May 4

Jackson State, Kent State, and the Civil Rights Movement

Deadline reports that a new movie inspired by the shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, is in the works and will be released next year. 

Daffodils sticking out of grass on Daffodil Hill

Daffodil Hill became a part of the May 4 Memorial that brought both sides together, but groundskeepers struggle to keep it thriving now. 

Professor Emeritus Jerry Lewis speaks at the inaugural luncheon established to honor his legacy as a May 4, 1970 historian and advocate.

The inaugural Jerry M. Lewis May 4 Lecture Series and Luncheon took place May 2 at the Kent Student Center Ballroom with Tammy Clewell, Ph.D., professor in Kent State University’s Department of English, as the featured speaker.

Attendees - Kent State community members and visitors gather on the Kent State Commons for the annual May 4 Commemoration to honor those who were killed and wounded on May 4, 1970.

Kent State University has scheduled a variety of programs, events and exhibits for this year’s remembrance of May 4, 1970, to honor the four students who were killed, the nine students who were wounded and the countless others whose lives were forever changed when the Ohio National Guard fired on Kent State students during an anti-war protest.

A marker on the spot where Kent State student Alan Canfora was standing when he was shot on May 4, 1970.

This year’s return of in-person events to commemorate the Kent State shootings will include the dedication of bronze markers placed on the spots where nine students were wounded on May 4, 1970. Markers designating the locations of each of the four students killed were installed in 1999. Since that time, a small group had been working to have similar markers placed for the wounded students.

Jon Meacham ©Aurora University

Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham, whose knowledge of politics, history, religion and current affairs makes him one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals, will appear the evening of May 4 for Kent State University’s Presidential Speaker Series. Meacham will bring his unique perspective and provide historical context to the issues and events impacting our daily lives when he speaks about civil discourse at the Kent Student Center Ballroom.

Members of the Kent State University community participate in the annual May 4 Candlelight Walk and Vigil, a tradition that began in 1971 to remember and honor the students killed and wounded on May 4, 1970.

For the first time since 2019, Kent State University will remember May 4, 1970, with its return to an in-person, annual commemoration to honor the four students who were killed, the nine students who were wounded and the countless others whose lives were forever changed when the Ohio National Guard fired on Kent State students during an anti-war protest. 

Laura Davis, Ph.D., attends a virtual May 4 workshop.

Educators from across the country recently attended the weeklong, virtual 2021 Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop, “Making Meaning of May 4: The 1970 Kent State Shootings in U.S. History,” which has been made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.