Signature Event Archive

Search the Signature Event Archive to discover past Library events. Watch videos, hear speaker interviews, and listen to audio recordings of previous presentations. Search by keyword (event title, subject, or presenter name), location or by date range.
Signature Event Video Video Signature Event Audio Audio Signature Event Interview Interviews
E.g., 2019/06/26
E.g., 2019/06/26

The Road to Abilene

Tim Rives, supervisory archivist and deputy director of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, and Curator William Snyder look at the multi-million-dollar redesign of the museum in Abilene and lead an interactive discussion of the function and importance of presidential libraries there and across America.
 
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Tim Rives, supervisory archivist and deputy director of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, and Curator William Snyder look at the multi-million-dollar redesign of the museum in Abilene and lead an interactive discussion of the function and importance of presidential libraries there and across America.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Reception: 
6 pm
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library
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Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much for Health Care

The U.S. spends far more than other developed nations on health care—a projected $3.8 trillion this year—yet lags in performance and customer satisfaction. Latest polling showed that 70 percent of respondents see our system “in  a state of crisis” or having “major problems,” with cost and dysfunction among the major issues.

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David Hyman, who directs the University of Illinois’ Epstein Program in Health Law and Policy, and University of Texas law professor Charles Silver examine the flaws of – and remedies for – our high-dollar health care system in a discussion of their book Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much for Health Care.
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Reception: 
6 pm
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library
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Kansas City's Guadalupe Centers: A Century of Serving the Latino Community

Missouri Valley Sundays

Mexican immigrants who settled in Kansas City’s westside community in the early 1900s faced discrimination, poverty, and a lack of social services. In response in 1919, the Guadalupe Center became one of the nation’s first social service agencies for Latinos.

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Marking the centennial of the founding of Kansas City’s westside Guadalupe Center, scholars Sandra Enríquez, Valerie Mendoza, and Theresa Torres discuss the social, cultural, and educational contributions of one of the nation’s first social service agencies for Latinos.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Program: 
2:00 pm
Central Library
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Event Audio

Spaceballs (1987)

2019 Off-the-Wall Film Series: Well (Multi)versed
The fate of the galaxy is at stake in Mel Brooks’ classic Star Wars parody. Reluctant hero Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) teams up with trusty sidekick Barf (John Candy), Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga), and robot Dot Matrix (Joan Rivers) to fight the ineptly evil forces of Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis). May the Schwartz be with them.

Doors open: 8 p.m.  •  Program: 8:45 p.m.
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The Library launches a new series of summer rooftop film screenings with Mel Brooks’ classic Star Wars parody Spaceballs (1987, PG, 96 min.). Pitch a blanket or folding chair. There’s free popcorn, and you can sample local brews courtesy of KC Bier Co.
Friday, May 17, 2019
Program: 
8:00 pm
Central Library
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This Is Kansas City

Friday Night Family Fun

What makes Kansas City such a special place to live? Local children’s author Angela Kmeck helps you explore what you love about your hometown in a discussion of her colorful board book This Is Kansas City.

Appropriate for all ages.
 

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What makes Kansas City such a special place to live? Local children’s author Angela Kmeck helps you explore what you love about your hometown in a discussion of her colorful board book This Is Kansas City.
Friday, May 17, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
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Gender and Sexuality: How Medieval Are We Still?

Valiant knights. Chaste virgins. Bawdy widows. Our notions of gender and sexuality in the Middle Ages tend to come from Hollywood and the History Channel. But are they accurate?

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Our notions of gender and sexuality in the Middle Ages tend to come from Hollywood and the History Channel. But are they accurate? Three medieval scholars from the University of Missouri-Kansas City discuss their findings in the final installment of a series exploring connections between contemporary issues and Middle Age concepts of race, gender and identity.
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
Event Audio

Becoming American: Immigration and Popular Culture

The Library concludes its examination of immigration in America with a look at pop culture’s role in the assimilation of newcomers to our country—and how they, in turn, have transformed American culture.

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The Library concludes its examination of immigration in America with a look at pop culture’s role in the assimilation of newcomers to our country – and their contributions to our culture in return. The event features a screening of the documentary The Search for General Tso. University of Missouri-Kansas City historian Sandra Enriquez leads a subsequent discussion.
Monday, May 13, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare’s seminal play? It’s difficult if not impossible to choose among the Bard’s many masterpieces, but Romeo and Juliet makes just about every short list of contenders. It’s one of his two most-performed pieces (with A Midsummer Night’s Dream), especially popular in the U.S.

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Kansas City’s Heart of America Shakespeare Festival delivers a script-in-hand reading of the famously tragic tale of teen lovers irresistibly drawn to each other despite an ancient feud between their families.
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Program: 
2:00 pm
Plaza Branch

Courting Mr. Lincoln

We’re well acquainted with Abraham Lincoln the country lawyer, the principled statesman, the revered martyr. In a discussion of his new historical novel Courting Mr. Lincoln, author Louis Bayard fleshes out the personal side of our 16th president—through the eyes of the two people who knew him best, spirited young debutante and wife-to-be Mary Todd and handsome, charming roommate and confidant Joshua Speed. Bayard sits down with Washington Post columnist David Von Drehle.
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In a discussion of his new historical novel Courting Mr. Lincoln, author Louis Bayard fleshes out the personal side of our 16th president through the eyes of the two people who knew him best – spirited young debutante and wife-to-be Mary Todd and handsome, charming roommate and confidant Joshua Speed.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
Event Audio

America Meets the Middle East

Our country’s deep (and fitful) involvement in the Middle East traces to World War II, when the U.S. came to Britain’s assistance in North Africa, transported millions of tons of material across Iran in support of the Soviet Union, and protected the movement of critical oil across the Mediterranean Sea and through the Suez Canal.
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Military historian Brian Steed of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College continues a yearlong series focusing on the Middle East, discussing the evolution of America’s role as protector in the region.
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Reception: 
6 pm
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library
Event Audio

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