Allison Krause
April 23, 1951 – May 4, 1970
“Even when she was in the Bluebirds as a little girl, Allison was the leader of the pack.
She was very pretty, and people took to her. She was also very headstrong, just like her father, who landed in Normandy during the D-Day invasions and went all through Europe. They were two of a kind that way.
When the children were born, we lived in the Cleveland area, and we always enjoyed taking Sunday drives out there. When Allison was applying to colleges, we still had relatives in Cleveland, which meant that at Kent State, Allison would always be close to some family, so she applied and was accepted.”
—Doris Krause, from Jeff Kisseloff’s Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s
“I’m extremely afraid that I’ll be classified as a ‘brain’, ‘egghead’, no
fun, studious girl. I’m lucky enough to get good grades, but believe me that isn’t my only concern. I want to
have a good time at school too.”
—Allison
“When everyone else would go out partying, we would go for long walks just to talk endlessly about everything. I have never met anyone who could read my mind the way she could. Sometimes I would be able to convey a complicated and complete train of thought to her without uttering a word. She used to smile at me and say,
‘I know what you are thinking,’ and she would get it exactly.”
—Barry Levine, from Jeff Kisseloff’s Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s
“She had a way of charming people.
She worked as a volunteer at a home for mentally ill people. She’d talk to patients there, play volleyball with them. One night, she came home so elated because she had gotten this man to talk to her while they were playing ball, and he hadn’t spoken to anyone
in something like fifteen years.”
—Doris Krause, from Jeff Kisseloff’s Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s
“Alienation is common among all people. Many problems develop when communication between people is difficult or non-existent. It is the root of all violent outbreaks, war and all general disharmony.
We live in a world with many fellow human beings and to realize that each person is not entirely alone will make alienation an obsolete human characteristic.”
—Allison
“My daughter Allison was not a radical. She was a feeling, caring person who was against war in Vietnam, Cambodia, Israel, or any other place.
She was not a member of a radical group, but rather acted as an individual, who felt deeply.”
– Arthur Krause
“Dates and facts are not enough to show what happened in the past when you are dealing with people. It is necessary to analyze and delve into the human side of history to come up with the truth.
History must be made relevant to the present to make it useful.”
—Allison