Kent State collection

The Kent State Collection in Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, originated with the efforts of Peter Davies, author of The Truth about Kent State, and his friend Paul Keane to find a safe repository for the material that Mr. Davies had created and collected in the course of his research. The major part of the the papers came to Yale on the seventh anniversary of the May 4, 1970, killings, and the Yale Political Union commemorated that gift by sponsoring a five-day colloquium featuring such civil libertarians as Henry Steele Commager and Aryeh Neier as well as Davies, Keane, and others who had long been studying and protesting what happened at Kent State. Since then the library has endeavored to build on this foundation by collecting other relevant manuscripts, but Davies' papers remain the core of the Collection.

The largest quantity of unique material in the Kent State Collection is Peter Davies' correspondence, beginning with his protest to President Nixon on May 8 and spanning seven strenuous years of inquiry, agitation, and organization. This is, above all, a record of the impact of Kent State on Davies and his correspondents: the parents of the victims, the public officials from whom he demanded an accounting, and the citizens who shared his outrage and collaborated in his protests and probings. The letters document in extraordinary detail the development of Davies' understanding of what happened at Kent State and the progress of his collaborative efforts to obtain redress through public opinion and the legal system. In addition, there are notes, drafts, and unpublished writings that add considerably to the public record of his analysis.

The Kent State Collection also contains a large quantity of research material that would be very useful in a fresh inquiry into Kent State and its aftermath. These are the major kinds of material: two feet of newspaper clippings, spanning from 1970 to 1978; several thousand pages of photostatic copies of F. B. I. Documents, purchased by Yale under the Freedom of Information Act; many publication from Kent State, including newspapers, yearbooks, leaflets, and commemorative booklets; and briefs, transcripts, and other documents related to various legal proceedings. These materials thoroughly document the public perception of Kent State, and give easy access to much information that is otherwise available only in widely scattered sources.

Adapted from The Left Review, "Kent State: Ten Years After," 1980, page 75.