Kent State and May 4th: A Social Science Perspective

Presents research undertaken by members of the political science and sociology departments at Kent State University regarding the events which led to the killing of four undergraduates and wounding of others by Ohio National Guard members in 1970. Sections consist of an overview of events, the legal aftermath, a social science perspective on the impact of the shootings, and the gymnasium controversy that erupted in 1977.

Thomas R. Hensley is professor emeritus of political science at Kent State University. He chaired the university’s first Symposium on Democracy, an academic conference created in commemoration of May 4, 1970, and edited the inaugural volume of the Symposium on democracy series, The Boundaries of Freedom of Expression and Order in American Democracy (The Kent State University Press, 2001).

Jerry M. Lewis is professor emeritus of sociology at Kent State University. As a Kent State faculty member in 1970, he witnessed the May 4 shootings while serving as a faculty marshall. Since then, Lewis has been involved in researching, memorializing, and lecturing about the tragedy, and recently, along with Hensley, he served on the May 4 Visitors Center Committee.