In the aftermath of the shootings of May 4, 1970, Kent State University Libraries sent letters to colleges and universities across the nation requesting campus strike newspapers and related documents to be archived for future research. This virtual exhibit highlights a selection of the responses that are found in the Campus Strike papers in Special Collections & Archives.
This exhibition features posters, flyers, and other items created by the May 4th Task Force, a student-run organization founded in 1975 to raise awareness among students, faculty, administrators, and the general public about the Kent State Shootings of May 4, 1970.
This exhibit features the photographs of Lafayette Tolliver, a Kent State University alumnus who attended the university from 1967-1971, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in photojournalism. Tolliver served as one of the founding members of Black United Students (BUS). His photographs document Black student life in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
This exhibit highlights social activism occurring in and around three state universities during the years leading up to the shootings at South Carolina State (Orangeburg), Kent State (Ohio), and Jackson State (Mississippi). Showcased here are selected key events in each of the three institutions' immediate environments indicating a growing level of Civil Rights actions, anti-war protests, and the development of a Black Power movement occurring from 1960 through 1967.
Immediately following the Kent State shootings, President Robert White ordered that the University close and an injunction was then granted to that effect. However, the faculty voted to complete their courses by any means necessary. This exhibit features legal documents, news clippings, letters, and oral histories surrounding the effort to keep Kent State open.
This exhibit was part of the May 4th 50th Commemoration Events at Kent State University. It focuses on student activism at three campuses: South Carolina State College (now University) in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, and Jackson State College (now University) in Jackson, Mississippi. Showcased in this exhibit is the activism of those Black students at all three campuses and images of the shootings which occurred there.
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the May 4 tragedy, the Wick Poetry Center, with its partners, developed an interactive exhibit, encouraging visitors to explore the history of student protest and the timely themes of peace and conflict transformation.
On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we launched Earth Stanzas, eight poems that engage the beauty, depth, and interconnectedness of the Earth and invite readers to respond with their own poetic voice.
A community poem, “Some Days,” to honor the vital work of our caregivers during this unprecedented time of crisis, created in partnership with Kent State University College of Nursing.
A global community poem in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Kent State University’s May 4 shootings. We invite people from around the world to contribute a line or stanza to a Global Peace Poem titled “My Voice.”
The May 4th augmented reality experience is designed to engage and immerse users as they journey through the events of May 4th, 1970 and reflect on its meaning for today. The experience invites users to view multiple perspectives of the Kent State shootings through the lens of augmented reality using historical imagery, audio, and related experiences that highlight past and current humanitarian struggles.
The May 4th augmented reality experience is designed to engage and immerse users as they journey through the events of May 4th, 1970 and reflect on its meaning for today. The experience invites users to view multiple perspectives of the Kent State shootings through the lens of augmented reality using historical imagery, audio, and related experiences that highlight past and current humanitarian struggles.
Kent State student photojournalist Lafayette Tolliver (BS '71) documented Black campus life, from 1967-1971. The exhibit provides viewers an array of subjects he documented and includes selected editorials he wrote in the Daily Kent Stater. The goal is to generate interest in and further exploration of this amazing body of work that Tolliver has shared with Kent State and the world.
This is a brief video 'fly-through' of the "Listening To Liberty" exhibition that was installed in the DI HUB at Kent State University in November of 2020. The exhibition showcased the range of technology innovations that Kent State provided to create deep audience engagement as part of the "Sisters In Liberty" exhibition that was installed in the National Immigration Museum on Ellis Island, NY in 2019/2020. The original exhibition was proposed and conducted in partnership with the Cathedral Santa Croce in Florence, Italy.
The Vocal Majority: 1969 is an exhibit of the May 4 Visitors Center. The exhibit was created by Skylar Wrisley, designed by Ariel Bradford and Jennifer Goubeaux, and was temporarily on display in the May 4 Reflections Gallery in the Spring and Summer of 2023.
