2024 Akron & Cleveland ACS Joint Meeting

September 18, 2024 | 4:30 pm - 8:30 pm

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Location

Baker Electric Building
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Baker Electric Motor Vehicle Advertisement
The Baker Electric Motor Car.  Tour of original showroom building and talk of the history of this innovative vehicle from Cleveland.  More detail below.
Speaker: Eric Rivet, Curator of Collections and Exhibits at the Western Reserve Historical Society
Tentative Schedule:
4:30 – 5:30 — Cleveland section executive committee meeting
5:30 – 6:30 — social time with appetizers and tour of building
6:30 – 7:00 — dinner (buffet style with meat and vegetarian option)
7:00 – 8:00 — presentation by invited speaker
Note early RSVP needed by 9/3/24.  Registration will close early if we hit our maximum for the space.
Registration:

2024 Akron & Cleveland Sections Joint Meeting: The Baker Electric Motor Vehicle, Wed. Sept. 18

  • Our award winners and parents/teachers are complimentary. At the event, we take credit cards, checks made out to “Cleveland ACS," or cash. The cost is $20 for employed members and guests, $10 for retirees or unemployed, and FREE for undergrad or grad students.
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Menu:

      Chicken marsala and Stuffed Shells
      Red-skinned potatoes
      Green beans with French-fried onions
      Salad and rolls
      Desert of associated pastries
      Iced tea, coffee, water, and soda

The Baker Electric Motor Car. 

In 1909, the Baker Electric was the best selling electric vehicle in the world. The car was lighter than other electric cars and used twelve lead acid batteries designed by Thomas Edison who famously drove a Baker. In New York City, there were 15,000 on the streets and charging stations scattered throughout the area. Cleveland architect Frank B Meade designed the Baker Electric Building for Walter C Baker as his car showroom in 1910. Rohrheimer-Brooks, Cleveland’s top interior design studio, designed and decorated the showrooms and associated spaces. Faced with competition from gasoline-powered automobiles production ceased in 1919. The building was listed on the National Register for Historic Places in 2007 and was redeveloped into a LEED Silver certified tech incubator providing 52,000 square feet of office and wet/dry laboratory space for emerging local companies. In 2010, the city of Cleveland installed the city’s first public electric vehicle recharging station.

Here is a video with Jay Leno showing off the Baker Electric from his collection.

Speaker Biography:

Eric Rivet, Curator Western Reserve Historical Society

Eric Rivet, Curator WRHS

Eric Rivet has been a Curator of Collections and Exhibits at the WRHS since 2015. His responsibilities include planning and installing exhibitions that highlight the rich and diverse history of the region. Previously, he was a Curator at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Louisiana State University.