John F. Ohles May 4 papers

May 4 Collection -- Boxes 171 and 172

Finding Aid

Prepared by Nancy Birk, 28 April 1998; Updated August 2016; Updated October 2017

Inclusive Dates: 1968-2000
Bulk Dates: 1970-1985
Extent: 2 cubic feet (1 record storage box + 1 oversize box) 
Physical Location: 12th floor

Biographical Note: John Ford Ohles (July 30, 1920 - January 15, 1988), Emeritus Professor of Education, was a faculty member at Kent State University from 1966 until 1985. His university service included membership on the KSU Commission on Violence (1970), and he was chair of the KSU Memorial Marker Committee (1975 and 1979-80). In 1982, he was a Fulbright Scholar to Norway. Ohles was a member of several scholastic honorary societies and professional organizations. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II (1942 - 1946). Before coming to Kent, Ohles was a high school teacher in Minnesota and Iowa and a member of the faculties at State University Colleges of New York at Freedonia and Cortland.  

Scope and Content: This collection begins in the late 1960s with correspondence and faculty newsletters pertaining to campus unrest and the events leading up to May 4, 1970. The bulk of the collection relates to continued student unrest and remembrance of the May 4 shootings, including the B'Nai B'rith Memorial Marker in the Taylor Hall parking lot and the Gym Annex protest (Tent City). The collection also contains commemorative programs, flyers, newsletters and publications, photographs, slides, and posters.  

Related Material: KSU Commission on Violence; Gym Annex Controversy (Tent City); Collection on George Segal’s Abraham and Isaac sculpture.

Separated Materials: General clippings about the Kent State shootings and related topics have been removed from this collection and will be integrated into the May 4 Clippings, Magazines, and Journal Articles collection.

