Four Dead in Ohio

On May 4, 1970 members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of student demonstrators at Kent State University, killing four of them and wounding nine others. Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandra Scheuer died that day. Forty-three years later, the slayings were remembered at the formal dedication of KSU's May 4th Visitors Center, a multi-media memorial which tells the story of the events of that terrible day in 1970.

I was 11 years old in May 1970, and I don't honestly have any memory of the event, even though it happened a mere three hour drive from my hometown. And while I don't have a memory of the day it happened, I don't honestly have a memory of a world where it didn't happen. The iconic photos of the aftermath of the shooting, the music that grew out of the events feel as much a part of my history as they do national history. Last Saturday was May 4th, and on that day, my friend Cindy and I were rolling into North Canton, Ohio for a wedding. We were listening to NPR and heard about the dedication, so the next day, we decided to drive over to KSU before heading back home.







The Visitors Center exhibition was interesting and powerful, and I'm so glad we decided to stop. Even more moving, though is the area around Taylor Hall, the building that stood at the center of the action that day (and where the Visitors Center is housed).

That day in May 1970, the student demonstration started at the victory bell on a long stretch of lawn called The Commons. National Guardsmen lined up a few hundred feet away.



The Guard ordered the demonstrators to leave, lobbed tear gas canisters into the crowd, and then drove them up and along either side of Taylor Hall.



On the other side of Taylor Hall is Prentice Hall parking lot. Members of the Guard aimed their weapons at demonstrators in the lot and in 13 seconds of gunfire, 28 of the 76 Guardsmen present that day fired 67 shots at the unarmed students. One of the four students who was killed was a demonstrator. One was walking to class. One was shot in the back.



Today, the parking lot is still a lot, but it is also a memorial. In four places in the lot, parking stalls have been turned into memorial sites; on a fifth spot sits a marker bearing the names of all the students who died that day. Three of the students were Jewish, so many of the surfaces are covered in stones, a Jewish custom in remembering the dead.














Cindy and I spent a lot of time wandering around the campus, and we were both incredibly moved by the May 4th Memorial. Next time you find yourself near Kent, you should visit. It's worth remembering.



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