Bill Gordon, Ken Hammond, Thomas Lough, Papers

May 4 Collection -- Box 21

Finding Aid

Revised by Nancy Birk, October 18, 1994. Updated by Robin M. Katz, December 12, 2008. Updated By Lae'l Hughes-Watkins, June 2009.
1 cubic foot. 12th floor.

 

Series 1 -- Bill Gordon, Papers

Biographical Sketch (written by Bill Gordon and submitted to the Archives in Nov. 1999)

William A. Gordon, the author of Four Dead in Ohio, is a 1973 graduate of Kent State. He began writing about the events of May 4 in the fall of 1970 while attending UCLA. Later his articles and opinion pieces appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Kent Record-Courier, American Report, and College Press Service. He also freelanced for National Public Radio.

After transferring to Kent, Gordon also worked behind the scenes with Peter Davies, the author of The Truth About Kent State, and the students who petitioned the Justice Department for the federal grand jury investigation. that grand jury resulted in the 1974 indictment and acquittal of eight Ohio National Guardsmen on federal civil rights charges.

Gordon's book was originally published by Prometheus Books in 1990 under the title The Fourth of May: Killings & Coverups at Kent State. After Prometheus allowed the book to go out of print, Gordon secured the rights and in 1995 issued an updated paperback edition under his publishing company with a new title Four Dead in Ohio: Was There a Conspiracy at Kent State?

Now a full-time author and publisher based in Southern California, Gordon has written three other books, including The Quotable Writer (McGraw-Hill, 2000), which he has described as "a thinly disguised professional autobiography."

Scope and Content

This collection consists of some of the articles Gordon donated in the 1970s. Gordon retains possession of his interviews, reporter's notes, and the personal diaries he accumulated during his 19-year-long investigation of the shootings and trials.
  1. Articles by Bill Gordon in newspapers: 1970-74. Includes Alabamian (University of Alabama), College Press Service, Daily Kent Stater, Kent Ravenna Record Courier, UCLA Daily Bruin
  2. Articles by Bill Gordon in magazines: 1972-73, Includes American Report
  3. Report/Paper: "Kent State University's Petition to the White House: Ten Months of Deceit", reprinted in the Congressional Record, Aug. 18, 1972
  4. Report/Paper: "Kent State: Three Years Later A Legal Summary": April 20, 1973
  5. News clippings
  6. Subject file: "The Kent Four"; Granville-Jackson Sculpture

Series 2 -- Ken Hammond, Papers

Biographical Sketch

Ken Hammond was a student and SDS leader at Kent State University in the late 1960s. In the spring of 1970, Ken Hammond was a junior. He spoke at the rally at the Victory Bell on that fateful afternoon of May 4, 1970, and witnessed the events that took place that afternoon. Hammond was named one of the "Kent 25," the group indicted for their involvement with May 4 activities.

Following May 4, 1970, Hammond remained active in May 4 organizations and committees, such as the Kent Liberation Front, the Mayday Coalition, and the Kent Legal Defense Fund. Hammond describes the Kent Liberation Fund as having been "set up in September 1970 to try to counteract the fear and frustration stemming from the shootings May 4th. It functioned while the special grand jury met and during the period following the Kent 25 indictments."

Scope and Content

The materials in this collection are photocopies of items held by Ken Hammond. Of particular interest are the SDS flyers, the materials for the post-1970 period, and Hammond's own recollections. In addition to his papers, Hammond also included notes detailing the purbpose and distinguishing between the groups in which he was involved as well as to contextualize flyers and other papers included in the collection. They were accessioned in October, 1975. Literary and property rights do NOT belong to the University Archives. This collection is associated with the Institute for the Study of Everyday Life.
  1. Flyers/Newsletters: Kent Legal Defense Fund: 1971
  2. Flyers/Newsletters: Kent Liberation Front: 1970-73
  3. Flyers/Newsletters: Mayday Coalition: 1970-71
  4. Flyers/Newsletters: Miscellaneous: 1968-73
  5. Flyers/Newsletters: SDS, Kent: 1968
  6. Flyers/Newsletters: SDS, National: 1969
  7. Report/Paper: Recollections, eyewitness accounts: 1970-74
  8. Report/Paper: "A Political Analysis of May 1-4 1970 at Kent State: 1970
  9. Report/Paper: "Position Paper -- Mayday Coalition": [n.d.]
  10. Reply Brief of Appellants: Hammond et al. v. Paul W. Brown, et al.: 1971

Series 3 -- Thomas Lough, Papers

Biographical Sketch

Thomas Lough was an associate professor of Sociology in May 1970. He was a former faculty advisor to SDS, on the steering committee of the Concerned Citizens of the KSU Community (CCC) and the only professor to be named one of the "Kent 25."

Scope and Content

The majority of papers in this collection focus on the BUS-SDS Walkout and the activities of the CCC. The BUS-SDS walkout was a response to the Oakland Police recruiting on campus in November 1968. Various members of BUS and SDS staged a sit-in protesting the Oakland Police (Oakland was the home of the Black Panthers.) When the administration would not agree to demands that protestors go "unpunished" by the university, 250 black students marched off the campus for a week. Papers chronicling this event include newspaper clippings, correspondence, flyers, notes, and other papers.

The Concerned Citizens of the Kent State Community (CCC) was created in 1969 in the aftermath of arrests and suspensions of students breaking into the Music and Speech building and disrupting a private hearing of SDS leaders, and the SDS charter being revoked. The group, made up of a diverse group of faculty and students, focused on issues of due process and the rights and civil liberties of students on campus. The group formulated demands that the charter be reinstated and charges and suspensions be dropped. In its short three week existence, the group sponsored rallies and a referenda. Lough's collection of newspaper clippings, flyers, correspondence, and other papers detail the events and activities of the group.

