Home > Reference > Education > Colleges and Universities > North America > United States > Ohio > Kent State University > May 4, 1970 Shootings
On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in northeast Ohio, USA, a historic tragedy occurred under the noonday sun. Four students were killed and nine other students were injured during an anti-war confrontation when the Ohio National Guard fired 67 shots into an unarmed crowd of young protesters. Perhaps 1,000 Kent State University anti-war students were protesting the April 30 American military invasion of Cambodia as well as the National Guard invasion of the Kent State campus. The fateful incident was the culmination of four days of Kent State anti-war protests, demonstrations and confrontation. Militant anti-war protests created a situation where Ohio Governor James Rhodes ordered hundreds of Ohio National Guardsmen to the Kent State campus. At noon on May 4, 1970, approximately 75 guardsmen attacked a peaceful demonstation with tear-gas and chased the students over a hilltop. After a tense stand-off, the guardsmen seemed to retreat back up and over the hilltop. However, perhaps a dozen members of Troop G stopped, turned and fired 67 shots from the hilltop at 12:24pm. The closest student was 60 feet away. Most of the victims, including all of the fatalities, were located in the Prentice Hall parking lot at the bottom of the hill. Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder were shot to death by M-1 rifle bullets. Allison and Jeffrey were active protesters. Sandra and William were bystanders killed as they walked away to class. The students were killed at distances of 275 feet to nearly 400 feet away from the shooters who fired high-powered rifles. All of the victims killed and wounded were full-time students at Kent State University. American student demonstrators were also shot down and killed elsewhere before and after "Kent State". However, the May 4, 1970, tragedy was unique: Kent State was the only incident where female students were killed; Kent State was where the most students were killed (four); and the Kent State tragedy triggered the only nation-wide student stike in American history. Nearly 5,000,000 students joined the national student strike in May of 1970. Hundreds of colleges and universities were shut down by the massive wave of protests that were sparked by the Kent State killings and the US invasion of Cambodia. The expansion of the war from Vietnam into Cambodia provoked the Kent State situation. The Kent State tragedy provoked a monumental wave of student protests and crisis across America in May of 1970. The Kent State tragedy was a crucial turning point in American history. President Richard Nixon was pushed nearly to the point of collapse after the Kent State tragedy. Public opinion soon shifted against the US war in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. The government brought the war to a speedier conclusion. In response to the passionate cry of youth, the legal American voting-age was lowered from 21 to 18 in the months after the turmoil in May of 1970. Finally, Congress passed the War Powers Act which limits the power of Presidents to declare war without the support of Congress and the American people. The Kent State tragedy of May 4, 1970, remains recognized as one of the most significant and controversial events in modern American history. The official government FBI investigation concluded the shootings were "...unwarranted, unjustified and inexcuseable".
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/2010/04/2010430134254342410.html
VIDEO NEWS, May 2010 international TV segment, 22 minutes video, featuring interviews of Kent State 1970 victims & eyewitnesses.
http://chronicle.com/article/A-Week-of-Tragedy-Disorders/6375
"A Week of Tragedy: Disorders Flare, 4 Students Die As U.S. Action in Cambodia Inflames Many Campuses".
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/5/4/four_dead_in_ohio_35th_anniversary
Includes streaming audio and video from film documentary, "Kent State: The Day the War Came Home". 1970 news coverage, interviews with eyewitnesses and participants.
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0005/hrintro.htm
Howard Ruffner, a KSU student photographer, captured some of the best May 4, 1970, photos. His interview, text and RealAudio, is followed by 10 pages of photographs.
http://vault.fbi.gov/kent-state-shooting
Links to eight sites which contain the FBI files on the Kent State shooting.
http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/saxon/SaxonServlet?style=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/saxon/EAD/yul.ead2002.xhtml.xsl&source=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/fedora/get/mssa:ms.0804/EAD
Overview of the Kent State collection at Yale
http://www.history.com/search?search-field=%22kent+state%22+1970
Various useful History.com links to relevant Kent State-1970 related issues.
http://may4.org/
Non-profit educational organization providing detailed information about the events surrounding the Kent State shootings.
http://www2.kenyon.edu/Khistory/60s/welcome.htm
Kent State and Jackson State 1970 tragedies featured with good brief description and photos. Focus upon victims killed and injured.
http://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=659
Actual M-1 rifle used by Ohio National Guard at Kent State University on May 4, 1970: includes photo, dimensions, weight and history.
