250 to 250: 68. Kent State Killings, Narrated by Rosanne Cash

Heather Cox Richardson and 250 to 250: Kent State Killings, Narrated by Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and the author of four books, including the best-selling memoir Composed. Across 15 albums, her work has earned four Grammys and 12 additional nominations. She is one of the few women inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the only woman to receive the Edward MacDowell Medal in Composition, and is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Cash recounts the 1970 Kent State killings, when National Guardsmen opened fire, leaving four students dead and forcing a national reckoning over protest and police violence.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon sent U.S. troops into Cambodia.

• Many college students protested the Vietnam War.
• At Kent State University, students held a protest.
• The Ohio National Guard came to the campus.
• On May 4, some guardsmen fired at the students.
• Four students were killed.
• Nine other students were hurt.
• Many Americans were shocked by the shootings.
• Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young expressed the grief and shock of the nation in their song, Ohio.
• The event increased opposition to the Vietnam War.
• It also started more discussion about peaceful protest and the use of force.
• Today, the Kent State shootings are remembered as an important event in American history.

POP Interview and Civics Quiz:

• N-400 Part 9:7c. Have you EVER ordered, incited, called for, committed, assisted, helped with, or otherwise participated in killing or trying to kill any person?
• USCIS 100:06. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment
• USCIS 128:65. What are three rights of everyone living in the United States? 

Family Fun

• ACLU: Protestor Rights | more KYR resources
• C-SPAN: Kent State Shooting (Full Documentary)
• Getty Images: 568 Kent State Massacre Photos and High-Res Pictures
• ILRC: 10 Things Noncitizen Protestors Need to Know | more KYR resources
• Monday Mandala: Peace Coloring Pages
• PBS: Kent State playlist by Ken Burns | The Day the 60's Died
• Story Corps: 55 Years Later, Two Kent State Shooting Survivors Remember
• The Atlantic: When the National Guard Arrived at Kent State, Images From 1970