2017-2018 Common Read Learning Activites

For background about the Explosions at the Law Enforcement Center and the Mankato Armory Reserve, read the following sections in Out of Chaos: 

1. Cathy Collier (pp. 63-65)
2. H. Roger Smith (pp. 144-151)
3. Edgar Twedt (pp. 165-168)
4. David Phelps (pp. 106-119)

A. Cathy Collier segment documents three days in May 1972.

1. According to Cathy Collier's segment, on May 8, 1972 what did Nixon do?
   • How did students at Mankato State College respond to Nixon's speech on the evening of May 8?  Please explain.
2. On May 9, 1972 MSC students marched in downtown Mankato.
   • How many protests groups were there and where did the groups go?
   • How did the Mankato community respond?
   • Was anyone hurt in the protests?
   • How did the Centennial Student Union respond when the students returned that evening?

B. On pages 148-149 H. Roger Smith writes about the protests on the Main Street and North Star Bridges.

1. According to Smith, what was the purpose of the bridge protests?
2. What was the response of the people in cars caught in the bridge protests?
3. Because it was warm and most cars did not have air conditioning drivers rolled down their windows.  This allowed the protesters to do what?

C. On pages 109 - 111 David Phelps describes the protests that took place on May 9, 1972.

1. How many student protesters marched from campus to down town Mankato?
2. What was Mitchell Goodman's role in the protest?
3. At what time did the students take control of Highway 169?
4. How many students crossed over the Main Street Bridge into North Mankato?
5. What did law enforcement do to keep the students from spreading?
6. At what time was traffic on Highway 169 moving again?

D. In the May 10, 1972 Mankato State Daily Reporter, look at the photo on the front cover and read the articles on pages 3 and 8.  

1. What is happening in the photo on the front cover?
2. On page 3, in the article "Protesters, police clash," what kind of exchange took place between demonstrators and the people in the stalled cars?
3. On page 3, in the "March blocks bridge, what did the protesters try to do at the Mankato High School?
4. On page 3 is a photo of an injured student.  What happened to him?
5. Who is the man in the picture on page 8 and what is he doing?
6. On page 8, in the "March blocks bridge" section what happened when the student protesters made it back to the Student Union on the upper campus?

E.  On pages 166 and 167 Edger Twedt writes about the "taking over of the bridge."

1. What was the difference between the reactions of the Mankato police chief and the North Mankato sheriff towards the student protesters?
2. What did the police do to get the protesters to leave the bridge?