May 4 Collection
Kent State University Libraries and Media
Services
Department of Special Collections and Archives
Welcome to the Department of Special Collections and Archives at Kent State
University and to the May 4 Collection which encompasses an integral part of
our archive. Kent State University was placed in an international spotlight
after a tragic end to a student demonstration against the Vietnam War and the
National Guard on May 4, 1970. Shortly after noon on that Monday, 13 seconds
of rifle fire by a contingent of 28 Ohio National Guardsmen left four students
dead, one permanently paralyzed, and eight others wounded. Not every student
was a demonstration participant or an observer. Some students were walking to
and from class. The closest student wounded was 30 yards away from the Guard,
while the farthest was nearly 250 yards.
The May 4 Collection and this Web site have been created to assist students,
faculty, staff, community members and other researchers in locating information
sources related to the Kent State shootings and their aftermath.
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Detailed List of the Contents of the May
4 Collection in Special Collections and Archives
- Resources for National History Day Projects
- Index to the May 4 Collection (navigate the collection by subject terms)
- Online Exhibit (includes a Chronology of Events)
- Annotated
Bibliography (selected books, journal articles, and Web sites related to the Kent State shootings)
- Kent State Shootings Oral History Project (eyewitness accounts and other narratives)
- Chronology of the Legal Aftermath of the Shootings (trials and investigations)
- Leave a Comment or Ask a Question
Links to Other Sources (not part of Special Collections and Archives)
- May 4th Task Force Home Page
- Kent May 4 Center
- Kent State's Annual Symposium on Democracy
- Professor J. Gregory Payne's May
4 Archive (author of MAYDAY: Kent State)
- Paper written by Professors Jerry Lewis and Tom Hensley on "The
May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search for Historical Accuracy"
- Alan Canfora's Website (one of the nine students shot and injured on May 4, 1970; contains a wealth of information on the shootings and their aftermath)
- Kent State, May 4, 1970 (Website launched by former student journalists who covered the day's events, with links to newspaper articles, FBI documents, photos, cartoons, videos, eye-witness accounts and more)
- Bill Gordon's
Web site (author of Four Dead in Ohio)
- Mike and Kendra's May 4, 1970 Web site
296953 visitors since Jan. 1, 1999.