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., 2019-01-21
E.g., 2019-01-21

Backstage Pass

Baron Wolman, Rolling Stone magazine’s first chief photographer, brought America up close and personal with Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, and other iconic rock stars of the 1960s and ’70s. Ben Ahlvers of the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, Kansas, examines his work, which is featured in the Library exhibit Backstage Pass: Baron Wolman and the Early Years of Rolling Stone.
 
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Baron Wolman, Rolling Stone magazine’s first chief photographer, brought America up close and personal with Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, and other iconic rock stars of the 1960s and ’70s. Ben Ahlvers of the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, Kansas, examines his work, which is featured in the Library exhibit Backstage Pass: Baron Wolman and the Early Years of Rolling Stone.
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library
Event Audio

All Because of a Mormon Cow

In a discussion of the new book All Because of a Mormon Cow: Historical Accounts of the Grattan Massacre, 1855-1856, historian Eli Paul recounts the unfortunate encounter that killed a rash young Army officer and 28 of his soldiers at a Lakota encampment near Fort Laramie, Wyoming, in 1854. It ignited the First Sioux War and a generation of fighting on the Great Plains.
 

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In a discussion of the new book All Because of a Mormon Cow: Historical Accounts of the Grattan Massacre, 1855-1856, historian Eli Paul recounts the unfortunate encounter that killed a rash young Army officer and 28 of his soldiers at a Lakota encampment near Fort Laramie, Wyoming, in 1854. It ignited the First Sioux War and a generation of fighting on the Great Plains.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library
Event Audio

Holiday Festival

Start the holiday season with a festival at the Library, overlooking the beautiful Plaza lights. Listen to live music by the trio Tiny Escalators while enjoying a cookie decorating station and hot chocolate bar.
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Start the holiday season with a festival at the Library, overlooking the beautiful Plaza lights. Listen to live music by the trio Tiny Escalators while enjoying a cookie decorating station and hot chocolate bar. Kids can play holiday-themed games and listen to stories. Adults can browse a book swap and get tips on books that make great gifts. And Santa drops in. For all ages.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Program: 
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Plaza Branch

The Polar Express

Friday Night Family Fun

Kick off the holiday season with a great movie on the big screen: 2004’s magical The Polar Express starring Tom Hanks (rated G).

All ages.
 

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Kick off the holiday season with a great movie on the big screen: 2004’s magical, visually stunning The Polar Express starring Tom Hanks (rated G). For all ages.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch

Bright Light Friday

Skip the craziness of Black Friday shopping. Make it a playful “Bright Light Friday” instead.  Sing, dance, and celebrate the start of the Christmas season with Kansas City-based kid rocker and Library favorite Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove.

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Skip the craziness of Black Friday shopping. Make it a playful “Bright Light Friday” instead, singing, dancing, and celebrating the start of the Christmas season with kid rocker Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove. Appropriate for all ages.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Program: 
10:30 am
Plaza Branch

Onward Haskell: The Making of an Indian Nations University

Missouri Valley Sundays

Historian Eric Anderson discusses the tumultuous, yet formative, beginnings of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. It evolved from a government-run boarding school intent on destroying the tribal identity of its students into a leading institution of higher education that celebrated Native culture.
 

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Historian Eric Anderson discusses the tumultuous, yet formative, beginnings of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. It evolved from a government-run boarding school intent on destroying the tribal identity of its students into a leading institution of higher education that celebrated Native culture.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Program: 
2:00 pm
Central Library
Event Audio

Queer Eye: Love Yourself, Love Your Life

Near the end of four months of filming in Kansas City, the Fab Five stars of Netflix’ infectious reality series Queer Eye sit down at the Central Library to discuss their newly released book Queer Eye: Love Yourself, Love Life and reflect on their experiences here.
 
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Near the end of four months of filming in Kansas City, the Fab Five stars of Netflix’ infectious reality series Queer Eye sit down at the Central Library to discuss their newly released book Queer Eye: Love Yourself, Love Life and reflect on their experiences here.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Program: 
7:30 pm
Central Library
Event Videos

The Battle of Tarawa: 'One Square Mile of Hell'

Few military battles have matched the concentrated ferocity of the three-day fight between U.S. and Japanese forces in November 1943 for a sandy sliver of land halfway between Pearl Harbor and the Philippines.

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Military historian Bud Meador of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College discusses the “toughest battle in Marine Corps history,” a three-day fight between American and dug-in Japanese forces in November 1943 for the tiny atoll of Tarawa halfway between Pearl Harbor and the Philippines.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Reception: 
6 pm
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library
Event Audio

Mister Roberts

Script-in-Hand
Commemorating Veterans Day, members of Kansas City’s Equity Actors' Readers' Theatre (EARTh) deliver a script-in-hand performance of one of the most beloved stage and screen treatments of World War II – winner of the 1948 Tony Award for best play.
 
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Commemorating Veterans Day, members of Kansas City’s Equity Actors' Readers' Theatre (EARTh) deliver a script-in-hand performance of one of the most beloved stage and screen treatments of World War II – winner of the 1948 Tony Award for best play.
Monday, November 12, 2018
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch

Remembering World War I

Join us this Veterans Day for a powerful and poignant commemoration of World War I that integrates live music, dance, poetry, and prose.

Presented in partnership with the University of Missouri—Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, the program includes works in a variety of styles and genres by composers who lived through -- and in some cases fought in -- the Great War.
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Sunday, November 11, 2018
Program: 
2:00 pm
Central Library

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