The Project
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The Kent State Guardsmen Oral History Project seeks to record and document the perspective of the National Guardsmen in the narrative and memory of the Kent State shootings in May 1970. The voice curiously absent in the tragic event is that of the Ohio Army National Guardsmen, and this project hopes to address that void.
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The project began as an assignment in a public history class taught by Dr. David Strittmatter at Ohio Northern University. Students located names of Ohio National Guardsmen in contemporary news articles and government reports, then set out to locate them a half century later. The resulting interviews humanize a rarely heard point of view, while adding substance to the story of Kent State shootings.
This online archive includes full interviews, as well as excerpts from those oral histories. As more interviews are conducted, this archive will continue to expand.
If you were an Ohio National Guardsmen deployed to Kent in May 1970, we would like to hear your story. Though we prefer to interview in person, sometimes geography prevents this ideal setting. A virtual or phone interview can also be recorded.
If your school or organization would like to bring the project to a class or event, please contact via email or phone.
[email protected]
(419) 772-3562
If you were an Ohio National Guardsmen deployed to Kent in May 1970, we would like to hear your story. Though we prefer to interview in person, sometimes geography prevents this ideal setting. A virtual or phone interview can also be recorded.
If your school or organization would like to bring the project to a class or event, please contact via email or phone.
[email protected]
(419) 772-3562