Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories

Scott E. Swan Oral History

Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories

Scott E. Swan Oral History

Item Information

Transcription	Show Transcript Print Transcript Back Scott E. Swan, Oral History Recorded: April 30, 1990 Interviewed by Ruth E. O'Hager Transcribed by Lisa Whalen [Interviewer]: My name is Ruth and the person that is about to speak is named Scott, on some memories of May 4th. [Scott E. Swan]: Yeah, I can remember the May 4th event, and the one thing that sticks out in my mind is the tanks on my playground, and the soldiers sleeping in the gymnasium. And the one thing in particular about the tanks were that they bumped into our jungle gym, and made it crooked. That's the one thing that sticks out in my mind, other than the fact that, the more and more I read about the -- the more and more disgusted I get. The fact that students were actually killed. And hopefully it will be a lesson to the future, that that sort of violence is unneccesary and unneeded. [Interviewer]: How old are you Scott? [Scott E. Swan]: Twenty six. I was seven years old. I lived on Willow Street, which is right up the street. I remember the helicopters at night, and my dad driving me downtown to the businesses, and seeing all the windows smashed out in all the buildings. So, although I really didn't know much about what was going on... [recording ends abruptly] ×
Narrator	Swan, Scott E.
Narrator's Role	Resident of Kent, Ohio, in 1970
Date of Interview	1990-04-30
Description	A seven-year-old Kent, Ohio, resident in 1970, Scott E. Swan describes his memories of the days surrounding the shootings on the Kent State University campus. He lived near campus and describes the tanks he saw on the playground at his elementary school and mentions that soldiers were using his school's gymnasium as a bivouac. He also describes the helicopters that went over his home at night and talks about seeing broken storefront windows in downtown Kent.
Length of Interview	1:02 minutes
Places Discussed	Kent (Ohio)
Time Period discussed	1970
Subject(s)	Armored vehicles, Military Civil-military relations--Ohio--Kent Community members--Ohio--Kent--Interviews Helicopters Kent State Shootings, Kent, Ohio, 1970 Ohio. Army National Guard School children--Ohio--Kent--Interviews
Repository	Special Collections and Archives
Access Rights	This digital object is owned by Kent State University and may be protected by U.S. Copyright law (Title 17, USC). Please include proper citation and credit for use of this item. Use in publications or productions is prohibited without written permission from Kent State University. Please contact the Department of Special Collections and Archives for more information.
Duplication Policy	http://www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives/duplication-policy
Institution	Kent State University
DPLA Rights Statement	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Disclaimer	The content of oral history interviews, written narratives and commentaries is personal and interpretive in nature, relying on memories, experiences, perceptions, and opinions of individuals. They do not represent the policy, views or official history of Kent State University and the University makes no assertions about the veracity of statements made by individuals participating in the project. Users are urged to independently corroborate and further research the factual elements of these narratives especially in works of scholarship and journalism based in whole or in part upon the narratives shared in the May 4 Collection and the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project.
Provenance/Collection	May 4 Collection