Timothy Wayne Viezer papers

May 4 Collection - Boxes 58 and 58A

Finding Aid

Prepared by Scott L. Bills, August 29, 1980; Updated October 2017

Inclusive Dates: 1974-1982
Extent: 2 cubic feet (2 record storage boxes and 3 oversize folders)
Physical Location: 12th floor

Historical Note: Timothy Viezer began his freshman year at Kent State in the fall of 1977, a time when the political activity surrounding the gym controversy was winding down but still highlighted by two major demonstrations (September 24 and October 22). Viezer was not active himself in student political groups but began systematically collecting leaflets and newspaper clippings. He did this initially to clarify his own views and later with the intent to donate the materials to the University Archives.

Scope and Content: The Kent State University Archives acquired the materials for this collection from Timothy Viezer in three installments on April 23, 1980; May 5, 1980; and May 26, 1980. This collection contains a large number of leaflets and flyers from diverse campus groups for the years 1974-1982. These items have been arranged alphabetically within the series according to the person or organizations that issued them, and represent at least thirty-six different organizations. Several such items which could not be linked to specific groups have been listed under "source unidentified." Newspaper clippings are arranged chronologically.

The substantial amount of political ephemera contained in the collection demonstrates the range of student activist concerns for the years 1977-1980. Though the focus of most activities was on the May 4 commemoration and the gym controversy, students were involved in other political efforts as well. Many of the most active individuals and organization programs included workshops on apartheid, third world liberation, and imperialism, as well as other concerns represented in the collection. Used in conjunction with related collections, the leaflets and flyers will provide a useful overview of both student activist rhetoric and political concerns. In addition to news items, the paper contains a discussion of the history of the May 4th Movement. The collection contains many colorful posters and a range of artifacts such as armbands, T-shirts, bumper stickers, and buttons.

Restrictions on Use: Viezer has donated to the Kent State University Archives whatever property and literary rights he possesses in these materials.

Arrangement: The collection is organized into the following series.

• Series 1: Leaflets/Flyers
• Series 2: Newspapers/Press Clippings
• Series 3: Printed Materials
• Series 4: Scholarly Works
• Series 5: Miscellaneous Subject Files
• Series 6: Ephemera

Series 1 -- Leaflets/Flyers
May 4 Collection - Box 58
Folder -- Contents

1. Abel, Ted, [Memorial Windows designer], 1978
2. American Friends Service Committee, 1977
3. American Indian Rights Association (A.I.R.A.), 1978
4. Anti-May 4th Coalition materials, 1977-1978
5. Arnold, Dwight, 1978
6. Artists and Craftspeople for a Just Resolution, undated
7. Black United Students, 1978-1979
8. Blanket Hill Council, 1977
9. Cambodia: A Genocide in Peacetime, Exceeding the Holocaust, 1980
10. Center for Peaceful Change, 1978
11. Coalition for Direct Action at Seabrook, 1980
12. Communist Youth Organization, 1977-1978
13. "Death to the Shah," 1979
14. Faculty Senate, undated
15. Freddy Demuth Club, 1977-1978
16. Government contact information, Move the Gym, undated
17. Group of Kampuchean (Khmer) Residents in America, 1978
18. Information newsletter, 1979
19. Iranian Students Association, 1977-1978
20. KSU Progressive Alumni, 1978
21. Kent Committee Against Registration for the Draft, 1980
22. Kent Committee Against Repressive Legislation, 1977-1978
23. Kent Gay Liberation Front, 1978
24. Kent Legal Defense Fund, undated
25. Kent Miners Strike Support Committee, 1978
26. Legal Profession Working to Move the Gym, undated
27. May 4th Coalition, 1977-1978
28. May 4th Coalition Caucus, 1977
29. May 4th Forum, 1979
30. May 4th Resource Center, KSU Library, 1974
31. May 4th Task Force, 1977-1980
32. "Move the gym!!", undated
33. Muslim Students Association, 1978
34. National United Workers Organization, 1978
35. Note of solidarity to Tent City inhabitants, signed "your shadow," undated
36. Pan-Africanist Congress (P.A.C.), 1978
37. Portage County Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union, 1977
38. Portage County Committee for Free Speech and Free Assembly, 1977
39. "Protest Golding's Fee Hike," 1978
40. Rally for Free Speech, 1977
41. Residence Services, 1977-1978
42. Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade, 1978-1979
43. Revolutionary Student Brigade, 1977
44. Socialist Educational Forum, 1977
45. Socialist Workers Party, 1978
46. Spartacus Youth League, 1977-1978
47. Student Government, 1977-1978
48. Student Workers Association, 1978
49. Students Maintaining and Advocating Cooperation and Constructiveness at Kent (S.M.A.C.C.K.), 1977-1978
50. Tactics Committee, undated
51. Vicarel, Tom, ["Are You Fed Up?], 1977
52. Vietnam Veterans Against the War, 1977-1978
53. Wendy's Restaurant Protest, 1978
54. "What do you think?", undated
55. Young Muslims Organization, undated
56. Young Socialist Alliance, 1977-1978
57. Youth International Party, 1977-1978
58. Freedom Bell!, Kent New Generation church, undated (shelved in the map case)

