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The site, near the intersection of East
Main Street and South Lincoln Street on the
Kent State University campus in
Kent, Ohio, has been entered into the National Register because
of it significance to national history.
In 1970, student unrest was considered the major social problem
in the United States. On May 4 of that year,
Kent State University was placed
in an international spotlight after a
student protest against the Vietnam War and the presence
of the Ohio National Guard on
campus ended in tragedy when the Guard shot and killed four and
wounded nine Kent State students.
The May 4, 1970, Kent State Shootings Site was proposed for
nomination to the National Register of
Historic Places because of events associated with it,
although they happened less than 50 years ago, were nationally
significant. They caused the largest
student strike in United States history, increased
recruitment for the movement against the Vietnam War and
affected public opinion about the war, created a legal precedent
established by the trials subsequent to the shootings and for
the symbolic status the event has attained as a result of a
government confronting protesting citizens with unreasonable
deadly force.
As defined, the May 4, 1970 Shootings Site covers 17.24 acres of
the Kent State campus comprising three areas: the Commons,
Blanket Hill, and the Southern Terrace. The site is an irregular
area within which the Ohio National Guard, student protestors
and an active audience of observers and/or sympathizers ebbed
and flowed across a central portion of the campus, beginning at
approximately 11:00 a.m. and ending at approximately 1:30 p.m.,
May 4, 1970.
About the National Register
The National
Register lists places that should be preserved because of their
significance in U.S.-American history, architecture,
archaeology, engineering, and culture. It includes buildings,
sites, structures, objects, and historic districts of national,
state, and local importance.
To be eligible for listing on the National Register a property
or district must:
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be associated with events that have made a significant
contribution to the broad patterns of our history, or * be
associated with the lives of people significant in our past,
or
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embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or
method of construction, or represent the
work of a master, or possess
high artistic values, or represent a significant,
distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual
distinction (e.g. a historic district), or
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have yielded, or be likely to yield, information important
in prehistory or history.
National Register listing often raises community awareness of a
property. However, listing does not obligate owners to
repair or improve their properties and does not prevent them
from remodeling, altering, selling, or even demolishing them if
they choose to do so.
Owners or long-term tenants who rehabilitate income-producing
properties listed on the National Register can qualify for a
20-percent federal income tax credit if the work they do follows
the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation,
guidelines used nationwide for repairs and alterations to
historic buildings.
In Ohio, anyone may prepare a National Register nomination.
Nominations are made through the Ohio Historic Preservation
Office of the Ohio Historical Society.
Proposed nominations are reviewed by the Ohio Historic Site
Preservation Advisory Board, a governor-appointed panel of
citizens and professionals in history, architecture,
archaeology, and related fields.
The board reviews each nomination to see whether it appears to
be eligible for listing on the National Register, then makes a
recommendation to the State Historic
Preservation Officer. The final decision to add a
property to the register is made by the
National Park Service, which administers the program
nationwide.
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