Tent City at Kent State University

Photograph showing tents assembled over the summer of 1977 during the "Tent City" controversy at Kent State University. In 1976, the university administration made the decision to build a gym annex on campus that would be located adjacent to the ground where the shooting of students by Ohio National Guardsmen took place on May 4, 1970. Over the coming months, protestors demanded a halt to construction, and eventually occupied the building site over the summer of 1977 until they were forcibly removed. Construction went ahead, and the gym facility was completed in 1979. The location of the shooting is now known as the May 4 Memorial Site, and was designated on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. This photograph was published in the Columbus Free Press newspaper. The Columbus Free Press began as a bi-weekly publication in Columbus, Ohio, in 1970. An underground newspaper, it replaced the Ohio State University publication The People, Yes. The earliest known issue of the newspaper appeared on January 4, 1971. The newspaper underwent a series of name changes over the decades, with titles including the Columbus Free Press & Cowtown Times (1972-1976), the Columbus Freepress (1976-1992) and The Free Press (1992-1995). The paper, which covered many liberal and progressive causes, was an alternative to mainstream news sources in central Ohio with the slogan “The Other Side of the News.” In 1995, the paper ceased publication briefly before reemerging as a website in early 1996, and returning as a print publication under the Free Press title in the form of a quarterly journal in 1998. Published under various frequencies during the first part of the 21st century, the Free Press again became a nonprofit monthly publication in 2017 with both a print and web presence, published by the Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism and operated by a volunteer staff and board