This exhibit is meant to complement Kent State's story of May 4, 1970 by presenting some of the preceding events in the Fall of 1969. While the Vocal Majority highlights the experiences of Kent State students, this story has national significance and massive participation in a series of the largest antiwar demonstrations in U.S. history. These experiences are captured in photos, newspaper articles, flyers, posters, and artifacts. The protest in the Fall Antiwar Offensive in 1969 can be used to better understand what prompted the following events in the Spring of 1970.
TEXTURES synthesizes research in history, fashion, art, and visual culture to reassess the “hair story” of peoples of African descent. Long a fraught topic for African Americans and others in the diaspora, Black hair is here addressed by artists, barbers, and activists in both its historical perceptions and its ramifications for self and society today. The exhibition is organized by the KSU Museum with KSU faculty and co-curators, Dr. Joseph L. Underwood (Art History) and Dr. Tameka N. Ellington.
Dazzling Day and Night celebrates the creative legacy of the KSU Museum’s founders, Shannon Rodgers (1911-1996) and Jerry Silverman (1910-1984). In 1959 Silverman and Rodgers established their own company, Jerry Silverman, Inc., which became one the most successful manufacturers of women’s better dresses in the industry through the 1960s and 1970s. Their showroom on Seventh Avenue in New York City was a favorite of clients and buyers for the timelessness of the ever-changing collections and the hospitality of the designer, Rodgers, and businessman, Silverman.
The exhibition highlights over 30 ensembles from the late 1950s, when Rodgers began designing in New York City, through the 1970s. The selections of stylish daywear and elegant eveningwear also provide a time capsule of American ready-to-wear styles during these decades. Rodgers and Silverman were able to translate the latest designs from the Parisian runways into looks their American clients would want. Dazzling Day and Night also include Rodgers’ sketches, photographs, and advertising—especially their famous New Yorker Magazine ads “Just show me the Jerry Silvermans, please.”
In 2025, the KSU Museum celebrates its 40th anniversary.
The Digital Green Book Project collects the oral history of Northeast Ohio barbers and salon artists, with video interviews and related exhibition materials. Create and share your own response to the TEXTURES exhibition in the Digital Green Book.
An exploration of costume designs from 18 different productions of Mozart's Magic Flute. Magical Designs for Mozart’s Magic Flute is an exhibition conceived and curated by distinguished theatrical and opera designer Judy Levin to compare scenic and costume designs of this much loved opera. These selected productions, extolled for their remarkable visual achievements, speak to the many interpretations given to the opera by scholars over the years, as well as the role of the creative teams in shaping each production.
This exhibit focuses on the lives, not the deaths, of Sandy Scheuer, Bill Schroeder, Allison Krause, and Jeff Miller. They were brothers, daughters, students, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, and much more in between. We hope that everyone can see a little bit of themselves in them.
The intent of this body of work is to study the effects of contrasting colors, textures, and shapes. While approaching the sculptures, viewers begin to notice internal structures appearing and disappearing with each step. Sharp angles allow the transparent lines to merge and overlap - only to separate and become invisible. These illusions are created using a tedious process of assembling blocks with colored adhesives. Then, cutting the blocks into sections, the grain is revealed by the paper-thin lines of color. Alone, the patterns are amazing, but the shapes remain extremely geometric. Wedging the patterns between castings, I can create drastic color gradations melded within the translucent beauty of the glass.
A contemporary metals exhibition inspired by tragedy, trauma and violence that celebrates the resiliency of the human spirit. Curated in response to a Commemorative Medallion made by Philadelphia College of Art students (now University of the Arts) in honor of the students who perished at Kent State University on May 4th, 1970.
Fifty years ago, one of the most influential artists of the last hundred years did a short artist’s residency at Kent State University at the behest of students who were interested in his work. This exhibition is an exploration of the work created and the legacy of this historic work of art.
Into the Wind, the Veils is a survey of photography, digital collage, and performance/videos by Franco-Moroccan artist Mehdi-Georges Lahlou whose themes include religiosity and queerness.
An exhibition highlighting two Black artists who are working to express everyday aspects from their own lives that might be easily overlooked thus creating a more accurate representation of Black fathers in America.
