When Sandy Scheuer was killed on her way to class on May 4, 1970, she was a junior speech therapy major and honors student, a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority and active in the local Jewish community. She was also a beloved daughter, sister, friend.
One of the four students killed and nine students wounded during the tragic events of May 4, she had a full life and a promising future—until it was cut short.
Nearly 50 years after Sandy Scheuer’s death, her life is the focus of the first of four unique exhibitions to be presented on each of the four students by Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center prior to the 50th anniversary of their deaths in 2020.
“The images used in the news coverage at the time are generally the way these four individuals are remembered, but there were so many different sides to them,” says Mindy Farmer, PhD, director of the May 4 Visitors Center, who helped curate the exhibit with Larrie King, MFA ’14, a KSU professor and creative director of Glyphix Studio—a student organization that designed the exhibit. “We felt it was our responsibility to tell more of their stories.”
The exhibit features ephemera from scrapbooks and other objects Sandy Scheuer kept over the course of her life that were donated by her family many years ago to the Ohio History Connection.
The assorted mementos—prom photos, notes from friends, family letters, concert programs, keepsakes—are displayed in large groupings: family, friends and time at Kent State. Many of her original labels on her scrapbooks remain, lending a personal feel to the presentation.
“As much as we could, we let Sandy chronicle her own life,” Dr. Farmer says. “Sandy had this guiding humor, she was very personable and that comes across through everything.”
The materials also inspired the exhibit’s style and design, with colors and flowers taken from the scrapbook she kept during her time at Kent State. Students at Glyphix met with the Scheuer family while putting the exhibit together, which gave them a unique perspective on the impact of May 4.
“You could argue that these scrapbooks are similar to Instagram and Facebook today,” says Dr. Farmer. “Students who visit the exhibit find her a lot more relatable.”
For more information contact the May 4 Visitors Center at 330-672-4660 or visit www.kent.edu/May4.
Back to Flash Forward Spring/Summer 2018