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Special Collections and Archives

Timothy Wayne Viezer, Papers, 1977-80

Timothy Wayne Viezer papers

MAY 4 COLLECTION -- Boxes 58 and 58A

Finding Aid

Prepared by Scott L. Bills, August 29, 1980; Updated February 2012.
2 record storage boxes, 2 cubic feet, 12th floor

Historical Note

Timothy Viezer began his freshman year at Kent State in the fall of 1977, a time when the political activity surrounding the gym controversy was winding down but still highlighted by two major demonstrations (September 24 and October 22). Viezer was not active himself in student political groups but began systematically collecting leaflets and newspaper clippings. He did this initially to clarify his own views and later with the intent to donate the materials to the University Archives.

Scope and Content

The Kent State University Archives acquired the materials for this collection from Timothy Viezer in three installments on April 23, 1980; May 5, 1980; and May 26, 1980. This collection contains a large number of leaflets and flyers from diverse campus groups for the years 1977-80. These items have been arranged alphabetically within the series according to the person or organizations that issued them, and represent at least thirty-six different organizations. Several such items which could not be linked to specific groups have been listed under "source unidentified." Newspaper clippings are arranged chronologically.

The substantial amount of political ephemera contained in the collection demonstrates the range of student activist concerns for the years 1977-80. Though the focus of most activities was on the May 4 commemoration and the gym controversy, students were involved in other political efforts as well. Many of the most active individuals and organization programs included workshops on apartheid, third world liberation, and imperialism, as well as other concerns represented in the collection. Used in conjunction with related collections, the leaflets and flyers will provide a useful overview of both student activist rhetoric and political concerns. In addition to news items, the paper contains a discussion of the history of the May 4th Movement. The collection contains many colorful posters and a range of artifacts such as armbands, T-shirts, bumper stickers, and buttons.

Viezer has donated to the Kent State University Archives whatever property and literary rights he possesses in these materials.

Description of Series

Box 58

Series 1 -- Leaflets/Flyers

Folder -- Contents

  1. Abel, Ted, [Memorial Windows designer], 1978
  2. American Friends Service Committee, 1977
  3. American Indian Rights Association (A.I.R.A.), 1978
  4. Anti-May 4th Coalition materials, [source unidentified], 1977-78
  5. Arnold, Dwight, 1978
  6. Artists and Craftspeople for a Just Resolution, [no date]
  7. Black United Students, 1978-79
  8. Blanket Hill Council, 1977
  9. Cambodia: A Genocide in Peacetime, Exceeding the Holocaust, 1980
  10. Center for Peaceful Change, 1978
  11. Coalition for Direct Action at Seabrook, 1980
  12. Communist Youth Organization, 1977-78
  13. "Death to the Shah," [source unidentified], 1979
  14. Faculty Senate, [no date]
  15. Freddy Demuth Club, 1977-78
  16. Government contact information, [source unidentified, no date]
  17. Group of Kampuchean (Khmer) Residents in America, 1978
  18. Information newsletter, [source unidentified], 1979
  19. Iranian Students Association, 1977-78
  20. KSU Progressive Alumni, 1978
  21. Kent Committee Against Registration for the Draft, 1980
  22. Kent Committee Against Repressive Legislation, 1977-78
  23. Kent Gay Liberation Front, 1978
  24. Kent Legal Defense Fund, [no date]
  25. Kent Miners Strike Support Committee, 1978
  26. Legal Profession Working to Move the Gym, [no date]
  27. May 4th Coalition, 1977-78
  28. May 4th Coalition Caucus, 1977
  29. May 4th Forum, 1979
  30. May 4th Resource Center, KSU Library, 1974
  31. May 4th Task Force, 1977-80
  32. "Move the gym!!" [source unidentified, no date]
  33. Muslim Students Association, 1978
  34. National United Workers Organization, 1978
  35. Note of solidarity to Tent City inhabitants, signed "your shadow," [source unidentified, no date]
  36. Pan-Africanist Congress (P.A.C.), 1978
  37. Portage County Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union, 1977
  38. Portage County Committee for Free Speech and Free Assembly, 1977
  39. "Protest Golding's Fee Hike," [source unidentified], 1978
  40. Rally for Free Speech, [source unidentified], 1977
  41. Residence Services, 1977-78
  42. Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade, 1978-79
  43. Revolutionary Student Brigade, 1977
  44. Socialist Educational Forum, 1977
  45. Socialist Workers Party, 1978
  46. Spartacus Youth League, 1977-78
  47. Student Government, 1977-78
  48. Student Workers Association, 1978
  49. Students Maintaining and Advocating Cooperation and Constructiveness at Kent (SMACK), 1977-78
  50. Tactics Committee, [includes committee report, no date]
  51. Vicarel, Tom, ["Are You Fed Up?], 1977
  52. Vietnam Veterans Against the War, 1977-78
  53. Wendy's Restaurant Protest, [source unidentified], 1978
  54. "What do you think?" [source unidentified, no date]
  55. Young Muslims Organization, [no date]
  56. Young Socialist Alliance, 1977-78
  57. Youth International Party, 1977-1978
  58. Freedom Bell!, Kent New Generation church, no date, see MAY 4 OVERSIZED

