The Girl in the Kent State Photo

"Last May, when Mary Ann Vecchio watched the video of George Floyd’s dying moments, she felt herself plummet through time and space—to a day almost exactly 50 years earlier. On that afternoon in 1970, the world was just as riveted by an image that showed the life draining out of a young man on the ground, this one a black-and-white still photo. Mary Ann was at the center of that photo, her arms raised in anguish, begging for help.

"That photo, of her kneeling over the body of Kent State University student Jeffrey Miller, is one of the most important images of the 20th century. Taken by student photographer John Filo, it captures Mary Ann’s raw grief and disbelief at the realization that the nation’s soldiers had just fired at its own children. The Kent State Pietà, as it’s sometimes called, is one of those rare photos that fundamentally changed the way we see ourselves and the world around us...."

Keep reading at WashingtonPost.com

I don't know if you'll be able to see this or if it will be behind a paywall for you. I hope the former. It's a fascinating article. By Patricia McCormick in the Washington Post Magazine, April 19th, 2021.

Articles like this take us back to first principles, by reminding us of the power and depth single images can have in the culture—and, in this case, of the sometimes sinister influence they might have in the lives of those photographed. "That picture hijacked my life," Mary Ann Vecchio said. She blames an Indianapolis Star reporter who turned her in to authorities.

A telling comment: "I'm a living person, and I'm in a history book!" Mary Ann says at one point. And, but for that picture, "I might have stayed anonymous forever."

If you can't see the article, you can see the picture here. (Again, I hope you can. I don't have a subscription to TIME.com and I can see it.)

The student photographer who took the picture, John Filo, is now head of photography for CBS. The article also describes the effect the photo had on him and his life. For example, he felt very guilty when he realized Mary Ann was not a student protester at all but merely a 14-year-old runaway who happened to be passing through the area. She had met the dead boy, Jeffrey Miller, only 25 minutes earlier. The article recounts John and Mary Ann's emotional eventual meeting.

Thanks to Scott Kirkpatrick for alerting me to this. You might remember Scott from this post.

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Rene: "This murder and those of the other victims at Kent State and Jackson State in Mississippi on May 15th had a profound effect on my life. I was a 25-year-old graduate student at a state university in a conservative state. As the only graduate who went out on strike at my university as part of the national student strike, I tended to stand out. Within days I was purged from the university and 'strongly advised' by the State Police who came to my home to leave the state. Discretion being the better part of valor as they say, I left within a day or two; my decrepit old Volkswagen bug just making it out to a more liberal city in another state before collapsing.

"It all turned out well in the long run (I'm now 75) but it changed the course of my life and took it in directions and to places I never would have imagined. It's part of the journey that led me to photography."

Douglas Howk: "Being a Kent State alumni (class of '68), I was invited to a fundraiser at Ted Kennedy's home in McLean, VA. Most of us were still in shock at what happened, but we remembered the animosity of the Kent townsfolk toward us students. Being both anti-war and a veteran (Army, '65), I could sense the hatred of a polarized nation. Sounds familiar."

Phil: "Thanks Mike. That's an incisive lesson: to contemplate the effects of a photo on both the person who took it and especially the people in the photo. It's something that all us street photographers should stop and think about, once in a while since, by definition, we're snapping pictures of people who didn't choose to be in our photos.

"I was 10 years old when the Kent State massacre took place. I don't really remember it at the time. But I do remember that summer, during our family trailer trip across Canada, somewhere in the prairies the CSN&Y song 'Ohio' came on the radio from some local radio station and my older brother and I stopped and listened raptly. I've always remembered that moment. My parents weren't keen on that 'hippy music' but my brother pointed out that this was protesting when the students were shot and my parents both stopped and listened with somber attention. That moment certainly was one of those inflection-points one has as a kid."

albert erickson: "I am a Kent graduate class of 1970. Yes I was on campus that day. It was my last day of undergraduate school. I was not directly apart of the demonstrations but nonetheless it affected my life more than I would ever realize at the time. I was commissioned a second lieutenant a month later as a result of completion of Army ROTC and faced with a decision about Viet Nam. Fortunately I never had to make that choice but was assigned stateside. I hold a place in my heart for Kent and those who were a part of that demonstration and following events. To this day I sit on a board at the University and make several trips a year back to the school. That day and those events were a large part of who I am today. Thanks for mentioning this today."

Comments

[Richard Man]

That's one of the photos that moved me into thinking about being a photographer. Of course I became a software guy, got married, kids etc. so that never came to be.

[Michael Matthews]

Listen to the vitriol spewed toward her 50 years ago and note that the same level of hatred still circles the country today, just waiting for its next target.

[Eric Rose]

The university murders at the hands of the authorities plus the DNC riot/beatings again sanctioned by the authorities forever changed my view of America and government authority.

[c.d.embrey]

Another photo that changed the world. Phan Thị Kim Phúc, is the nine year old child shown in this Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by AP photographer Nick Ut during the Vietnam War (June 8, 1972).

War is never safe-for-work! https://media.cbs8.com/assets/KFMB/images/209c6a88-f246-476f-a329-512a01cadb66/209c6a88-f246-476f-a329-512a01cadb66_750x422.jpg

Pete Seeger got-it-right in 1955.
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn

[Dave]

Mike,

What a terrific article! Thanks for featuring that link.

I don't know how Mary Ann withstood all that pressure, especially at such a young age. A powerful story indeed.

Incidentally, Alan Canfora, whose determination helped to keep the memory of May 4th from being "boring ancient history", recently passed away. He had been shot in the wrist on May 4th.

(You've probably seen the photo with Alan C. waving the black flag.)

(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/16/us/alan-canfora-dead.html)

As my cousins knew Alan Canfora, he stopped at the calling hours when my aunt died.

(By the way, I've never heard of the photo being called the "Kent State Pietà, despite living my whole life in northeast Ohio. I'm not sure where the reporter heard that fact; apparently somewhere.)

[Bob G.]

As a junior design and photography major at PCA in Philly during the Kent State incident, we were all very much aware of it and donated our graduation fees to the Kent State memorial when we graduated in ‘72. And, possibly because of that photo and other notable ones in that time period, I always seemed to be over sensitive when taking street shots. But I always hoped to have the courage to make the right shot at the right time that could make a beneficial difference. Nowadays it’s so much easier to make that happen with the smartphones we carry...

[Chris Y]

Bless Mary Ann, John, and all of us survivors of those years for having come this far down the road...

[Richard Alton]

Thank you for the post and the link, Mike. I knew that I had seen the picture before. 'Pictures on a page' - by Harold Evans - shows how it was used in the British press and he comments intelligently on the various ways that it was cropped. Mary Ann's story gave me pause for thought.