Allison_Krause

Allison Krause

Allison Krause

Student killed at Kent State University in 1970

This article is about the Kent State Massacre victim. For the bluegrass musician, see Alison Krauss.

Allison Beth Krause (/kraʊs/; April 23, 1951 – May 4, 1970) was a student at Kent State University and one of four unarmed students shot and killed by soldiers of the Ohio Army National Guard in the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings in Kent, Ohio. The shootings occurred as students protested against both the invasion of Cambodia and the National Guard presence on campus.[2]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Krause—an ardent anti-war activist—was shot in the left side of her chest from a distance of approximately 330 feet (101 m).[3] A subsequent autopsy found that a single bullet entered and exited her upper left arm before entering her left lateral chest, fragmenting on impact and causing extensive internal injuries. She died from her wounds before reaching hospital.[4]

The day prior to her death, Krause is known to have observed a single lilac within the barrel of the gun of a guardsman upon the campus of Kent State University;[5] upon hearing an officer order the guardsman to remove the flower, she caught the flower as it fell to the ground, stating, "Flowers are better than bullets."[6][7] This quote—inscribed upon Krause's gravestone—has become synonymous with Krause's legacy of peace activism.[8]

Early life

Krause was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 23, 1951, the first child born to Doris Lillian (née Levine) and Arthur Selwyn Krause.[9] She had a younger sister, Laurel (b. 1954). Krause was Jewish.[10] She was an alumna of John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland,[11] although Krause's parents and younger sister moved to Churchill, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1969.[12][13]

The Krause family regularly undertook day trips throughout the sisters' childhood and teenage years. One of these locations was to Kent, Ohio, where the family typically dined at a restaurant overlooking the university campus. Reportedly, Krause resolved to attend the university upon her graduation due to these day trips, informing her mother: "You know, Mom, I'd like to come to school here when I'm old enough."[14]

Krause, c. 1968

Krause grew into a tall young woman with high cheekbones, thick, dark hair and brown eyes. She seldom wore makeup, and her features led some to believe she was of Mediterranean ancestry. Krause typically devoted her free time to solitary pursuits such as drawing, painting, reading, and sculpting. By her late teens, she had also developed an interest in contemporary domestic and global issues in addition to politics and civil rights.[14]

Kent State University

An academically achieving student, Krause graduated with honors from John F. Kennedy High School in 1969. She then enrolled at Kent State University (KSU), beginning her classes that September while residing in a dormitory at Metcalf Hall.[15][n 1] While attending KSU, Krause became acquainted with a student named Barry Levine. The two began dating and, being almost inseparable, were almost always together. Both were also popular among their peers.[14]

Political climate

By the late 1960s, much of the American youth had begun to hold a negative attitude towards the country's involvement in the Vietnam war and the issue of conscription. These anti-war sentiments were keenly felt among the student population at KSU, and Krause and her boyfriend were active and vocal demonstrators in several student protests.[14]

Although the protests upon campus—which had begun before Krause enrolled at the university—were initially peaceful, by 1970, many of these protests had become increasingly raucous and violent, with some students committing acts of sabotage, arson, sit-in protests, and general vandalism and disruption both on and off campus. Several of these acts of protest had resulted in clashes with police and numerous arrests; this ongoing unrest had led to the Ohio Army National Guard presence at the university by the spring of 1970—to the resentment of much of the student population.[17]

Poster calling for a nationwide student protest against the Cambodian incursion to be held on May 4, 1970—the date of the Kent State shootings

By early 1970, Krause had become disillusioned with the climate at KSU; she is known to have informed her parents on her 19th birthday that she found the atmosphere upon campus both stifling and regimented. As such, both she and Levine planned to enroll at a university in Levine's home state of New York that summer.[14]