Series 2 -- Newspapers/Press Clippings

59. The Truth Demands Justice, weekly newspaper published by the May 4th Coalition, 1978 [Vol. 1, No. 1, 2 (2 copies), 3, 4] (shelved in the map case)
60. List of May 4th articles appearing in the Daily Kent Stater, 1977-1978
61. List of letters to the editor, May 4th topics, Daily Kent Stater, 1977-1980
62. List of May 4th articles appearing in newspapers transferred to the Social Movements Collection, 1977-1979
63. News Clippings, 1971
64. News Clippings, 1977
65. News Clippings, 1978
66. News Clippings, 1979
67. News Clippings, 1980
68. News Clippings, 1981
69. News Clippings, 1982

Series 3 -- Printed Materials

70. Anti-Bakke Decision Coalition, 1978
71. The Black Watch newsletter, April 10, 1978 
72. In Memorium, May 4th Task Force Memorial Booklet, 1978
73. Left Review, v. 2, n. 3, Spring 1978 and v. 3, no's. 2-3, Winter/Spring 1979
74. Leftworks Occasional Paper #7, Political Rhetoric of the Ultra-Left, by Ellio Podwill, undated
75. Kent State F.A.C.T. [First Amendment Conservation Task-force] Vol 1.1, Vol 1.2, 1977-1978
76. Kent Weekly, 1977
77. List of U.S. Supreme Court decisions related to gym protest, October 1977
78. May 4 Commemoration program, 1981
79. May 4 Task Force information booklets, undated
80. The May Fourth Site brochure, 1980
81. Revolutionary Union, [women's liberation booklet], 1978
82. Sprout newsletter, [includes article about Tent City], May 13, 1977

Series 4-- Scholarly Work

83. Paper, Lewis, Jerry M. and Betty F. Kirschner, "Public Interpretation of Tent City Arrestees: Kent State, 1977" April 1978
84. Paper abstract, "We Shall Not Be Moved: A Study of the May 4th Coalition and the Kent State University Gymnasium Controversy of 1977" Dissertation Abstract, 1982
85. Paper, Lewis, Jerry M. and Duane Dukes "National Guard and the Social Control of Violence: The Temporal Dimensions of the Radicalization of Crowd Participants" 1977
86. Paper, Rudwick, Elliott and August Meier "The Kent State Affair: Social Control of a Putative Value-Oriented Movement" Sociological Inquiry Volume 42 issue 2, 1972
87. Paper, Hensley, Thomas R. and Glen W. Griffin "Victims of Groupthink: The Kent State University Board of Trustees and the 1977 Gymnasium Controversy, undated

Series 5-- Miscellaneous Subject Files
Folder -- Contents

1. Correspondence, August 30, 1977-November 16, 1977
2. Correspondence, Alan Canfora, 1978
3. Faculty Coordinating Committee, [statement prepared for vigil, July 20, 1977]
4. Handwritten copy of poster contents and May 4 related graffiti, 1977-1978
5. Kent State University Board of Trustees, September/October 1977
6. Kent State University presidential order for protesters to vacate premises, October 1977
7. Lawless, James T., Manager of Media Relations, letter to media concerning gym protest, undated
8. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, January 6-September 9, 1977 [handwritten on index cards]
9. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, September 14-16, 1977 [handwritten on index cards]
10. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, September 17-22, 1977 [handwritten on index cards]
11. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, September 23-October 24, 1977 [handwritten on index cards]
12. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, October 25-December 30, 1977 [handwritten on index cards]
13. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, January 4-April 4, 1978, [handwritten on index cards]
14. List of articles about gym protest appearing in Kent-Ravenna Record Courier and The Daily Kent Stater, April 5-May 31, 1978 [handwritten on index cards]
15. List of newspapers transferred to the Social Movements Collection, undated
16. List of printed materials transferred to the Social Movements Collection, undated
17. List of questions for police at peace marshal training, May 4, 1978
18. Minutes, Kent Interhall Council, November 2, 1977
19. "Perspectives on May 4th: An Interdisciplinary Focus," course syllabus and practice test, Spring 1978
20. National Historic Site Registration Application, undated
21. Rally Committee, suggested order of speakers for rally, undated
22. Schedule of activities for national rally, undated
23. Suggested list of statements for trespassing defendants to make at court appearance, undated
24. "Tactics of Non-Violent Change," course syllabus, undated
25. Thesis rough draft, undated
26. Thesis, [includes revisions of footnotes, theoretical framework, and May 4th Coalition analysis], undated
27. Thesis, [list of sources used, handwritten on index cards], undated

 Series 6-- Ephemera

28. Armband, "Move the Gym," printed, 1977
29. Armband, "Move the Gym," handwritten, 1977
30. Armband, Peace Marshal, May 4, 1980
31. Armband, "Remember Kent and Jackson State," undated
32. Bumper Sticker, "Remember Kent State/Move the Gym," 1977
33. Calendar and outline denoting dates of activities related to May 4, 1977
34. Political buttons, Kent C.A.R.D., 1979 (1 button)
35. Political buttons, "Kent 25," undated (2 buttons)
36. Political buttons, KSU Yippies, 1978 (2 buttons)
37. Political buttons, Miscellaneous, 1978 (3 buttons)
38. Sticker from riot grenade, 1977
39. T-shirt: "Kent State: the Final Chapter Remains Unwritten," May 4th Task Force, undated
40. T-shirt: "Remember Kent State, Move the Gym," May 4th Coalition, undated