Waubonsee Community College

Kent State, what happened and why, James A. Michener

eng

portraitsmapsillustrations

no index present

non fiction

Kent State

153121

Groseclose, D. James A. Michener, A.027

James A. Michener

what happened and why

A study of the tragic events leading up to the killing of four students by National Guardsmen at Kent State University in the spring of 1970Nowhere were the tragic implications of the gulf between young people and their elders in the 1960s more evident than in the terrible events that took place at Kent State University during the first four days of May 1970. Here, one of America's most distinguished authors probed deeply into that confrontation. A superb storyteller, Michener re-creates the events of that long weekend in a dramatic day-by-day narrative, building to the final clash that left four students dead and nine wounded. He brings all the leading participants to life, weaving his vivid documentary from the information gleaned from hundreds of interviews with eyewitnesses--students and ex-students, radical leaders, faculty and administrators, policemen and firemen, National Guardsmen, officials and citizens of the town of Kent. Startling photographs--some never previously shown--illustrate the action. This book deals with far more than Kent State. Michener explores the malaise that attacked university students in America and throughout the world--showing how the turmoil at Kent State fit into the larger pattern of violence that overwhelmed campuses and society in general at that time.--Adapted from book jacket

I. VIEW OF KENT -- II. FRIDAY: TRASHING OF WATER STREET. The non-violent man ; A banker takes a chance ; The field marshal and his troops ; Five students ; The bars on Water Street ; Artist with a spray gun ; What happened on Friday ; Why it happened ; A question of life style ; The Haunted House ; Regional travelers ; Assault on the university ; The president ; The trustees ; The mayor holds a big hand ; Guards in bivouac ; Marooned on a traffic light ; Conclusions -- III. SATURDAY: BURNING OF ROTC. Day of a faculty marshal ; "Hooked into the revolution bit" ; The young revolutionaries ; Jocks, Greeks and other squares ; "Cow college in a cow town" ; Calling the guard ; Volunteer fireman ; What happened on Saturday ; Why it happened ; Five students ; A rumble of tanks ; Conclusions -- IV. / SUNDAY: CARNIVAL. Day of a Guardsman ; Bad-mouthing the establishment ; Some theories of language ; The governor moves in ; The flower in the gun ; What happened on Sunday night ; Why it happened ; Five students ; A stand-off ; The coach writes a letter ; Conclusions -- V. MONDAY: BLANKET HILL. The black squirrels ; Five students ; Legal confusions ; What happened on Monday ; Why it happened ; Five students ; The peacemakers ; Conclusions -- VI. REACTION. Day of a photographer ; The county prosecutor ; Closing down ; Next of kin ; Letters to the editor ; Talk on the street ; What the students heard ; The ghouls ; The disoriented ; The ecologist ; The two flags -- VII. SIGNIFICANCE. The threat to education ; The concept of sanctuary ; What must be done ; Speculations ; The hearings ; "Not for quotation" ; The FBI "report" ; The girl with the Delacroix face