Alan Canfora, one of the nine students wounded at Kent State University when the National Guard fired upon students protesting the Vietnam War on May 4, 1970, was known for keeping careful records and saving everything he could regarding that day.
Photos. Letters. Recordings. Court records. Posters. Buttons. In all, 50 years’ worth of documents and other items.
A part of that collection was donated by the Canfora family to Kent State University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives in memory of Canfora, who died in Dec. 20, 2020 at age 71. A dedication for the Alan Canfora May 4 Collection took place in the Harrick Garden Room at the Kent State University Library on Sunday, May 3 where friends and family shared their memories of Canfora. Around 170 people attended the dedication, which was standing-room only.
Wounded protester became leading voice in May 4 legacy
Canfora was an active participant in the anti-war protest that day. A 21-year-old junior, he can be seen in photos waving a black flag at the rally. Later, he would become one of the charter members of The May 4 Task Force. In addition, he served as director of the Akron Law Library and was active in politics in his hometown of Barberton, serving for 27 years as chairman of the Democratic Party. He also worked for the Summit County Board of Elections and Barberton Municipal Court.
His sister Rosann “Chic” Canfora said after the presentation that he had been at the protest after losing his closest childhood friend, Bill Caldwell, in the Vietnam War after he was struck by a tank. The Canforas had gone to Caldwell’s funeral days before the May 4 shootings. Chic Canfora said that her brother had written letters to several friends who had been fighting in Vietnam and saw the cost of the conflict through those letters.
“We are here for gratitude for Alan, not just for his materials but for what he stood for,” Chic Canfora said during the May 3 commemoration. “What was personal is not just personal but now belongs to history.”
Canfora’s collection included personal items given to him by the families of the four students who were killed: Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder, Chic Canfora said.
“The families trusted him,” Chic said.
Massive May 4 archive reveals scope of documentation effort
Chic Canfora thanked Liz Campion, a May 4 archivist who was recently named director of archives, and Joe and Marjorie Walsh for their help in going through her brother’s extensive collection.
Liz Campion, who helped catalog Alan Canfora’s collection, said that one storage unit in Aurora had more than 200 cubic square feet of materials alone. Many of them were stored in banana boxes, which became the affectionate nickname for the collection for a time, Campion added. These documents had to be sorted and filed, with any personal information removed. One example was redacting Social Security numbers, which used to be used as a student’s number at the university. After everything was sorted and duplicate items removed, the donation was about 80 cubic square feet of materials.
Kenneth Burhanna, the dean of University Libraries, said that the May 4 collection has 750 square cubit feet of materials, including the Canfora family’s recent donation.
Todd Diacon, Kent State University president, said when he first came to the university as a provost in 2012, he was almost immediately told to “be careful around that guy Alan.'”
“But I never had a negative experience with him,” Diacon said. “He was always willing to share his stories, he was empathetic. I’m a historian by nature but you don’t have to be a historian to understand the importance of this collection to our archives.”
Alan Canfora graduated from Kent State with a general studies degree in 1972, and earned his Masters of Library Science in 1980.
Tom Grace, Canfora’s best friend and another of the wounded on May 4, said that Canfora had difficulty deciding what to study, trying several fields of study, including a stint in law school, as an undergraduate student. However, Alan “had a lightbulb moment” when he spied someone at the library pouring over books. One day, Alan Canfora had asked the person what he was researching, and the person replied that he was a librarian and he worked there.
“‘You get paid for reading books?'” Canfora had said. He would, Grace said, go on to earn his Masters of Library Science at Kent State.
“He saved everything connected to the shootings,” Grace said. “The shootings, the court records, the gym struggle, Alan possessed it all.” Canfora, Grace added, was instrumental in finding the Strubbe tape at Yale, an audio recording of that day’s events.
Terry Strubbe, a student at Kent State in 1970, had a tape recorder running on the windowsill of his room in Johnson Hall on May 4. This is the only known uninterrupted recording of all 67 shots fired by the Ohio National Guardsmen, according to Kent State.
Sister recalls impact of Vietnam War and May 4 shootings
Chic Canfora said in an interview that there were “just so many memories” from going through her brother’s many boxes.
“I’m always so proud of the things he kept, that others would have thrown away,” she said.
Alan Canfora had always been a studious person, even as a child, Chic Canfora said. They were both “Sputnik Kids” in third and fourth grade, taking classes for the gifted students. Her brother, she added, had a competitive streak.
“He always liked to tell me how he had the higher IQ,” she said.
However, their time at Kent State, particularly on May 4, drew them close together, she said. Chic Canfora also was a witness at the May 4 shootings.
“He was really my closest friend,” Chic said. “As a kid, I always adored my brother. He was a great athlete, a great baseball player.”
One of his favorite stories, she said, was how he hit a home run out of the ballpark during a state playoff game.
Shortly before he died, Chic said Alan shared a story with her about how he was able to survive on May 4.
“When mom would call us from the basement for breakfast, where we would be playing, Alan said he would pretend he had to dodge bullets,” Chic said. “He would run in a zig-zag pattern.”
Alan would run in that zig-zag pattern around the tree years later at Kent State, Chic said.
“He thinks this may have saved his life.”
Shortly after the 50th anniversary of the May 4 shooting in 2020, Chic Canfora said Alan told her that he was terminally ill and had about six months to live. However, he remained active until shortly before his death.
“He was still sharing things,” his sister told those attending the commemoration. “He was still taking calls, still connecting the dots. He was reading Derf’s book. He read the New York Times cover to cover every day.”
The book referred to is Derf Backderf’s graphic novel “Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio,” which is about the May 4 shootings and the days leading up to it.
“I’m just so proud of the work he did,” Chic Canfora said. “He was always posting things, he was always documenting them. He was always responsive to students, always sent students things. He never said no.”
Alan Canfora especially enjoyed helping students with History Day projects, Chic said. “He just loved that work.”
When he died, his family included his wife, daughter and a newborn son, Chic Canfora said.
“There was one question he could never let go of,” Chic Canfora said during the presentation. “‘Why?’ Why did the National Guard open fire on the protesting students? Why were students seen as the enemy?”
The issue, she added, was not only about violence “but dehumanization.”
However, Chic said Alan leaves a lasting legacy through his work and collection.
“Most of all, his legacy is truth,” she said. “Not just what we leave behind but what we carry forward.”
Alan Canfora’s friend Michael Solomon, class of 1974, established the Alan Canfora Activism Scholarship to honor Alan’s legacy through the support of purposeful and impactful student activism, according to the university. This scholarship provides up to two years of renewable support to Kent Campus incoming freshmen or transfer students who have a demonstrated financial need, a demonstrated interest in social justice and advocacy, and a demonstrated commitment of care and compassion toward others.
Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State University gets collection of Alan Canfora’s May 4 documents
Reporting by April Helms, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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