May 4 Collection -- Box 171
Folder -- Contents

1. Assignments: Form letters and lessons after college shut down (original dittos), 1970
2. Assignments: Form letters and lessons after college shut down (photocopies), 1970 
3. Assignments: Responses from Ohles' students, 1970
4. Commission on KSU Violence, 1970-1972
5. Correspondence: 1968
6. Correspondence: 1969
7. Correspondence: 1970
8. Correspondence: 1971
9. Correspondence: 1972
10. Correspondence: 1973
11. Correspondence: 1974
12. Correspondence: 1975
13. Correspondence: 1976
14. Correspondence: 1977
15. Correspondence: 1978
16. Correspondence: Crawford, Indiana Social Studies class project about May 4 shootings, 1978 
17. Correspondence: 1979
18. Correspondence: 1980-1983
19. Correspondence: 1984-1987
20. Correspondence: undated
21. Court Order: April 1972 Responses
22. Court Order: Permanent Injunction (Tent City), 1977
23. Ephemera: Armband "Move the Gym!"
24. Ephemera: Armband "Remember Kent and Jackson State, Stop the Draft"
25. Ephemera: Bumper sticker "Remember Kent State - Move the Gym"
26. Ephemera: Business card of Andrew Jones, Senior Editor of Reader's Digest
27. Ephemera: Patch Dove with KSU
28. Faculty Senate, 1970-1971
29. Flyers: 1971
30. Flyers: 1972
31. Flyers: 1973
32. Flyers: 1974
33. Flyers: 1975
34. Flyers: 1976
35. Flyers: 1977
36. Flyers: 1978
37. Flyers: 1979
38. Flyers: undated
39. Letter to the Editor, Minneapolis Star, May 20, 1972
40. May 4 Coalition: Chronology of HPER Facility Planning and May 4 Coalition
41. May 4 Memorial Marker Committee, 1975
42. May 4 Memorial Marker granite sample
43. May 4 Memorial Marker newsclippings, 1975-1984
44. May 4 Memorial Marker rendering, undated
45. May 4 Memorial Marker repairs, 1979-1980
46. May 4 Remembrance: Center for Peaceful Change, undated
47. May 4 Remembrance: Schedule of Events and Memorial Service, 1971
48. May 4 Remembrance: Memorial Marker dedication and Ecumenical Memorial Service, 1975
49. May 4 Remembrance: Schedule of Events and flyers, 1977
50. May 4 Remembrance: Convocation of the Faculty, 1979
51. May 4 Remembrance: Schedule of Events and Faculty Commemorative program, 1980
52. May 4 Remembrance: Commemorative Program and Commemorative Concert, 1981
53. May 4 Remembrance: 18th Annual Commemoration, 1988
54. May 4 Resource Room, Library: Dedication and Memorial Windows, 1974-1978
55. Newsletters: Monday Sneaker, Volume 5, Number 2, undated
56. Newsletters: Ohio Association for Higher Education, June 18, 1970
57. Newsletters: Revolutionary Student Brigade, May 4, 1975
58. Ohio General Assembly: Bill to amend Revised Code, 1971-1972
59. Ohio General Assembly: Joint Resolution relative to the placement of a memorial, 1977-1978
60. Pamphlets: Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development, Center for Peaceful Change, undated
61. Pamphlets: May 4 Task Force, undated
62. Pamphlets: The May Fourth Site, 1980
63. Photographs: May 4 events, 1970  
64. Photographs: Blanket Hill, 1972
65. Photographs: Rally, undated
66. Photographs: Gym Annex protest (Tent City), 1977
67. Photographs: Abraham and Isaac sculpture dedication, Princeton, 1979
68. Photographs: "Remember Kent and Jackson" Rally, 1980
69. Photographs: May 4 Vigil, 1985
70. Photographs: May 4 Remembrance, 1986
71. Photographs: May 4 Vigil and Remembrance, 1987
72. Photographs: May 4 Remembrance, 1995
73. Photographs: May 4 Vigil, 2000
74. Position Papers, 1971 and undated
75. Programs: Abraham and Isaac sculpture dedication, Princeton, October 1979
76. Programs: Memorial Service for Carl Benton and Joan Butterfield Tymchyshyn (May 4 Coalition members), 1978
77. Programs: Two Generations of Brubeck, February 25, 1975
78. Programs: United Presbyterian Church Bulletin: May 4 excerpts, 1973
79. Publications: Academic Information (Office of Vice President and Provost) 1966-1971
80. Publications: The Alternative (KSU Chapter of Young Americans for Freedom), undated 
81. Publications: The Black Watch Volume 8, Number 2, August 4, 1977
82. Publications: Chrysalis (Department of Educational Foundations, College of Education), Volume 3, Number 2, July 1982
83. Publications; Four in Memory (May 4 Committee book of poetry), 1974
84. Publications: Kent State F.A.C.T. (First Amendment Conservation Task Force), Volume 1, Numbers 1 and 2, October 1977 and March 1978
85. Publications: Kent State Program in Peaceful Change: A Profile, undated
86. Publications: Management Study and Analysis Ohio Public Higher Education summary, December 1969
87. Publications: My Perspective is Socialism, an interview with Clara Jackson..., Fall 1979
88. Publications: Northeast Ohio Peace and Justice Calendar, Volume 2, Number 5, May 1975
89. Publications: The Post-American, Volume 1, Number 3, Spring 1972
90. Publications: The Weekly Reader, Volume 1, Number 3, April 21, 1975
91. Slides: May 1970 
92. Slides: 1972
93. Slides: May 4 vigil and remembrance, 1974
94. Slides: May 4 Memorial Marker and vigil, 1975 
95. Slides: Gym Annex protest (Tent City), 1977
96. Slides: May 4 site and Princeton trip, 1979
97. Slides: May 4 remembrance and Memorial Marker repairs, 1980
98. Slides: May 4, 1985
99. Thesis: "Kent State: What Happened and Why-a Document about the Sixties," by Nils K. Bogen, University of Oslo, 1982

May 4 Collection -- Box 172
Folder -- Contents

Oversize items

Tent City

1. Court Order: Temporary Restraining Order, October 21, 1977
2. Court Order: Preliminary Injunction, October 26, 1977
3. Gym Annex (HPE&R) Plan, Undated
4. Presidential Notice and Order, October 19, 1977
5. Notice to Vacate, July 9, 1977

Posters

6. Rally 4 Years Later, May 4, 1974
7. Kent State/Jackson State Memorial Forum (University of Illinois), May 1, 1975
8. The Truth Demands Justice, May 3-4, 1976
9. The Truth Demands Justice, May 3-4, 1977 
10. No Classes/Strike, undated
11. National Call For Action Rally, June 4, 1977
12. Move the Gym National Demonstration, October 22, 1977(?) 
13. The Truth Demands Justice, May 4, 1978
14. I Want You...to Forget, May 4, 1979
15. Remember Kent State, May 4, 1980
16. National Student Day, May 4, 1980
17. Remember Kent State, May 4, 1981
18. Reflect...Learn...Remember, May 4, 1982
19. A Kent State Memorial, May 4, 1983
20. Remember Kent State, May 4, 1984
21. Kent State Remembers, May 4, 1985
22. Can Your Remember What Love Is?, undated
23. The Truth About Kent State, undated

Publications

24. The Militant, Volume 34, Number 18, May 15, 1970
25. Kent Dragonfire, Issues 1 and 2, 1971
26. Daily Kent Stater, May 5, 1975
27. The Truth Demands Justice, Volume 1, Number 2, April 17, 1978