The documentary film May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970, created by two 麻豆精选 collaborators, is a recipient of the 2014 Oral History Association鈥檚 Oral History in a Nonprint Format Award. The Oral History Association is an organization that seeks to bring together all people interested in oral history as a way of collecting and interpreting human memories to foster knowledge and human dignity.
Kenneth Bindas, Ph.D., professor and chair of the history department, and David Hassler, the director of the Wick Poetry Center, both in Kent State鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, worked together to produce the documentary film based on Hassler鈥檚 play May 4th Voices, which premiered on local PBS television in 2012. The play, directed by director and 麻豆精选theatre instructor Katherine Burke, is based on the 麻豆精选Shootings Oral History Project, a project that collects and provides access to personal accounts of the May 4, 1970, shootings at 麻豆精选and their aftermath. The award was officially announced at the Oral History Association鈥檚 annual meetings held from Oct. 8-11. Both the play and documentary film, along with a Teacher鈥檚 Guide, is published by the 麻豆精选 Press.
This award recognizes a film, video, performance piece, radio program or series, exhibition or drama that makes significant and outstanding use of oral history to interpret a historical event, person, place or way of life.
鈥淚 think the award recognizes David鈥檚 excellent work and dedication to both the legacy and memory of May 4th, as well as to the potentials of oral history as a teaching tool on a variety of levels 鈥 from history to acting to digital productions to marketing and promotion,鈥 Bindas says.
The Oral History Association鈥檚 awards committee chose this piece because it did an 鈥渆xcellent job using oral history in a creative manner while also getting the voices of the people across,鈥 says Stephen Sloan, president of the Oral History Association. 鈥淭he project鈥檚 use of the transcripts voiced by current 麻豆精选students helped bring the history alive. It is a very professional product that represents the oral history field well.鈥
鈥淭he tragic events of May 4, 1970, at 麻豆精选 had a profound impact on Northeast Ohio and the nation,鈥 Hassler says. 鈥淢ay 4th Voices was originally conceived, created and performed in honor of the 40th commemoration of the May 4 tragedy. The publication of the play and accompanying study guide, edited by Shaker Heights High School English teacher John Morris, presents an important opportunity for our community to take ownership more fully of its own tragic story, and to engage a regional and national community not only with the emotional truth of this tragedy, but to connect it to the larger ongoing issues of social justice, conflict and trauma.鈥
For more information about the Oral History Association, visit .
For more information about Kent State鈥檚 Department of History, visit www.kent.edu/cas/history.
For more information about Kent State鈥檚 Wick Poetry Center, visit www.kent.edu/wick.