Harry Nicholas “Nick” Rice (1952-1970) was born to Harry Dollar and Esther "Chris" (Christianson) Rice. Rice grew up in Leawood, Kansas and went to Shawnee Mission South High School and Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, MO. He completed his freshman year at University of Kansas (KU), studying engineering. He was pledged to the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, where he had a reputation as a hard worker and a practical joker.

Amidst protests for civil rights and against the Vietnam War across the United States, students at KU were also lobbying for civil rights locally and against military recruitment on campus. When the KU Student Union was burned by arson in April 1970, Nick Rice was one of the students who received a commendation from the city of Lawrence for helping to put out the fire.

Rice worked at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Leawood, Kansas the summer of 1970. He came to Lawrence the night of July 20th with his girlfriend, who lived near 12th and Oread, and a friend from Kansas City to pay a parking ticket. After Rice was told to mail in the payment, the group went to play pinball at the Rock Chalk Café. People were in the area protesting the police shooting of Rick Dowdell two nights earlier. When police closed the Rock Chalk Café, Rice and his friends went down the street to the Gaslight Tavern to continue playing pinball.

Protesters had turned over a car and shot out a streetlight. According to witnesses, Rice and his girlfriend had gotten into his car to leave the area, but they were looking for Rice’s Kansas City friend. When they saw him, Rice parked and got out to meet him.

A person on the street was trying to start the overturned car on fire, and many reported that police yelled “shoot him.” Police fired. Some say they fired at an angle above the crowd, but Officer Jimmy Joe Stroud admits to shooting at the attempted arsonist with a carbine rifle that he had bought earlier that day.

Stroud missed the person he was aiming for and hit Nick Rice in the back of the neck. Another youth was taken in the same ambulance to the hospital with a bullet wound in the leg. Nick Rice was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

[Information retrieved from collection materials.]