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John F. Ohles May 4 papers

Special Collections and Archives

John F. Ohles May 4 papers

Special Collections and Archives

John F. Ohles May 4 papers

John F. Ohles May 4 papers

May 4 Collection -- Boxes 171 and 172

Finding Aid

Prepared by Nancy Birk, 28 April 1998; Updated August 2016; Updated October 2017


Inclusive Dates: 1968-2000
Bulk Dates: 1970-1985
Extent: 2 cubic feet (1 record storage box + 1 oversize box) 
Physical Location: 12th floor


Biographical Note: John Ford Ohles (July 30, 1920 - January 15, 1988), Emeritus Professor of Education, was a faculty member at Kent State University from 1966 until 1985. His university service included membership on the KSU Commission on Violence (1970), and he was chair of the KSU Memorial Marker Committee (1975 and 1979-80). In 1982, he was a Fulbright Scholar to Norway. Ohles was a member of several scholastic honorary societies and professional organizations. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II (1942 - 1946). Before coming to Kent, Ohles was a high school teacher in Minnesota and Iowa and a member of the faculties at State University Colleges of New York at Freedonia and Cortland.  


Scope and Content: This collection begins in the late 1960s with correspondence and faculty newsletters pertaining to campus unrest and the events leading up to May 4, 1970. The bulk of the collection relates to continued student unrest and remembrance of the May 4 shootings, including the B'Nai B'rith Memorial Marker in the Taylor Hall parking lot and the Gym Annex protest (Tent City). The collection also contains commemorative programs, flyers, newsletters and publications, photographs, slides, and posters.  


Related Material: KSU Commission on Violence; Gym Annex Controversy (Tent City); Collection on George Segal’s Abraham and Isaac sculpture.


Separated Materials: General clippings about the Kent State shootings and related topics have been removed from this collection and will be integrated into the May 4 Clippings, Magazines, and Journal Articles collection.


