Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center and History Department will present An American Tragedy: Kent State on the Page, a panel discussion framing a new examination of the May 4, 1970 shootings. The event will take place during Kent State’s Homecoming weekend, Friday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to noon in 137 Bowman Hall at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. This event is free and open to the public; no tickets are required. 
 
Brian VanDeMark’s “Kent State: An American Tragedy” adds to the discourse around May 4, contributing guardsmen’s perspectives in a retelling of the May 4 shootings. VanDeMark, a historian at the United States Naval Academy, will participate in a panel discussion with Thomas M. Grace, a historian at Erie Community College, author of “Kent State: Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties,” and one of the students wounded on May 4, and Gregory S. Wilson, a historian at The University of Akron and author of “Above the Shots: An Oral History of the Kent State Shootings.” The discussion will be moderated by Kevin Adams, Ph.D. Books by each author will be available for purchase at a signing following the panel discussion. All attendees are invited to socialize with the authors at a post-event reception, which will also be held in Bowman Hall.
  
“The Department of History is delighted to be partnering with the May 4 Visitors Center for our third annual homecoming event,” said Department of History Chairperson Mary Ann Heiss, Ph.D. “This year’s event, built around Brian VanDeMark’s recent book, ‘Kent State: An American Tragedy,’ is especially meaningful to us for two reasons. First, it helps us connect to the university’s ongoing commemoration of the 55th anniversary of May 4, and second, it gives us a chance to welcome KSU alumnus (class of 1972) and May 4 survivor Thomas Grace to back to campus.”
  
Information on the panelists:

• Thomas M. Grace is a historian and adjunct professor at Erie Community College. As a participant in Kent State’s student activism movement in the 60s, he was one of the nine students wounded in the shootings on May 4, 1970. His book, “Kent State: Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties,” establishes a rich historical context for the cultural conditions that led to the shootings. He also authored “Kent State and Historical Memory” for the collection of essays, “Democratic Narrative, History & Memory,” edited by Carole Barbato and Laura Davis, who co-founded the May 4 Visitors Center and Walking Tour. Grace has also written numerous pieces on the Civil War and was a regular contributor to the bimonthly magazine, America’s Civil War (defunct). He continues to be an active contributor to conversations and university events surrounding May 4, 1970.
   
• Brian VanDeMark is a historian and professor at the United States Naval Academy. He is best known for co-authoring Robert McNamara’s bestselling memoir “In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam,” a chilling recounting of America’s mistakes in Vietnam from one of its prime architects. He has authored several books that have focused on the Vietnam War, with “Kent State: An American Tragedy” as his most recent publication. He also authored “Into the Quagmire,” about Lyndon B. Johnson’s involvement in the war, and “Road to Disaster,” which examines the war through a psychological lens.
   
• Gregory S. Wilson is an associate professor at The University of Akron and has served as co-editor of the “Northeast Ohio Journal of History.” He co-authored “Above the Shots: An Oral History of the Kent State Shootings” with Craig S. Simpson (pub. Kent State University Press). This work of more than 50 unique oral histories was taken from students, faculty and community members at the time of the shootings. Wilson has also authored “Communities Left Behind,” which examines the limitations of American liberal reform post-World War II, “Poison Powder,” which recounts the history of the 1975 Kepone disaster of Hopewell, Virginia, and co-authored “Ohio: A History of the Buckeye State,” which earned the 2014 Ohio Genealogical Society's Henry Howe Award. 

 
Visit www.kent.edu/may4visitorscenter to learn more about the May 4 Visitors Center at Kent State.