May 1970

On Friday, May 1, 1970, a further student protest was held upon campus in response to President Nixon's announcement of the Cambodian incursion and to demand the closure of the university's Reserve Officers' Training Corps; this was attended by approximately 500 students and saw a symbolic burial of a copy of the United States Constitution.[18] The demonstration saw little disruption, and ended peacefully at 3:45 p.m., with the organizers promising a further demonstration for midday on Monday, May 4; however, university officials attempted to ban this protest.[19][n 2]

The weekend of May 2-3 saw further disruption upon and around the university campus, including beer glasses thrown at police cars, students forming a human chain upon Walter Street, blocking traffic and asking drivers their opinion of the Vietnam War, and approximately $10,000 worth of damage inflicted with acts of vandalism and arson. This anarchistic behavior forced Mayor Leroy Statrum to impose an 11 p.m. curfew within Kent and a 1 a.m. curfew upon the campus.[20]

Kent State shootings

Main article: Kent State shootings

Despite the demonstration having been banned, the proposed May 4 student demonstration began at midday on May 4 as the organizers had promised. The demonstration began with the symbolic ringing of the campus's iron Victory Bell, with an estimated 200–300 protesters—including Allison Krause and Barry Levine—assembled around the campus Victory Bell. Approximately 1,000 other individuals were gathered upon a hill behind these demonstrators. One student delivered a short speech, and some protesters carried flags.[21]

Clashes between KSU students and the Ohio National Guard shortly before the guardsmen opened fire on May 4

Altogether, the Guardsmen fired 67 shots in 13 seconds.[22] Krause was shot from a distance of approximately 330 feet (101 m), and died in her boyfriend's arms. The other students killed in the shootings were Jeffrey Glenn Miller, Sandra Lee Scheuer and William Knox Schroeder.[23] In addition, nine other students were wounded in the gunfire including one who was paralyzed for life.[24]

The shootings led to protests and a national student strike, causing hundreds of campuses to close because of both violent and non-violent demonstrations. The Kent State campus remained closed for six weeks. Five days after the shootings, 100,000 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C. against the war.[25]

Aftermath

Allison Krause was laid to rest within the Parkway Jewish Center Cemetery in Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania. Her rose granite headstone is inscribed with her name in both English and Hebrew in addition to two inscriptions: "Beloved daughter and sister" and "Flowers are better than bullets"—the words she had exchanged with an officer of the Ohio Army National Guard the day prior to her murder.[7]

Krause's father, Arthur, became an outspoken advocate of the press for truth and justice surrounding the Kent State shootings; he fought a legal battle almost ten years following the murder of his daughter. In the end, the Krause family received an official 'Statement of Regret' and $15,000 from the state of Ohio for the loss of their daughter and sister.[25]

In 2010, Krause's younger sister Laurel co-founded the Kent State Truth Tribunal (KSTT) with Emily Kunstler. The tribunal was organized to uncover, record and preserve the testimonies of witnesses, participants and meaningfully involved individuals of the Kent State shootings of 1970. Showing his support, Michael Moore livecast every KSTT testimonial at his website. In all, three tribunals were held in 2010: May 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Kent, Ohio at the 40th anniversary of the shootings; with a west coast tribunal in San Francisco in August and an east coast tribunal in New York City in October 2010.

See also

Notes

  1. [n 1]
    Krause would later relocate to another dormitory at Engelman Hall in January 1970.[16]
  2. [n 2]
    University officials would distribute 12,000 leaflets across campus between May 1 and May 4, informing students any further demonstrations were forbidden.[18]

