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May 4 Subject Files

Special Collections and Archives

May 4 Subject Files

Special Collections and Archives

May 4 Subject Files

May 4 Subject Files

May 4 Collection -- Box 116

Finding Aid
Prepared by Nancy Birk, September 19, 1995; Last updated December 2021
1 record storage box, 1 cubic foot, 12th floor


Scope and Content: This collection contains a miscellany of subject files related to the Kent State shootings, compiled by Special Collections and Archives over the years. Please note that information and sources by/about the subjects included in this collection may be found elsewhere in other sub-collections of the May 4 Collection.

Restrictions on Access: Some information included in this collection is restricted due to the presence of information protected by privacy laws. This information has been redacted where present on documents in the collection. Un-redacted originals, in all cases, have been retained by Special Collections and Archives.


Box 116
Folder -- Contents

  1. May 4 Subject File: AAUP (American Association of University Professors) - Kent Chapter
  2. May 4 Subject File: Bibliographies
  3. May 4 Subject File: B'nai B'rith Hillel Memorial Marker, 1980; 1984; 2007; undated
    Scope and Content: Articles and blurbs about the history of this marker. Includes one photograph by Dave Ropiski most likely taken between 1985 and 1987 when he was a photo-journalism student at Kent State University.
  4. May 4 Subject File: Campus Day, 1970, Sights and Sounds of the Cinema
    Scope and Content:  The file includes an original proof and reproduction proof of the 1970 Kent State University Campus Day brochure. 12 pages, 8.75" X 5.875". Pages contain handwritten notes about layout and design.  The proofs were never printed as Campus Day 1970 was cancelled after the Kent State shootings.
    Acquisition Note: Donated by Eric Swanson in 2019.
  5. May 4 Subject File: Cartoons (political), Comics (Note: Most items are photocopies.)
  6. May 4 Subject File: Chronologies
  7. May 4 Subject File: Commentaries: Fuldheim, Dorothy
  8. May 4 Subject File: Conference: "25th Year Retrospective of Kent State and Jackson State", April 1995
    Scope and Content: The file includes website transcripts from the "25th Year Retrospective of Kent State and Jackson State" conference at Emerson College, Boston, April 23-24, 1995.
    Acquisition Information: Donated by Joel Schackne in 2020.
    Related Materials: J. Gregory Payne papers include files related to the conference and its planning.
  9. May 4 Subject File: Flyers (various groups), 1969
  10. May 4 Subject File: Flyers (various groups), 1970
  11. May 4 Subject File: Flyers (various groups), 1971-1979
  12. May 4 Subject File: Flyers (various groups), undated or year unknown
  13. May 4 Subject File: Funds, Endowments
  14. May 4 Subject File: Gallup Poll conducted for Newsweek (regarding who was responsible for Kent State shootings), May 25, 1970
  15. May 4 Subject File: Historical Markers
  16. May 4 Subject File: Homecoming, 1970
    Scope and Content: The file includes the program for the October 1970 Kent State University Homecoming.
    Historical Note: This program was donated by Sandor Lubisch, Class of 1971, who served on the Homecoming Committee in 1970. Lubisch organized a carnival event for homecoming weekend to help raise money for the Kent Legal Defense Fund. He discusses this and other experiences he had as a student at the time of the shootings and their immediate aftermath in his oral history, which is part of the Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories project.
  17. May 4 Subject File: The Kent Four (sculpture) by Alastair Granville-Jackson
  18. May 4 Subject File: Kent State University in Exile at Oberlin
  19. May 4 Subject File: Kent 25
  20. May 4 Subject File: Krause, Arthur (obituary)
  21. May 4 Subject File: Mandel, Fred (obituary)
  22. May 4 Subject File: Maps, Diagrams
  23. May 4 Subject File: Marshals, Monitors (third party service)
  24. May 4 Subject File: Massacre of the Innocents at Kent State (painting) by John Gladstone
  25. May 4 Subject File: May 4 Logo, 1995
  26. May 4 Subject File: Mechanic, Howard
  27. May 4 Subject File: Michener, James A.
  28. May 4 Subject File: Norman, Terry, compiled by Joseph M. Sima
  29. May 4 Subject File: Petition: "An Open Letter to the Public," undated (but fall 1970)
    Scope and Content: A sample sheet, partially redacted, of a student petition completed in fall 1970 expressing the desire that Kent State University remain open despite "acts of those not associated with our university." The original files include hundreds of completed petition sheets.
    Restrictions on Access: Original petition sheets are restricted due to the presence of information protected by privacy laws, but remain on file in Special Collections and Archives.