http://kentstatedevelopments.blogspot.com/
This blog, written by William A. Gordon (KSU, 1973), the author of "Four Dead in Ohio," offers commentary on the latest developments in the Kent State shooting case.
http://kent.state.tripod.com/
Launched by former student journalists who covered the days events, with links to newspaper articles, FBI documents, photos, cartoons, videos, and other archived resources.
http://law.jrank.org/pages/7983/Kent-State-Student-Killings.html
A good, concise summary of 1970-1979 legal aftermath following the 1970 Kent State tragedy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/us/02kent.html?ex=1179806400&en=703c91b32ef26e3b&ei=5070
If confirmed as authentic, the recording could solve the central mystery of the shootings at Kent State University in 1970.
http://www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives/kent-state-shootings-may-4-collection
The definitive source of information on the shooting of students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970.
http://virtualtrials.com/news3.cfm?item=78&showtext=y
Accurate description of 1970 events by a former KSU student who is now a respected journalist.
http://www.firstladies.org/curriculum/curriculum.aspx?Curriculum=1718
Students who participate in this activity will become familiar with the issues and events leading up to the Lesson plan for teachers. Skill: High School/College. Time Required: Four to five class periods. Focus: Jackson State and Kent State shootings, as well as gain experience in sifting large amounts of complex and sometimes conflicting information, synthesizing information, and creating arguments for presentation.
http://may4archive.org/
Text of J. Gregory Payne's MayDay, including chronology, related primary documents, and accounts of the victims with insights from family, friends and personal writings. Panel discussion and author's account of dramatic license vs. historical accuracy in NBC's "Kent State."
http://www.may41970.com/
Contains history of events at Kent State in May of 1970, a resource page, and links to related web sites.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/05/new_analysis_of_40-year-old_re.html
Article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, May 9, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0504.html
Article and copy of NYT front page, May 5, 1970.
http://www.vialarp.org/tinsoldiers/tinbackground.htm
Various 1970 New York Times newspaper articles describe the national crisis after the US invasion of Cambodia, the Kent State tragedy and the national reaction.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2010/02/23/kent-state-shootings-site-on-national-register-historic.html
On February 22, 2010, US Government approves site of May 4, 1970, Kent State tragedy to National Register of Historic Places. Article online by Columbus Dispatch - Columbus, Ohio's Daily Newspaper.
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0005/bpintro.htm
Photos, oral histories and video interviews.
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0005/filo.htm
John Filo was a Kent State University student when he captured the top news photo of 1970: a girl screaming over the dead body of Jeffrey Miller who was killed by the national guard. Filo tells his story online.
http://www.nrbooks.com/kent-state-bibliography.htm
An annotated bibliography of the May 4, 1970 Kent State killings and its legal aftermath. Adapted with permission from William A. Gordon's book "Four Dead in Ohio."
http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/analysis/back.time/9605/20/
An article concerning the Kent State tragedy of May 4, 1970, and the national crisis after the U.S. military invasion of Cambodia from Vietnam.
http://web.viu.ca/davies/H323Vietnam/Grace_Kent_State.1970.htm
Excerpts from the book From Camelot to Kent State featuring observations of student Tom Grace who was shot through his left foot.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-05-03-kent-state_N.htm
Forty years after Guardsmen fired into a crowd killing four people, 1970 tragedy is studied at Kent State.
http://www.kentstate1970.org/
"...focuses on the sounds of May 4th. Eyewitness accounts combined with historic audio take the listener directly to the scene...Eyewitnesses tell the story."
http://www.wksu.org/news/story/20800
2007 news may prove 1970 Ohio National Guard verbal command to shoot unarmed Kent State students. Includes audio of newly-revealed evidence.
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2007/05/03/librarys-recording-may-clarify-kent-state-killings/
An audiocassette that has sat in a Yale library for nearly two decades may hold the evidence explaining why Ohio National Guard troops shot into a crowd of war protesters at Kent State University in 1970.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drb4VUP6YLc
Kent State 1970 video documentary by a young student participating in National History Day with focus upon tragedy and impact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9cKNAvF-7Y&feature=channel_page
Artistic watercolor images portray 13 seconds, May 4, 1970, including taped sounds of commands to shoot unarmed Kent State University students.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkejULqgBgg
This folk song, based upon a Woody Guthrie tune about the Ludlow Massacre, features accurate lyrics matched with 1970 Kent State photographs.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6912/
An eyewitness describes her experience at Kent State in 1970. Text and audio.
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