From The Daily:

May 4, 1954

In the story “University Poet, Roethke, Given Pulitzer Prize,” The Daily reported that Theodore Roethke, a professor in the UW’s English department, had won the 1954 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for his collection, The Waking. Among Roethke’s other awards were two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Levinson Prize and various other grants and fellowships.

May 7, 1975

In an article titled “Art building ‘strung up’ by art student,” The Daily reported that Roland Crawford created a “sculpture” using Boeing construction tape and the Art Building.

Crawford cited as inspiration the fact that when he walked by the Music Building he always heard music coming out, but when he walked by the Art Building, there was no art flowing out.

“So I decided to create something visual coming out of the Art Building,” he said.

The Daily reported that it looked like “the aftermath of some bizarre human-spider battle.”

The sculpture comprised a number of strands of the tape coming down from the Art Building onto the Quad.

May 8, 1998

On this day, The Daily reported that Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug hosted a gymnastics clinic at Hec Edmunson Pavilion. The clinic was attended by 40 6- to 13-year-olds, and Strug said that many of them demonstrated a great deal of promise. In 1996, Strug had helped the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team capture the gold by completing a vault despite an injured ankle.

Source: The Daily archives

Around the World:

May 4, 1970

Twenty-eight National Guardsmen open fire at the Kent State University Campus, shooting at a group of antiwar protestors. Among the casualties were four dead, eight wounded and one permanently paralyzed. The troops had been called in to suppress student riots over the Vietnam War and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.

Despite a ban on protests, 2,000 students had gathered on campus on the morning of May 4. After being told to disperse, tear-gassed and advanced upon by soldiers with bayonets, some of the protestors began throwing rocks at and taunting the Guardsmen. Moments later, the soldiers fired. All the Guardsmen were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.

May 5, 1961

Navy Cmdr. Alan Shepard becomes the first American astronaut in space, traveling aboard the space capsule Freedom 7. The flight, which peaked at 116 miles above the Earth and lasted for 15 minutes, was a major triumph for U.S. space efforts and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

May 10, 1863

Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Robert E. Lee’s most trusted corps commander, dies of pneumonia. The pneumonia was a complication of the amputation of Jackson’s arm as a result of friendly fire. Jackson had served the Confederate Army with distinction since the breakout of the war, despite his humble beginnings. Jackson, a devout Presbyterian, had wished to die on the Sabbath (Sunday), and his wish was granted. His last words were reported to be, “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”

SOURCE: HISTORY.COM/THIS-DAY-IN-HISTORY

Reach features editor Randy Ferreiro at features@dailyuw.com.