Series 2 -- Newspapers/Press Clippings

  1. The Truth Demands Justice, weekly newspaper published by the May 4th Coalition, 1978, see MAY 4 OVERSIZED
  2. List of May 4th articles appearing in the Daily Kent Stater, 1977-78
  3. List of letters to the editor, May 4th topics, Daily Kent Stater, 1977-80
  4. List of May 4th articles appearing in newspapers transferred to the Social Movements Collection, 1977-1979
  5. Press Clippings, 1971
  6. Press Clippings, 1977
  7. Press Clippings, 1978
  8. Press Clippings, 1979
  9. Press Clippings, 1980, [includes The Sunday Paper], January 6, 1980; for additional clippings, see MAY 4 OVERSIZED
  10. Press Clippings, 1981
  11. Press Clippings, 1982

Series 3 -- Printed Materials

  1. Anti-Bakke Decision Coalition, 1978
  2. The Black Watch newsletter, April 10, 1978 issue
  3. In Memorium, May 4th Task Force Memorial Booklet, 1978
  4. Kent Weekly, newsletter, August 11, 1977
  5. Left Review, v. 2, n. 3, Spring 1978, [contains the article The Manipulation of May 4 for Political Ends, by Bob Howard]
  6. Left Review, v. 3, no's. 2-3, Winter/Spring 1979
  7. Leftwords Occasional Paper #7, Political Rhetoric of the Ultra-Left, by Ellio Podwill, [no date]
  8. Kent State F.A.C.T. [First Amendment Conservation Task-force] Vol 1.1, Vol 1.2 See Also: Peg Watkins Papers -Folder 10
  9. List of U.S. Supreme Court decisions related to gym protest, October 1977
  10. May 4 Commemoration program, 1981
  11. May 4 Task Force information booklet, [no date]
  12. May 4 Task Force information pamphlet, [includes handwritten notes of included information, no date]
  13. The May Fourth Site brochure, 1980
  14. Revolutionary Union, [women's liberation booklet], 1978
  15. Sprout newsletter, [includes article about Tent City], May 13, 1977
Series 4-- Scholarly Work
  1. Paper, Lewis, Jerry M. and Betty F. Kirschner, "Public Interpretation of Tent City Arrestees: Kent State, 1977" April 1978
  2. Paper, "We Shall Not Be Moved: A Study of the May 4th Coalition and the Kent State University Gymnasium Controversy of 1977" Dissertation Abstract, 1982
  3. Paper, Lewis, Jerry M. and Duane Dukes "National Guard and the Social Control of Violence: The Temporal Dimensions of the Radicalization of Crowd Participants" 1977
  4. Paper, Rudwick, Elliott and August Meier "The Kent State Affair: Social Control of a Putative Value-Oriented Movement" Sociological Inquiry Volume 42 issue 2 1972
  5. Paper, Hensley, Thomas R. and Glen W. Griffin "Victims of Groupthink: The Kent State University Board of Trustees and the 1977 Gymnasium Controversy

Box 58A

Series 5-- Miscellaneous Subject Files

Folder -- Contents

  1. Correspondence, August 30, 1977-November 16, 1977
  2. Correspondence, Alan Canfora, [wounded on May 4, 1970], 1978
  3. Faculty Coordinating Committee, [statement prepared for vigil, July 20, 1977]
  4. Handwritten copy of poster contents and May 4 related graffiti, 1977-78
  5. Kent State University Board of Trustees, September/October 1977
  6. Kent State University presidential order for protesters to vacate premises, October 1977
  7. Lawless, James T., Manager of Media Relations, letter to media concerning gym protest, [no date]
  8. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, January 6-September 9, 1977, [handwritten on index cards]
  9. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, September 14-16, 1977, [handwritten on index cards]
  10. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, September 17-22, 1977, [handwritten on index cards]
  11. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, September 23-October 24, 1977, [handwritten on index cards]
  12. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, October 25-December 30, 1977, [handwritten on index cards]
  13. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, January 4-April 4, 1978, [handwritten on index cards]
  14. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, April 5-May 31, 1978, [handwritten on index cards]
  15. List of newspapers transferred to the Social Movements Collection
  16. List of printed materials transferred to the Social Movements Collection
  17. List of questions for police at peace marshall training, [part of move to separate the marshalls from the May 4th Task Force's name], May 4, 1978
  18. Minutes, Kent Interhall Council, November 2, 1977
  19. "Perspectives on May 4th: An Interdisciplinary Focus," course syllabus and practice test, Sprint 1978
  20. National Historic Site Registration Application
  21. Rally Committee, suggested order of speakers for rally, [no date]
  22. Schedule of activities for national rally, [no date]
  23. Suggested list of statements for trespassing defendants to make at court appearance, [no date]
  24. "Tactics of Non-Violent Change," course syllabus, [no date]
  25. Thesis rough draft, [extensively documented, with notes]
  26. Thesis, [includes revisions of footnotes, theoretical framework, and May 4th Coalition analysis]
  27. Thesis, [list of sources used, handwritten on index cards]
Series 6-- Ephemera
  1. Armband, "Move the Gym," October 1977
  2. Armband, Peace Marshall, May 4, 1980
  3. Armband, "Remember Kent and Jackson State," [no date]
  4. Bumper Sticker, "Remember Kent State/Move the Gym," 1977
  5. Sticker from riot grenade, October 22, 1977
  6. 1977 calendar and outline denoting dates of activities related to May 4
  7. "Kent State: the Final Chapter Remains Unwritten," T-shirt from the May 4th Task Force
  8. "Remember Kent State, Move the Gym," T-shirt from the May 4th Coalition
  9. Political buttons, "Kent 25"
  10. Political buttons, KSU Yippies
  11. Political buttons, "Resist the Draft", Fall 1979
  12. Political buttons, Miscellaneous