Past Exhibits

Vote 18

“Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote:” Student Activism and Presidential Politics

Fall 2024

The events of May 4, 1970 at Kent State became the cornerstone for the ratification of the 26th Amendment, expanding voting rights to 18-20 year olds. In response to the Vietnam war draft, young Americans organized to lower the voting age from 21 to 18; working toward a constitutional amendment.

In 1969, Ohio voters were faced with a state amendment to lower the voting age from 21 to 19, the issue failed by 1.9%. Protesting remained the most effective way for young voices to be heard, four of which were killed on the Kent State campus by the Ohio National Guard, bringing the Vietnam War home on American soil. In response, the proposed 26th Amendment saw rapidly increased support and was ratified on July 1, 1971. Newly enfranchised citizens cast their first votes in the 1972 presidential election between incumbent President Richard Nixon, and George McGovern, the anti-war senator from South Dakota.

This exhibit explored the material culture of the youth fight for suffrage and the 1972 campaign.

Graphic Content: Comics of May 4

Spring 2024

From comic strips and political cartoons to comic books and graphic novels, the events of May 4, 1970 have been inked by numerous illustrators over the years. The exhibition “Graphic Content: Cartoons of May 4” examined graphic art depictions of May 4 from three generations of acclaimed artists, including Chuck Ayera, Derf Backderf, and Katherine Wirick.

Each artist contributed a unique component to this emotionally stirring exhibition. Ayers' illustrations, which were published in the Daily Kent Stater and the Akron Beacon Journal, are drawn from his personal experiences as a Kent State student in 1970. Backderf's graphic novel

"Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio" was produced through laborious research of Kent State's Special Collections and Archives' extensive May 4 Collection. "No One is Safe,", Wirick's poster-sized storyboards, are a cathartic account inspired by her father who took a ROTC exam next to Bill Schroeder on May 4, 1970, just hours before he was killed.

Snapshots in Time: The Lives of Four Students

Fall 2023 

The exhibition provided snapshots of the lives of Jeff Miller, Sandy Scheuer, Allison Krause, and Bill Schroeder, the four students killed on Kent State’s campus on May 4, 1970. Visitors got to know the students through photographs, artifacts and memories in four rotating exhibitions.

The Vocal Majority: 1969

Spring 2023

Exhibit by Skylar Wrisley

This exhibit was meant to complement Kent State's story of May 4, 1970 by presenting some of the preceding events in the fall of 1969. While The Vocal Majority highlights the experiences of Kent State students, this story has national significance and massive participation in a series of the largest anti war demonstrations in U.S. history. These experiences are captured in photos, newspaper articles, flyers, posters, and artifacts. The protest in the Fall Antiwar Offensive in 1969 can be used to better understand what prompted the following events in the Spring of 1970.

Everlasting Ephemera

Fall 2022

Print media, such as posters, pamphlets, and printed t-shirts and buttons, have a long history of being used by the public to respond to major events. Kent State University students and community members are no exception, using print media to respond to the May 4th Shootings in 1970, and following related events including the National Student Strike of 1970, Tent City/Gym Annex Protest of 1977, and Memorial Protest of 1986.

In this exhibition of print media from Kent State University’s Special Collections and Archives’ Kent State Shootings: May 4 Collection, viewers explored a sense of urgency in the print-based work, as students and others affected by these tragic events took matters into their own hands, utilizing print media’s inherent ability to make multiples to share their assertions and emotions with the masses.

Though most of the pieces in this exhibition were intended to be used and consumed for a short period of time, the ephemeral printed works have been archived and preserved for future generations to learn from and be inspired by.