The City of Akron hosted a groundbreaking Nov. 6, 2015, to kick-off work of the largest-ever construction project in the City’s history, The Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel.

During the event, the City also announced  the results of a contest for Akron residents to name the giant Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) that will excavate the 27-foot diameter, mile-long tunnel under downtown Akron.

Akron’s Deputy Service Director Phil Montgomery said Akron’s machine will be named “Rosie.” The nomination from Ellet resident Michael Flynn recognizes Rose May Jacob and the hundreds of other “Rosies” that worked at Akron’s rubber factories during World War II, who turned out material and armaments for the allied effort.

Jacob died in December, 2014 at the age of 88. She was a junior at Kenmore High School when she began working at Firestone, where she helped rivet wings for C-47 warplanes.

Goodyear, Firestone and Goodrich recruited people from Akron high schools to work on the war effort. Rosie (as her friends called her) Jacob was quick to volunteer, even though it meant she had to attend school in the mornings and work an eight-hour shift until late at night.

The desire to help the war from the homefront was also personal to Jacob, as her two older brothers fought in the war. Jacob worked at Firestone Aircraft until the war ended in 1945.