May 4 Chronology
Recommended print sources for the May 4 chronology:
Thomas M. Grace, Kent State: Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties (Amherst, MA: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2016). Definitive and meticulously researched and documented full-length study of student activism at Kent State. See chapters 11–12 for the May 1–4 chronology.
Carole A. Barbato, Laura L. Davis, and Mark F. Seeman, This We Know: A Chronology of the Shootings at Kent State, May 1970 (Kent, OH: Kent State Univ. Press, 2012). Concise chronology and brief treatment of the aftermath.
Laura L. Davis, Mark F. Seeman, Bradley S. Keefer, Mindy J. Farmer, and Lori A. Boes, May 4, 1970, Kent State Shootings Site, National Historic Landmark Nomination, 2016. Find the Nomination’s Statement of Significance on this site’s Resources for Educators page. For the May 4 chronology, see the subsection titled The Day the War Came Home (pages 23–35).
Recommended video sources for the May 4 chronology:
The Day the War Came Home: How the Shooting of Students on a US Campus Impacted The Course of the Vietnam War, AlJazeera News, May 5, 2010, https://www.aljazeera.com/videos/2010/5/5/the-day-the-war-came-home. Straightforward coverage of the shootings at Kent State and who was responsible. Features Elaine Holstein, mother of Jeff Miller, and others.
Fire in the Heartland: Kent State, May 4, and Student Protest in America, directed by Daniel L. Miller, produced by Suzanne Clark, et al. (Fire River Pictures, 2021; forthcoming on DVD), https://www.fireintheheartland.tv. Comprehensive and accurate portrait of student activism at Kent State, culminating on May 4, 1970, and set in the context the Civil Rights, Black Student, and Student Antiwar Movements. Check at the website above for forthcoming DVD and for film excerpts available for educational use.
Kent State: A Turning Point, written by Carole Barbato, Mike Buday, and Laura Davis. Dir. Mike Buday (Kent State University May 4 Visitors Center, 2012). Screened in the Kent State University May 4 Visitors Center, Kent, Ohio.
May 4: Our Place in History (Documentary on the Kent State Shootings), directed by Dustin Lee, video footage by Dustin Lee and Jon Jivan (Maple Films, 2016), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJYSSJQmVE8. May 4, 1970, and its aftermath; features local, state, and national voices.
Also see Recommended Works about the May 4, 1970, Kent State Shootings and Related History (PDF)
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