spoke about the importance of the preserving the history in the form of a museum to contribute to the sense of community.

He said Walsh appreciates the trust the IBEW gave them to preserve the memory of the Hoover Company and the IBEW.

About the Museum

Throughout its history, Local 1985 represented The Hoover Company’s workforce including electricians, maintenance workers, mechanics, assembly line workers and truck drivers. At its peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the union represented more than 3,000 members, at multiple locations throughout Stark County.

In 2016, IBEW Local 1985 donated its longtime union headquarters to Walsh University in an agreement that underscored community engagement and a shared vision to preserve the Hoover Company and IBEW Local 1985 legacy in North Canton.

Originally planned as an exhibit to honor that legacy through memorabilia and artifacts, Walsh took the original concept and added an interactive children’s makerspace in an effort to teach how labor practices from the past such as the assembly line and electrical know-how, can be applied to current technology. There are hands-on activities and teaching stations where the children can learn and play an active role in applying these practices.

Exhibits include a replica of a union headquarters office during the 1980s, with a desk, punch cards and captioned memorabilia in an immersive experience where children and guests can explore artifacts that explain the impact and role of a union in the local community. Other interactive exhibits will help children investigate the importance of union speeches, manufacturing assembly lines, electrical know-how and the ways in which technology has impacted the industry through innovations such as 3D printers.

The new museum is located in the former Hoover Company’s IBEW Local 1985 Headquarters at 113 South Main Street, North Canton. Parking is behind the building. The museum is available for student field trips, afterschool programs or club outings. Museum access is available by reservation to Andrea Singarella, at asingarella@walsh.edu or call 330-490-7567.