  30. May 4 Subject File: Plays: Better Than Bullets: the Kent State Story by Randy Wyatt, Stacy Burke, and Reed R. Wakeman, Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995
  31. May 4 Subject File: Plays: Nightwalking by Sandra Perlman, Terrapin Theatre (Chicago, IL), 1995
  32. May 4 Subject File: Plays: Tragedy at Kent State by Ray Miller, Georgia State University, May 1995
  33. May 4 Subject File: Postal Ephemera
  34. May 4 Subject File: Powell, Jeffrey David
  35. May 4 Subject File: Prentice Parking Lot Markers
  36. May 4 Subject File: Press Conference: Canterbury, Robert, transcript, May 6, 1970
  37. May 4 Subject File: Press Conference: White, Robert I., transcript, May 6, 1970
  38. May 4 Subject File: Prizes, Scholarships
  39. May 4 Subject File: Psycho House (supposed inspiration for house in Psycho book and film)
  40. May 4 Subject File: Resolutions, Official Statements
  41. May 4 Subject File: Sermons
  42. May 4 Subject File: Speeches: "A Report to Kent State," by Gary Orfield, October 6, 1970
  43. May 4 Subject File: Speeches: "Kent State Beyond the Shootings: Journey of the Wounded Healer," by Beverly J. Warren, August 15, 2018.
    Publisher: As published in Vital Speeches of the Day. 84: 10 (October 2018), 268-273.
  44. May 4 Subject File: Strubbe Tape, 2012
  45. May 4 Subject File: Surveys: Faculty Forum event, 1990
  46. May 4 Subject File: Surveys: The Impact of May 4, 1970 (excerpted from Kent State University Cultural Self-Study), 1998
  47. May 4 Subject File: Surveys: Student Attitudes, May 26, 1970
  48. May 4 Subject File: Television Documentary: Kent State: The Day the War Came Home, 2000
    Scope and Content: Includes promotional cards, press release.
    Related Materials: A viewing copy of this documentary is available in the Films and Videos Related to May 4 collection.
  49. May 4 Subject File: Television Documentary: Realities - Part of the Family, 1971
    Scope and Content: This television program featured interviews with three families affected by the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights and Anti-War protest movements: the family of Carmine Macedonio, killed in action in Vietnam; the family of Allison Krause killed at Kent State University; and the family of Phillip Gibbs, killed at Jackson State University. File Includes information on the program as archived on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting and a New York Times review of the program from May 1971.
    Related Materials: This film has been digitized and made available on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting site, a joint program of WGBH and the Library of Congress.
  50. May 4 Subject File: Think Week 1970, late April 1970
  51. May 4 Subject File: Time Capsule (BGSU), 1970-1971
    Scope and Content: This file contains letters, flyers, an armband, and a candle compiled by Kathleen (Ockay) McCharen, a Bowling Green State University student in 1970.  McCharen compiled these records in a personal time capsule, as a way to memorialize her reactions and experiences in the aftermath of the Kent State shootings. 
    Acquisition Note: Donated by Dr. Janine Tiffe on behalf of Kathleen McCharen in 2020.
  52. May 4 Subject File: Vecchio, Mary Ann
    Scope and Content: This file includes photographs of Vecchio and photographer John Filo taken at an event at Emerson College in April 1995. Photographs are accompanied by a letter from their donor.
    Acquisition Note: Donated by Stephanie Westmyer in 1995 who also donated copyright to the photographs to Kent State University.
  53. May 4 Subject File: Vigil, Washington, DC, May 3-4, 1972
    Historical Note: The contents of this file pertain to a planned 24-hour vigil to be held at the White House and Department of Justice and conducted by Kent State students and parents of students killed on May 4, 1970. This event was partially organized by Reverend John P. Adams of the Board of Christian Social Concerns, United Methodist Church. The documentation on file indicates the planned vigil was cancelled "out of respect for Director J. Edgar Hoover, whose funeral [was] held that day."
    Scope and Content: Includes correspondence, a telegram, "Statement on Behalf of the Parents," and other documentation about this event.
    Acquisition Information: Donated by Annette Fromm, a Kent State University student at the time who was one of the volunteers who signed up to stand vigil in the place of Allison Krause.
  54. May 4 Subject File: Visitors' Passes and Log, Summer 1970
    Scope and Content: Sample visitors' passes and a visitors' log dating from summer 1970 when restrictions were placed on campus entry due to a legal injunction prohibiting "destructive activities" on campus being in effect.
  55. May 4 Subject File: Weathermen, The
  56. May 4 Subject File: Wounded Student Markers, 2019-2021
  57. May 4 Subject File: Yale University Archives (Peter Davies, et al. decision to place May 4-related papers at Yale University)
  58. May 4 Subject File: Yippies (Youth International Party)