THE FINAL TOLL- A September 1970 Lantern article tallied the damages from the spring unrest. Damages to campus buildings totaled $108,000 ($590,000 in 2009 dollars). Damages on High Street were at least $20,000 ($110,000) but probably much more.
To quell the riots and restore order, the university spent $576,000 ($3.1 million) for the National Guard, $205,000 ($1.1 million) for Highway Patrolmen, $20,000 ($110,000) for Franklin County sheriff's deputies, and $500,000 ($2.7 million) for additional security personnel. City police saw $10,000 ($55,000) in damage to 50 vehicles, $234,000 ($1.3 million) in policing costs, and $48,000 ($262,000) for ammunition, tear gas, equipment, food, etc. Like the Guard and Patrol costs, these were ultimately borne by the university.
Nearly 850 people were arrested, most for curfew violations and trespassing. Curfew violators faced $50 fines and the possibility of up to 10 days in the workhouse. Offenders convicted of more violent acts were sentenced to fines of $1,000 and a year in prison. While the university overlooked minor infractions, students guilty of serious offenses were expelled.
Roughly 100 students and protesters were injured seriously enough to seek medical attention, about a half-dozen with gunshot wounds, a few with burns. 64 Columbus police officers were injured. Most injuries were minor but 18 officers were out for a couple days to a week. About 200 Franklin County sheriff's deputies, Highway Patrolmen, and National Guardsmen were injured. |
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AFTERMATH
The riots didn’t stop at the end of Spring Quarter. Though they would never again reach the scale of the events of April 29 and 30, groups of a few hundred radicals, drunks, and troublemakers continued to create problems for years to come.
Rioting recurred throughout the early Seventies. In June 1970, radicals attacked the ROTC building. Drunken students celebrating Ohio State’s victory over Michigan rioted and fought police in November 1970. Trouble broke out again in the spring of 1971. In November 1971, a riot broke out in response to the arrest of a suspected drug dealer. Rioters smashed all the windows in a High Street fast food restaurant and then attacked police when they responded. In May 1972, radicals lead another assault on the ROTC Building. Riots became so common that caches of rocks, bottles, and bricks were hidden around campus and the neighborhoods for use when one broke out.
The effect of the riots on the University District neighborhoods was profound and negative. The trouble raised insurance rates for property in the district, taking money that could be used for repairs and maintenance. The trouble lowered property values, discouraging investment. The vandalism, window-smashing, and looting chased away businesses.
The violence helped drive out many of the few remaining homeowners. For families who had endured overcrowding, noise, squalor, and sky-rocketing crime, the riots were the last straw. It was time to get out.
The riots created a perception of lawlessness in the campus neighborhoods, drawing in a criminal element. Thieves, robbers, burglars, rapists, and drug-dealers flocked to the area to prey on students in what they perceived as an "anything goes" environment. The students hated the police and the police didn't like the students. Students hesitated to report crimes and didn't cooperate in investigations. Public safety suffered.
The riots created a general disregard for the neighborhoods. Graffiti and vandalism were tolerated as acts against "the man." Slumlords justified their ill-maintained older properties and ugly apartment boxes by insisting the students would just destroy anything decent. The people of Columbus loathed the students after the riots and there was little enthusiasm for using tax dollars to improve the area. “The ungrateful brats’ll just tear it up anyway” went the reasoning. Beyond that, many average Ohioans wanted to see students (and by extension the neighborhoods they lived in) punished for the riots.
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The riots gave rise to the idea: "That's campus." The neighborhoods came to be viewed as overcrowded, lawless, loud, crime-ridden, and squalid. It was seen as a playground for 18-24 year olds to run wild in. Conditions and behaviors that wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else in the city were allowed there. This state of urban decay was viewed as natural and unchangeable. "That's campus."
Only in the past fifteen years has the district has begun to climb out of this hole. |
SOURCES AND CREDITS- Chaotic events like The 1970 Riots are difficult to give a full account of--especially 40 years after the fact. So much was happening on so many fronts to so many people all at the same time that it's hard to construct a narrative that catches it all. Another challenge is that the events of spring 1970 were politically charged and remain so to this day. Reporting of the events reflects ideological and institutional perspectives
My sources included:
Contemporary coverage in The Columbus Dispatch, The Columbus Citizen-Journal, and The Ohio State Lantern from April 24 to June 1, 1970
Division of Police, Columbus, Ohio, The university riot: a brief report of the events that occurred April 29 through May 29, 1970 (June 26, 1970)
Dick Mall, "Diary of a Dilemma," Ohio State University Monthly, June 1970
The Spring Events at Ohio State: A Report of the Committee of Inquiry to the Faculty Council, The Ohio State University (November 10, 1970)
I know; they're all "establishment" sources. The other side of the struggle didn't leave a paper trail that's readily accessible 50 years later. If anybody who was involved in the riots is reading this and wants to share their experiences, I'd love to include them. Please e-mail me at: blknyan@yahoo.com .
I used dramatizations for the photos in this article. I was 5 when all this happened so I don't have any photos. The newspapers have photos but I don't have the rights to reproduce them. Besides, most of the photos I've seen aren't very interesting, just crowds of people standing around and Guardsmen lined up with guns. I've tried to be as faithful as possible to the known historic facts. Photo credits to Susan Long. AEL-K was prop mistress. Thanks to actors/models Leeta and Scooter!
One more thing: The Ohio State University Libraries have an on-line exhibit Spring of Dissent: the 1970 Student Demonstrations. Give it a look for lots of photos (small ones unfortunately), flyers, and hand-outs from the period. |
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