Allison Krause

Allison Beth Krause (; April 23, 1951 – May 4, 1970) was one of four unarmed Kent State University students shot and killed by soldiers of the Ohio Army National Guard in the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings in Kent, Ohio. The shootings occurred as students protested against both the invasion of Cambodia and the National Guard presence on campus.

Krause—an ardent anti-war activist—was shot in the left side of her chest from a distance of approximately . A subsequent autopsy found that a single bullet entered and exited her upper left arm before entering her left lateral chest, fragmenting on impact and causing extensive internal injuries to her chest and stomach. She died from her wounds before reaching the hospital.

The day prior to her death, Krause observed a single lilac within the barrel of the gun of a guardsman on the campus of Kent State University; upon hearing an officer order the guardsman to remove the flower, she caught the flower as it fell to the ground, stating, "Flowers are better than bullets." This quote—inscribed upon Krause's gravestone—has become synonymous with Krause's legacy of peace activism.

Early life Krause was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 23, 1951, the first child born to Doris Lillian (née Levine) and Arthur Selwyn Krause. She had a younger sister, Laurel (b. 1954). Krause was Jewish. She was an alumna of John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, although Krause's parents and younger sister moved to Churchill, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1969.

The Krause family regularly undertook day trips throughout the sisters' childhood and teenage years. One of these locations was to Kent, Ohio, where the family typically dined at a restaurant overlooking the university campus. Reportedly, Krause resolved to attend the university upon her graduation due to these day trips, informing her mother: "You know, Mom, I'd like to come to school here when I'm old enough."

Krause grew into a tall young woman with high cheekbones, thick, dark hair and brown eyes. Although fashionable, she seldom wore makeup, and her features led some to believe she was of Mediterranean ancestry. Krause typically devoted her free time to solitary pursuits such as drawing, painting, reading, and sculpting. By her late teens, she had also developed an interest in contemporary domestic and global issues in addition to politics and civil rights. Krause graduated with honors from John F. Kennedy High School in 1969. She briefly worked within the lingerie department of a Joseph Horne department store in Monroeville before enrolling at Kent State University (KSU),

While attending KSU, Krause became acquainted with a student named Barry Levine. The two began dating and became almost inseparable.

Political climate By the late 1960s, many young Americans had a negative attitude towards the country's involvement in the Vietnam War and the issue of conscription. These anti-war sentiments were keenly felt among the student population at KSU, and Krause and Levine were active and vocal demonstrators in several student protests. Via both her protesting statements and actions while enrolled at KSU, Krause expressed her belief in the civil right to protest but to not engage in violence. She also attended the second Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam demonstration in Washington, D.C. in November 1969.

By early 1970, Krause had become disillusioned with the climate at KSU. She is known to have informed her parents and younger sister during a family visit on her 19th birthday that she found the atmosphere on campus both stifling and regimented. She is also known to have discussed her long-term ambition to relocate to Canada with Levine following their graduation, to which he was amenable.

The weekend of May 2–3 saw further disruption upon and around the university campus, including beer glasses thrown at police cars, students forming a human chain on Walter Street, blocking traffic and asking drivers their opinion of the Vietnam War, and approximately $10,000 worth of damage inflicted with acts of vandalism, looting, and arson.

Flowers versus bullets conversation That afternoon, Krause and Levine specifically sought to converse with several guardsmen. Reportedly, upon seeing a lone guardsman standing with a lilac sprouting from his gun, Krause tugged her boyfriend by the arm in a gesture for the two to engage in conversation with this particular soldier—according to some sources, he was a student at the University of Akron who explained his unit was unable to leave the campus. (According to a May 18, 1970 Time article, several of the lower-ranking guardsmen deployed to KSU in May 1970 had only enlisted to avoid conscription and potential deployment to Vietnam.) She then added: "Flowers are better than bullets." Approximately 1,000 other individuals were gathered upon a hill behind these demonstrators. One student delivered a short speech, several chanted anti-war slogans, some protesters carried flags, and others may have carried rocks and stones in anticipation of confrontation.

At 11:50 a.m., the first military jeep carrying members of the Ohio National Guard and a campus policeman arrived to confront the demonstrators. Among those who spoke at Krause's funeral was a former high school teacher of hers, who concluded his eulogy by stating: "In her own quiet way, she symbolized the best in young people."

The Kent State shootings led to widespread protests and a significant increase in participants of the 1970 student strike, which had begun on May 1, and ultimately saw an estimated four million nationwide student participants. Over 150 universities either closed due to the strike or in solidarity and 100,000 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C. against the war on May 9. The Kent State campus remained closed for six weeks.

Many journalists and editors were bitterly critical of the actions of the National Guard. An article within Time magazine, printed one week after the shootings, described the events at Kent State thus: "When National Guardsmen fired indiscriminately into a crowd of unarmed civilians, killing four students, the bullets wounded the nation."

Although a grand jury subsequently indicted eight members of the Ohio Army National Guard in relation to their actions on May 4, 1970, U.S. District Judge Frank J. Battisti dismissed the charges against all eight individuals in November 1974, stating: "The government [has] not shown that the defendants had shot students with an intent to deprive them of specific civil rights." No member of the National Guard was ever convicted in relation to the Kent State shootings.

Krause's father, Arthur, became one of the most outspoken advocates for the truth surrounding the Kent State shootings to be revealed and justice for the wounded and bereaved. He fought a legal battle for almost ten years following the murder of his daughter and both he and other families of the deceased and wounded ultimately filed a $20 million civil lawsuit against the National Guard.

Via an out-of-court settlement on January 4, 1979, the State of Ohio issued an official 'Statement of Regret' regarding the Kent State shootings and agreed to pay the families of the slain and wounded students $675,000. The families accepted this settlement—primarily in order to assist the wounded students in paying their medical bills. The Krause family received $15,000 for the loss of their daughter and sister. The tribunal was organized to uncover, record, and preserve the personal testimonies of witnesses, participants, and meaningfully involved individuals with regard to the Kent State shootings.One of the individuals to share his account of the May 1970 events at KSU for the KSTT in the year of the tribunal's founding was the guardsman whom Krause and Levine had observed with a single lilac sprouting from his barrel of his gun the day prior to her death and who had partly inspired Krause's memorable quote: "Flowers are better than bullets." The 1981 docudrama Kent State is directly based on the Kent State shootings. Directed by James Goldstone, this 120-minute docudrama stars Jane Fleiss as Allison Krause. The Emmy Award–winning documentary Kent State: The Day The War Came Home was released in May 2000. Directed by Chris Triffo, this 47-minute documentary features interviews with several of the students injured on May 4 in addition to eyewitnesses and former guardsmen. Fire In the Heartland: The Kent State Story (2020), directed by Daniel Miller, is a 90-minute documentary outlining the events leading to and immediately following the Kent State shootings in addition to the contemporary social climate of America. Several students present upon campus on May 4 are among those interviewed. The television miniseries 13 Seconds in Kent State was released in 2021. Written and directed by Lance Nielsen, this five-part series casts Nadia Lamin as Allison Krause and contains archive footage and imagery pertaining to the events of May 4.