WKSU Audio Recordings Related to the Kent State Shootings

May 4 Collection - Boxes 174 - 177

Finding Aid

Prepared by E. Merle Watkins, November 5, 2001; Updated September 2016, April 2018

Inclusive Dates: 1970-2000
Extent: .33 cubic foot (1 CD storage box)
Physical Location: 12th floor

Scope and Content: This collection contains a variety of audio recordings created and/or collected by WKSU, Kent State University's public radio station. The recordings, originally made on tape, were transferred to compact discs in 2001. This collection is comprised of CD copies of the recordings listed below, with the exception of two audio cassette tapes in Box 174 and Box 177. For more information on the content of each recording, see the CD insert for a track listing.

Arrangement: The recordings are organized in chronological order by date of original recording.

Processing Note: All reference CDs for Boxes 174-177 have been combined into one container, but former box and CD numbering system originally applied to this collection has been maintained.

Related Materials: For additional sound recordings related to the Kent State shootings, please see also the following collections, which include significant audio holdings:

• John C. Weiser papers
• Non-Music Sound Recordings Related to the Kent State Shootings
• Bob Carpenter papers
• Commission on KSU Violence records

Restrictions on Access: Researchers are asked to use CD reference copies or digital audio files for access, rather than original CDs in the collection. For assistance, please contact Special Collections and Archives staff.

Restrictions on Use: Kent State University does not own copyright to all of the recordings in this collection. Permission for use beyond private research and educational use must be obtained from copyright owner(s).

May 4 Collection: Box 174
Item - Contents:

1. Audio Recording: WKSU News Reports; 1971 Chestnut Burr Record Insert, 1970
   Scope and Content: A compilation of partial WKSU news reports from May 1-3, 1970. Also includes a partial recording of the record insert included in the 1971 Chestnut Burr, which was recorded by Bob Carpenter and produced by Carpenter and Mark Heil. The 1971 Chestnut Burr record insert features excerpts from the Four Days in May documentary produced by Paul Brennan and engineered by Chris Hood.
   Authors: WKSU; Brennan, Paul; Carpenter, Bob; Heil, Mark; Hood, Chris
   Related Material: For the full recording of the 1971 Chestnut Burr insert, see the Bob Carpenter papers.
2. Audio Recording: Police Radio Recordings, May 2, 1970, CD 1 of 2
   Origination: Original tape owned by John Cheges.
3. Audio Recording: Police Radio Recordings, May 2, 1970, CD 2 of 2
   Origination: Original tape owned by John Cheges.
4. Audio Recording: Raw, Unedited Recordings on the Scene by WKSU Reporters: May 2 and 3, 1970
5. Audio Recording: Raw, Unedited Recordings on the Scene by WKSU Reporters: May 4, 1970, CD 1 of 2
6. Audio Recording: Raw, Unedited Recordings on the Scene by WKSU Reporters: May 4, 1970, CD 2 of 2

May 4 Collection: Box 175
Item - Contents

1. Audio Recording: WKSU News: Continuing Coverage of Shootings: May 4, 1970
2. Audio Recording: Bowling Green State University: Documentary: Press Coverage of the Kent State Shootings, 1970
   Scope and Content: The BGSU documentary focused on media coverage of the May 4th shootings. Included are numerous actualities from the Akron Beacon Journal, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dayton Daily News, Detroit Free Press, WKNT Radio, WKYC-TV (NBC, Cleveland), and Kent State University.
3. Audio Recording: CBC Radio, Canada: Sunday Magazine: Reports Pertaining to Kent State Shootings, 1970
   Scope and Content: The source tape used to create this CD was damaged and incomplete. Audio from the last few minutes of the show is missing.
4. Audio Recording: Scranton Commission Hearings: Jerry M. Lewis Testimony, August 20, 1970
5. Audio Recording: Scranton Commission Hearings: General Robert Canterbury Testimony: August 20, 1970, CD 1 of 2
6. Audio Recording: Scranton Commission Hearings: General Robert Canterbury Testimony: August 20, 1970, CD 2 of 2
7. Audio Recording: Kent State University Fall Convocation, September 28, 1970
   Scope and Content: The source tape contains gaps in audio and is only a partial documentation of the event.

May 4 Collection: Box 176
Item - Contents

1. Audio Recording: David Brinkley: Symposium at Kent State University: Politics and the Press, undated
   Scope and Content: David Brinkley, NBC News, Judge Robert Cook, 11th District Court of Appeals, Harold Frye, Akron Beacon Journal. The source tape contains gaps in audio and is only a partial documentation of the event.
2. Audio Recording: WKSU Documentary: 1971 Commemoration, May 4, 1971
   Scope and Content: Full title: Kent State One Year Later: A Compilation of Viewpoints
3. Audio Recording: Actualities from Kent State University's 1972 Commemoration, April 27-May 6, 1972
4. Audio Recording: WKSU Documentary: 1972 Commemoration, May 4, 1972
   Scope and Content: Full title: Kent State: Two Years Later.
5. Audio Recording: WKSU Documentary: Kent State Remembered, May, 1985
   Author: Produced by John Michalakes.
6. Audio Recording: Raw Interviews: Tom Grace and John Filo, 1989
   Author: Interviewed by Mark Urycki.
   Scope and Content: Grace was one of the students wounded on May 4, 1970. Filo was a student photojournalist at Kent State in 1970 and was eyewitness to the shootings. Filo took a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of slain student Jeffery Miller with Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling in anguish near Miller's body.

May 4 Collection: Box 177
Item - Contents

1. Audio Recording: Raw Interviews: Jerry M. Lewis, 1990
   Author: Interviewed by Mark Urycki.
   Scope and Content: Lewis was a professor at Kent State University in 1970 and eyewitness to the shootings.
2. Audio Recording: Raw Interviews: John Baclawski and Joe Bujak, 1990
   Author: Interviewed by Mark Urycki.
   Scope and Content: Baclawski was an Ohio National Guardsman assigned to Kent State in May 1970. Bujak was owner of JB's in downtown Kent, Ohio, in 1970. Please note that sound level of this recording is very low.
3. Audio Recording: Raw Interviews: Alan Canfora, 1990
   Author: Interviewed by Mark Urycki.
   Scope and Content: Canfora was one of the students wounded on May 4, 1970.
4. Audio Recording: Raw Interviews: Charles Fassinger, 1990
   Author: Interviewed by Mark Urycki.
   Scope and Content: Fassinger was a Lt. Colonel in the Army National Guard deployed to Kent State in May 1970.
5. Audio Recording: Raw Interviews: LeRoy Satrom, 1990
   Author: Interviewed by Mark Urycki.
   Scope and Content: Satrom was mayor of Kent at the time of the shootings.
6. Audio Recording: Remembering Kent State, 1970: A Sound Documentary, May 2000
   Author: Produced by Mark Urycki.