Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories

Christopher C. Marek Oral History

Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories

Christopher C. Marek Oral History

Transcription Show Transcript
Narrator Marek, Christopher C.
Narrator's Role Student at Kent State University in 1970
Date of Interview 2000-05-04
Description Christopher C. Marek was an undergraduate student at Kent State University in 1970 and he relates his memories of the events he witnessed on campus on May 4, 1970. He had been off campus the weekend before, and describes returning on Sunday evening, May 3, and seeing helicopters with searchlights and National Guard troops on campus. He describes his memories of Monday, May 4, in detail. He walked from lunch in the Lake-Olson cafeteria back to his dormitory, Johnson Hall, while the demonstration was going on and walked right through a group of students running down Blanket Hill. He was in his dormitory when the shootings took place and describes hearing the shots and discusses a friend who had seen pools of blood in Prentice Hall and then fainted when she arrived at Johnson Hall. He describes what happened to him and his friends during the evacuation from campus and how they were unable to telephone their parents.
Length of Interview 14:51 minutes
Places Discussed Kent (Ohio)
Time Period discussed May 3-4, 1970
Subject(s) College students--Ohio--Kent--Interviews
Helicopters
Kent State Shootings, Kent, Ohio, 1970
Kent State University. ROTC Building--Fires
Ohio. Army National Guard
Searchlights
Students--Ohio--Kent--Interviews
Tear gas munitions
Repository Special Collections and Archives
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Institution Kent State University
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Disclaimer The content of oral history interviews, written narratives and commentaries is personal and interpretive in nature, relying on memories, experiences, perceptions, and opinions of individuals. They do not represent the policy, views or official history of Kent State University and the University makes no assertions about the veracity of statements made by individuals participating in the project. Users are urged to independently corroborate and further research the factual elements of these narratives especially in works of scholarship and journalism based in whole or in part upon the narratives shared in the May 4 Collection and the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project.
Provenance/Collection May 4 Collection