Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories

Richard Karl Watkins Oral History (2000)

Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories

Richard Karl Watkins Oral History (2000)

Transcription Show Transcript
Narrator Watkins, Richard Karl
Narrator's Role Student at Kent State University in 1970
Date of Interview 2000-05-03
Description Richard Karl Watkins was an undergraduate student at Kent State University in 1970 and, in this second oral history (he recorded another oral history in 1990) he again describes his memories of being on campus when the shootings took place. He mentions seeing the burning of the ROTC Military Science Building and describes the mood of the crowd he saw there. He talks about the National Guard presence on campus and the use of tear gas and bayonets. He relates his eyewitness account of the shootings which he watched from his dormitory, Dunbar Hall. Watkins also discusses letters he received from his professors and how he was able to complete his classes after the campus had been closed. He was in a class with Allison Krause, one of the students killed, and he discusses his experience learning that she had been killed. He also talks about being back at Kent State the following year and describes the tensions and heightened security that he observed.
Length of Interview 40:57 minutes
Places Discussed Kent (Ohio)
Toledo (Ohio)
Time Period discussed 1970-1971
Subject(s) Bayonets
College environment--Ohio--Kent
College students--Ohio--Kent--Interviews
Eyewitness accounts
Kent State Shootings, Kent, Ohio, 1970
Kent State University. ROTC Building--Fires
Krause, Allison, 1951-1970
Ohio. Army National Guard
Students--Ohio--Kent--Interviews
Tear gas munitions
Wrentmore, Douglas
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