May 4 Collection -- Box 171
Folder -- Contents

  1. Assignments: Form letters and lessons after college shut down (original dittos), 1970
  2. Assignments: Form letters and lessons after college shut down (photocopies), 1970 
  3. Assignments: Responses from Ohles' students, 1970
  4. Commission on KSU Violence, 1970-1972
  5. Correspondence: 1968
  6. Correspondence: 1969
  7. Correspondence: 1970
  8. Correspondence: 1971
  9. Correspondence: 1972
  10. Correspondence: 1973
  11. Correspondence: 1974
  12. Correspondence: 1975
  13. Correspondence: 1976
  14. Correspondence: 1977
  15. Correspondence: 1978
  16. Correspondence: Crawford, Indiana Social Studies class project about May 4 shootings, 1978 
  17. Correspondence: 1979
  18. Correspondence: 1980-1983
  19. Correspondence: 1984-1987
  20. Correspondence: undated
  21. Court Order: April 1972 Responses
  22. Court Order: Permanent Injunction (Tent City), 1977
  23. Ephemera: Armband "Move the Gym!"
  24. Ephemera: Armband "Remember Kent and Jackson State, Stop the Draft"
  25. Ephemera: Bumper sticker "Remember Kent State - Move the Gym"
  26. Ephemera: Business card of Andrew Jones, Senior Editor of Reader's Digest
  27. Ephemera: Patch Dove with KSU
  28. Faculty Senate, 1970-1971
  29. Flyers: 1971
  30. Flyers: 1972
  31. Flyers: 1973
  32. Flyers: 1974
  33. Flyers: 1975
  34. Flyers: 1976
  35. Flyers: 1977
  36. Flyers: 1978
  37. Flyers: 1979
  38. Flyers: undated
  39. Letter to the Editor, Minneapolis Star, May 20, 1972
  40. May 4 Coalition: Chronology of HPER Facility Planning and May 4 Coalition
  41. May 4 Memorial Marker Committee, 1975
  42. May 4 Memorial Marker granite sample
  43. May 4 Memorial Marker newsclippings, 1975-1984
  44. May 4 Memorial Marker rendering, undated
  45. May 4 Memorial Marker repairs, 1979-1980
  46. May 4 Remembrance: Center for Peaceful Change, undated
  47. May 4 Remembrance: Schedule of Events and Memorial Service, 1971
  48. May 4 Remembrance: Memorial Marker dedication and Ecumenical Memorial Service, 1975
  49. May 4 Remembrance: Schedule of Events and flyers, 1977
  50. May 4 Remembrance: Convocation of the Faculty, 1979
  51. May 4 Remembrance: Schedule of Events and Faculty Commemorative program, 1980
  52. May 4 Remembrance: Commemorative Program and Commemorative Concert, 1981
  53. May 4 Remembrance: 18th Annual Commemoration, 1988
  54. May 4 Resource Room, Library: Dedication and Memorial Windows, 1974-1978
  55. Newsletters: Monday Sneaker, Volume 5, Number 2, undated
  56. Newsletters: Ohio Association for Higher Education, June 18, 1970
  57. Newsletters: Revolutionary Student Brigade, May 4, 1975
  58. Ohio General Assembly: Bill to amend Revised Code, 1971-1972
  59. Ohio General Assembly: Joint Resolution relative to the placement of a memorial, 1977-1978
  60. Pamphlets: Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development, Center for Peaceful Change, undated
  61. Pamphlets: May 4 Task Force, undated
  62. Pamphlets: The May Fourth Site, 1980
  63. Photographs: May 4 events, 1970  
  64. Photographs: Blanket Hill, 1972
  65. Photographs: Rally, undated
  66. Photographs: Gym Annex protest (Tent City), 1977
  67. Photographs: Abraham and Isaac sculpture dedication, Princeton, 1979
  68. Photographs: "Remember Kent and Jackson" Rally, 1980
  69. Photographs: May 4 Vigil, 1985
  70. Photographs: May 4 Remembrance, 1986
  71. Photographs: May 4 Vigil and Remembrance, 1987
  72. Photographs: May 4 Remembrance, 1995
  73. Photographs: May 4 Vigil, 2000
  74. Position Papers, 1971 and undated
  75. Programs: Abraham and Isaac sculpture dedication, Princeton, October 1979
  76. Programs: Memorial Service for Carl Benton and Joan Butterfield Tymchyshyn (May 4 Coalition members), 1978
  77. Programs: Two Generations of Brubeck, February 25, 1975
  78. Programs: United Presbyterian Church Bulletin: May 4 excerpts, 1973
  79. Publications: Academic Information (Office of Vice President and Provost) 1966-1971
  80. Publications: The Alternative (KSU Chapter of Young Americans for Freedom), undated 
  81. Publications: The Black Watch Volume 8, Number 2, August 4, 1977
  82. Publications: Chrysalis (Department of Educational Foundations, College of Education), Volume 3, Number 2, July 1982
  83. Publications; Four in Memory (May 4 Committee book of poetry), 1974
  84. Publications: Kent State F.A.C.T. (First Amendment Conservation Task Force), Volume 1, Numbers 1 and 2, October 1977 and March 1978
  85. Publications: Kent State Program in Peaceful Change: A Profile, undated
  86. Publications: Management Study and Analysis Ohio Public Higher Education summary, December 1969
  87. Publications: My Perspective is Socialism, an interview with Clara Jackson..., Fall 1979
  88. Publications: Northeast Ohio Peace and Justice Calendar, Volume 2, Number 5, May 1975
  89. Publications: The Post-American, Volume 1, Number 3, Spring 1972
  90. Publications: The Weekly Reader, Volume 1, Number 3, April 21, 1975
  91. Slides: May 1970 
  92. Slides: 1972
  93. Slides: May 4 vigil and remembrance, 1974
  94. Slides: May 4 Memorial Marker and vigil, 1975 
  95. Slides: Gym Annex protest (Tent City), 1977
  96. Slides: May 4 site and Princeton trip, 1979
  97. Slides: May 4 remembrance and Memorial Marker repairs, 1980
  98. Slides: May 4, 1985
  99. Thesis: "Kent State: What Happened and Why-a Document about the Sixties," by Nils K. Bogen, University of Oslo, 1982

May 4 Collection -- Box 172
Folder -- Contents

Oversize items

Tent City

  1. Court Order: Temporary Restraining Order, October 21, 1977
  2. Court Order: Preliminary Injunction, October 26, 1977
  3. Gym Annex (HPE&R) Plan, Undated
  4. Presidential Notice and Order, October 19, 1977
  5. Notice to Vacate, July 9, 1977

Posters

  1. Rally 4 Years Later, May 4, 1974
  2. Kent State/Jackson State Memorial Forum (University of Illinois), May 1, 1975
  3. The Truth Demands Justice, May 3-4, 1976
  4. The Truth Demands Justice, May 3-4, 1977 
  5. No Classes/Strike, undated
  6. National Call For Action Rally, June 4, 1977
  7. Move the Gym National Demonstration, October 22, 1977(?) 
  8. The Truth Demands Justice, May 4, 1978
  9. I Want You...to Forget, May 4, 1979
  10. Remember Kent State, May 4, 1980
  11. National Student Day, May 4, 1980
  12. Remember Kent State, May 4, 1981
  13. Reflect...Learn...Remember, May 4, 1982
  14. A Kent State Memorial, May 4, 1983
  15. Remember Kent State, May 4, 1984
  16. Kent State Remembers, May 4, 1985
  17. Can Your Remember What Love Is?, undated
  18. The Truth About Kent State, undated

Publications

  1. The Militant, Volume 34, Number 18, May 15, 1970
  2. Kent Dragonfire, Issues 1 and 2, 1971
  3. Daily Kent Stater, May 5, 1975
  4. The Truth Demands Justice, Volume 1, Number 2, April 17, 1978