Ohio Historical Society

May 4, 1970, Kent State Shootings Site
Near intersection of East Main Street and South Lincoln Street

In 1970, student unrest was considered the major social problem in the United States. On May 4 of that year, Kent State University was placed in an international spotlight after a student protest against the Vietnam War and the presence of the Ohio National Guard on campus ended in tragedy when the Guard shot and killed four and wounded nine Kent State students. The May 4, 1970, Kent State Shootings Site is proposed for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places because of events associated with it, although they happened less than 50 years ago, were nationally significant. They caused the largest student strike in United States history, increased recruitment for the movement against the Vietnam War and affected public opinion about the war, created a legal precedent established by the trials subsequent to the shootings and for the symbolic status the event has attained as a result of a government confronting protesting citizens with unreasonable deadly force. As defined, the May 4, 1970 Shootings Site covers 17.24 acres of the Kent State campus comprising three areas: the Commons, Blanket Hill, and the Southern Terrace. The site is an irregular area within which the Ohio National Guard, student protestors and an active audience of observers and/or sympathizers ebbed and flowed across a central portion of the campus, beginning at approximately 11:00 a.m. and ending at approximately 1:30 p.m., May 4, 1970.

Criteria for historic register