References

Notes
  1. [1]
    "Senate Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 92nd Congress". July 22, 1971. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  2. [2]
    Eszterhas & Roberts 1970, p. 1.
  3. [3]
    Jerry M. Lewis; Thomas R. Hensley. "The May 4 Shootings at Kent University: The Search for Historical Accuracy". Kent State University Department of Sociology. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
  4. [4]
    "Obituary For Allison Beth Kraus". Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  5. [5]
    Gordon 1995, p. 28.
  6. [6]
    "Kent State Students Talk About Dead". Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. May 5, 1970. p. 2. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  7. [7]
    "The Day 'All Hell Broke Loose'; Local Lives Lost, Forever Changed in Kent State Shooting". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. May 2, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  8. [8]
    "She Told Guardsmen at Kent State 'Flowers are Better than Bullets!' Then a Bullet Killed Her". Akron Beacon Journal. May 3, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  9. [9]
    Gordon 1995, p. 257.
  10. [10]
    "Remembering Kent State as an American Tragedy With a Jewish Face". April 29, 2010.
  11. [11]
    Raub, Deborah Fineblum (April 29, 1990). "Unlikely Martyr Brought the Discord Home". Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York). p. 2.
  12. [12]
    "Father of Coed Ex-B'ville Man". The Evening Standard. May 5, 1970. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  13. [13]
    "More Than Guns Separate Guard, Students". The Anniston Star. May 10, 1970. p. 5. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  14. [14]
    "She Told Guardsmen at Kent State 'Flowers are Better than Bullets!' Then a Bullet Killed Her". The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 2, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  15. [15]
    "Kent State University: Denise D'Aurora Personal Narrative". library.kent.edu. January 24, 2000. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  16. [16]
    "Mendo Coast Document: On Truth at Kent State". May 4, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  17. [17]
    de Onis, Juan (May 2, 1970). "Nixon Puts 'Bums' Label On Some College Radicals". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  18. [18]
    Cawthorne & Tibballs 1993, p. 233.
  19. [19]
    "The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search for Historical Accuracy". kent.edu. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  20. [20]
    Cawthorne & Tibballs 1993, pp. 233–234.
  21. [21]
    Gordon 1995, p. 53.
  22. [22]
    Eszterhas & Roberts 1970, pp. 1–3.
  23. [23]
    "Eight are Indicted in Kent State Slaying". New York Daily News. March 30, 1974. p. 56. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  24. [24]
    "Barry Levine for Allison Krause". may41970.com. May 4, 2000. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  25. [25]
    "Ohio Approves $675,000 to Settle Suits in 1970 Kent State Shootings". The New York Times. February 22, 1979. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
Works cited
  • Krause, Arthur S. (1972). "May 4, 1970." The New York Times, May 4, 1972.
  • Krause, Arthur S. (1978). "A Memo to Mr. Nixon." The New York Times, May 7, 1978.

Cited works and further reading

  • Cawthorne, Nigel; Tibballs, Geoff (1993). Killers: Contract Killers, Spree Killers, Sex Killers. The Ruthless Exponents of Murder. London: Boxtree Publishing. ISBN 0-7522-0850-0.
  • Eszterhas, Joe; Roberts, Michael D. (1970). Thirteen Seconds; Confrontation at Kent State. New York City: Dodd, Mead Publishing. ISBN 978-0-396-06272-1.
  • Giles, Robert (2020). When Truth Mattered: The Kent State Shootings 50 Years Later. Michigan: Mission Point Press. ISBN 978-1-950-65939-5.
  • Gordon, William (1995). Four Dead in Ohio: Was There a Conspiracy at Kent State?. Northridge: North Ridge Books. ISBN 978-0-937-81305-8.
  • McCoy, David B. (2017). The Kent State Shootings and What Came Before. Amazon Digital Services LLC. ISBN 978-1-973-29760-4.
  • Means, Howard B. (2016). 67 Shots : Kent State and The End of American Innocence. Boston: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-82379-4.
  • Rosinsky, Natalie M. (2009). The Kent State Shootings. Worcestershire: Compass Point Books. ISBN 978-0-756-53845-3.
  • Simpson, Craig; Wilson, Gregory (2016). Above the Shots: An Oral History of the Kent State Shootings. Akron: Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-1-606-35291-5.
  • Whitney, R. W. (1975). The Kent State Massacre. United States: SamHar Press. ISBN 978-0-871-57221-9.
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