Primary Sources: The 1970s: Kent State Shootings

"Author Clara Bingham interviews Joe Lewis about his experiences at Kent State. Joe Lewis was one of the students shot that day and he tells in chilling detail how the events of that day unfolded."

"This student-run newspaper has been published since 1926 under the titles of The Searchlight, The Kent Stater, and The Daily Kent Stater. The collection now includes issues dating from February 1926 through December 2016. Also included are Kent Summer News and Summer Stater issues from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. From 29 August 2013 through spring 2015, one issue per week was released under the title of KSU Buzz, a weekly entertainment magazine. Please note that there were no issues of the paper from July 1943 through August 1944 and from Fall 1950 on file in print or on microfilm in Kent State University Special Collections and Archives. Within some issues from the 2000s, some damage has occurred to portions of pages due to the binding process."

"Audio recordings, photographs, artworks, and thousands of documents from the May 4 Collection, documenting the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings."

"Kent State University was placed into the international spotlight on May 4, 1970, after 13 students were shot by members of the Ohio National Guard at a student demonstration. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded, including one who was permanently paralyzed from his injury. The May 4 Collection, established by the Kent State University Libraries in 1970, includes over 300 cubic feet of primary sources related to the Kent State shootings and their aftermath. The collection is open to the public and is used by researchers from around the world."

"The Kent State Shootings Oral History Project collects and provides access to personal accounts of the May 4, 1970, shootings and their aftermath. Founded in 1990 by Sandra Perlman Halem, the Project continues to record oral histories, including many eyewitness accounts, from a wide variety of viewpoints. The narrators are Kent State faculty, alumni, staff, and administrators, residents of the city of Kent, National Guardsmen, police, hospital personnel, and other persons whose lives were affected by these historic events."

"On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire during an antiwar protest on the Kent State University campus. Four students were killed and an additional nine were wounded. Through historical photographs and eyewitness interviews, this documentary details the events surrounding the shootings along with their impact, both immediate and long-lasting.

An Official Selection at the Cleveland International Film Festival (2016)."

"Watch selected news footage filmed at Kent State from May 4th, 1970, the day of the shootings. These shootings occurred after a protest against the Vietnam War on the campus of Kent State University turned violent. The clash between student protesters and the Ohio National Guard resulted in the killing of four students and wounding of nine. This event would mark a fundamental turning point in the anti-war movement, galvanizing protesters into action at universities and high schools across the nation.

Archival news footage from this day was used in the documentary The Day the 60's Died, which chronicles the Kent State shootings and the events and circumstances surrounding it."

U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1970

This report examines campus unrest. Emphasis is
placed on the student protest in the 1960's, the black student
movement, university response to campus disorder, the law enforcement
response, university reform, government and campus unrest, and Kent
State and Jackson State. Recommendations are suggested for the
President, the government, the law enforcement agencies, the
university, and the students. Appendices include a 191-item
bibliography, commission hearings and investigations, and official
documents. Photographs of the Kent State incident may be copyrighted
and have been omitted from the text (p. 291-409). (MJM)