  1. BUS-SDS Walkout subject file: Clippings: 1968
  2. BUS-SDS Walkout subject file: Correspondence: 1968
  3. BUS-SDS Walkout subject file: Flyers: 1968
  4. BUS-SDS Walkout subject file: Lewis, Jerry, draft of "Black Student Walkout: You People": [n.d.]
  5. BUS-SDS Walkout subject file: Notes: [n.d.]
  6. BUS-SDS Walkout subject file: President's Bulletin
  7. Concerned Citizens of KSU Community (C.C.C.) subject file: clippings: 1969
  8. Concerned Citizens of KSU Community (C.C.C.) subject file: correspondence: 1969
  9. Concerned Citizens of KSU Community (C.C.C.) subject file: flyers: 1969
  10. Concerned Citizens of KSU Community (C.C.C.) subject file: FYI and Staff Bulletin: 1969
  11. Concerned Citizens of KSU Community (C.C.C.) subject file: Notes: [n.d.]
  12. Concerned Citizens of KSU Community (C.C.C.) subject file: ACLU, Portage Area Chapter, Membership List: [n.d.]
  13. Concerned Citizens of KSU Community (C.C.C.) subject file: V.P. Student Affairs, Special Bulletin: 1969
  14. Concerned Citizens of KSU Community (C.C.C.) subject file: Wenninger, Gene, Correspondence: 1969
  15. Protest -- KSU subject file: clippings, 1968-70
  16. Miscellaneous flyers and correspondence
  17. SDS subject file: 1969
  18. Correspondence: Jon Krosnick: 1975
  19. The April 18th Coalition, "The Meaning of May 4, Kent State University," [1978?]

Series 4 -- Miscellaneous Materials

  1. May 4 Task Force: Clippings, 1975-1976
  2. May 4 Task Force: Correspondence, 1975-1976
  3. May 4 Task Force: Chronological Summary of the May 4th Court Cases, Flyers, Schedules, 1975-1977
  4. May 4 Task Force: Memorial Program Letter, January 1978
  5. May 4 Task Force: Songs for May 4th, undated
  6. May 4th Task Force: Printed Programs, Handouts, Schedules, 1976-1977
  7. May 4th Task Force: "Move The Gym" Armband, undated
  8. Doug Moore: Alternative Lifestyles Group Flyer, undated
  9. Doug Moore: Kingston Brewster's Speech, May 4, 1971
  10. Doug Moore: Contingency Plan, 1971
  11. Doug Moore: FYI: Kent State University Internal Communications, August 9, 1970
  12. Doug Moore: Glenn W. Frank's Comments, May 4, 1971
  13. Doug Moore: Indochina Peace Campaign Flyers, 1974
  14. Doug Moore: Kent, July 1970
  15. Doug Moore: Kent City Policy Department log sheet, May 2, 1970
  16. Doug Moore: Kent Free University Flyer, undated
  17. Doug Moore: Kent Gay Liberation Front Flyer, undated
  18. Doug Moore: Kent Reform Council Flyers, undated
  19. Doug Moore: KSU Position Papers, 1970
  20. Doug Moore: May Day Coalition Flyers, 1971; undated
  21. Doug Moore: May 4th United Front Flyers, undated
  22. Doug Moore: Miscellaneous Articles, 1970
  23. Doug Moore: Miscellaneous Flyers, 1971-1972; undated
  24. Doug Moore: The Militant, October 2, 1970
  25. Doug Moore: News Service Summaries of Campus Meetings, April 1971
  26. Doug Moore: News Service News Releases, undated
  27. Doug Moore: Official Bulletin, August 18, 1970
  28. Doug Moore: P.E.A.C.E. Flyer, undated
  29. Doug Moore: Peace Brigade Publications, 1971
  30. Doug Moore: Socialist Workers Party Flyer, undated
  31. Doug Moore: Student Body President Position Paper on Rockwell Library Parking Lot, undated
  32. Doug Moore: Student Mobilization Committee Flyers, undated
  33. Doug Moore: Student Senate Flyers, undated
  34. Doug Moore: Vietnam Veterans Against the War Flyers, undated
  35. Doug Moore: Robert I. White's Comments, May 4, 1971
  36. Doug Moore: Young Americans for Freedom - "The Alternative," undated
  37. Kent State Due Process of Law Fund, 1975; undated
  38. Kent, City: Proclamation of Civil Emergency, Mayor Satrom Letter to Ohio National Guard, May 2, 1970
  39. Kent Friends Statements, 1977
  40. Urban League: Press Release, May 8, 1970
  41. Susan Reis: Miscellaneous, 1970; undated
  42. Newsday, October 15, 1973
  43. James Gregory Payne: Memorial Forum Flyer, 1975
  44. James Gregory Payne: Speech 101 Student Assignments, 1973-1974; undated
  45. James Gregory Payne: Speech 101 Student Assignments, 1974; undated
  46. James Gregory Payne: "Six Years Ago" Speech, May 3-4, 1976
  47. Alan Shearouse: Clippings, 1968-1973
  48. Alan Shearouse: Bumper Stickers, Miscellaneous Flyers and Correspondence, 1971; 1975; undated
  49. Clearing House, October 1971
  50. W. C. Johnson: Clippings, Flyers, Correspondence, 1966-1973; undated
  51. New York Times Magazine, 1970
  52. U.S. Grant Jury, 1974
  53. Ezra Stotland and James Martinez: Self-Esteem and Mass Violence at Kent State, December 1973
  54. Acorn, undated
  55. May 4 Memorial Marker Committee: Donor Thank Yous, Correspondence, Illustration, 1975

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