{"nrhp_refnum":"10000046","name":"May 4, 1970, Kent State Shootings Site","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":".5 mi. SE of the intersection of E. Main St. and S. Lincoln St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kent","county":"Portage County","state":"OH","lat":41.15180822250005,"lon":-81.3440068174898,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-02-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Politics/Government","Law"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 17.24-acre site on the Kent State University campus in Kent, Portage County, Ohio, where the Ohio National Guard shot thirteen students, four fatally, on May 4, 1970. It covers the Commons, Blanket Hill and a southern terrace, with six contributing and nine noncontributing resources.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the site as nationally significant as the place of a confrontation between the National Guard and students protesting the Vietnam War and the Guard's presence on campus. The shootings led to a presidential commission that condemned the Guard's tactics, and to changes in how guardsmen are armed for civil disturbances. The site's landmarks, including Taylor Hall, the Pagoda, the Victory Bell and the bullet-pierced Solar Totem sculpture, remain largely as they were in 1970.","narrative":"On the Kent State University campus in Ohio, a 17.24-acre area marks where the Ohio National Guard confronted student protesters on May 4, 1970. The crowd was demonstrating against the Vietnam War and the Guard's presence on campus. Thirteen students were shot, four fatally. The site has three parts: the Commons, a grassy gathering space; Blanket Hill, topped by Taylor Hall; and a southern terrace that includes the Prentice Hall parking lot and former practice field. Six resources contribute to its character, including Taylor Hall, the Victory Bell, Lilac Lane, the Pagoda, the Solar Totem sculpture with a bullet hole, and the parking lot. The area remains in everyday university use, and the exterior of Taylor Hall and the main landmarks appear as they did in 1970. The shootings drew a presidential commission's condemnation of the Guard's tactics and prompted changes in rules for guardsmen on civil-disturbance duty. A later dispute over building a gym annex raised the question of the site's boundaries.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Taylor Hall: architects Ward and Schneider; Gym Annex (noncontributing): Richard Fleischman Architects, Inc.; Victory Bell housing: architecture student Arvid Johnson; Solar Totem: Don Drumm","architectural_style":"Taylor Hall is New Formalism; the site itself has no architectural classification (N/A)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still part of the active Kent State University campus, used by students and faculty much as in the 1960s and 1970s; the ROTC building burned on May 2, 1970, and the Gym Annex was added in 1978-1979.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.474234-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/10000046.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000046/a9bbb77fb3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000046/a9bbb77fb3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Mws77 at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kent_State,_Site_of_Jeffrey_Miller_Memorial.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Mws77 at en.wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kent_State,_Site_of_Jeffrey_Miller_Memorial.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991031","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29858211"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/portage-county/may-4-1970-kent-state-shootings-site-10000046/"}