Honoring KSU's Jeff Miller: a memorial paver at Woodstock!
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From August 15 to 18, 1969, music lovers from across America converged on Max Yasgur's farm for three days of peace, love, and music at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair. On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on a peaceful student protest at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine.
These two events have become synonymous with the American counterculture, and they have a connection that not many realize. Jeff Miller, one of the four students slain on May 4, was one of Woodstock's almost 500,000 attendees. He was known for his sense of humor and love of music, including bands like the Grateful Dead and Sly & the Family Stone.
Today, the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which preserves the original site of Woodstock in Bethel, New York, offers commemorative pavers on their grounds, near their museum on the festival. The May 4 Task Force, a student group formed by Kent State students in 1975 to commemorate the shootings, seeks to use this opportunity to grant Jeff his own paver in his memory.
As we observe the 55th anniversary of Woodstock and approach the 55th anniversary of May 4, let's help spread the memory and legacy of May 4 to Bethel, New York!
Organizer
Sophia Swengel
Organizer
Kent, OH