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
E.g., 2023/03/31
E.g., 2023/03/31

Why We Love Rom-Coms: 'Silver Linings Playbook'

John Whipple, Beck Ireland
Searching the Psyche Through Cinema

The annual Searching the Psyche Through Cinema series, which looks to the arts to illuminate our understanding of ourselves, returns in partnership with the Greater Kansas City-Topeka Psychoanalytic Center. Leading off: a screening of Silver Linings Playbook (2012, R, 122 min.) and discussion led by psychoanalyst John Whipple and film critic Beck Ireland.

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still from the movie 'Silver Linings Playbook'
Sunday, January 15, 2023 - 1:30pm
Plaza Branch

Bread for My Enemies: Feeding Germany in the Wake of World War II

David W. Mills

In the launch of a new series, Turning Points, in partnership with the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, military historian David W. Mills looks at America’s decision to provide desperately needed food relief to vanquished Germans at the end of World War II. It eventually turned Germany into a close ally, which it remains to this day.

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gathering of people with sign displaying the word "hunger"
Tuesday, January 10, 2023 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Plaza Branch
Event Videos

Stories of the 1900 Convention Hall Fire

LaDene Morton
Missouri Valley Sundays

Drawing from her KC 1900 blog series, local author and historian LaDene Morton details how Kansas City rallied from a devastating setback – a fire in April 1900 that destroyed the grand new convention hall set to house the Democratic National Convention. It was rebuilt in time to welcome 11,000 delegates and spectators at the convention’s opening three months later, on July 4.

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convention hall with large crowd
Sunday, January 8, 2023 - 2:00pm
Central Library
Event Audio

Hollywood vs. History: 'The Last Samurai'

Christopher R. Johnson
Hollywood vs. History

Military historian Christopher Johnson assesses the 2003 film The Last Samurai – starring Tom Cruise – and its depiction of social, political, and military transition in Japan in the 1870s in the latest installment of the Library’s Hollywood vs. History series in partnership with the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

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'Last Samurai' movie poster
Monday, December 12, 2022 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Plaza Branch

Unique Eats and Eateries of Kansas City

Matt Stewart

Think barbecue is all Kansas City has to offer? Matt Stewart says that’s far, far from true. The Fox4 News reporter discusses his new book Unique Eats and Eateries of Kansas City with the Library’s Anne Kniggendorf, exploring a few of the 86 best – and most unusual – dishes and restaurants the city has to offer.

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bbq beneath blue awning
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Central Library
Event Audio

The Education of Corporal John Musgrave: Vietnam and Its Aftermath

John Musgrave

John Musgrave has been candid about his Vietnam War experiences and related struggles, notably as a featured voice in Ken Burns’ documentary series The Vietnam War and most recently in an acclaimed memoir, The Education of Corporal John Musgrave. In a special Library event, the Independence native discusses the book and his life during and since the war.

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'Education of Corporal John Musgrave' book cover
Thursday, December 1, 2022 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Plaza Branch
Event Videos

Writers for Readers 2022: An Evening With Alexander Chee

Alexander Chee, Whitney Terrell, V.V. Ganeshananthan
Writers for Readers

Writers for Readers returns with a special lineup featuring celebrated author Alexander Chee and the announcement of the winner of the second annual Maya Angelou Book Award. Proceeds from this fundraising event go in part to support the award and benefit an ongoing partnership between the Kansas City Public Library and UMKC's MFA Program in Creative Writing, enabling graduate students to teach writing classes at the Library.
 

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pencil between open book pages on purple background
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 - 6:00pm
Offsite Locations

Hollywood vs. History: 'Black Hawk Down'

Dirk Ringgenberg
Hollywood vs. History

Military historian Dirk Ringgenberg assesses the historical accuracy of the 2001 film Black Hawk Down, which depicts the horrific battle that erupted when U.S. forces attempted to capture two lieutenants of a notorious Somali warlord in 1993. The presentation is part of the Hollywood vs. History series in partnership with the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

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'Black Hawk Down' movie poster
Monday, November 14, 2022 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Plaza Branch
Event Videos

Women of Note in Shakespeare and Song

Bach Aria Soloists, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival

In a special Library event, Kansas City’s Bach Aria Soloists and performers with the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival meld scenes spotlighting some of Shakespeare’s most formidable women with the music of trailblazing female composers – from Italy’s Barbara Strozzi to Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, the first woman to compose an opera in France.

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renaissance woman
Saturday, November 12, 2022 - 7:00pm
Plaza Branch
Event at Capacity

Service Under Stress: Nursing in the Era of COVID-19

Patrick Robinson

From physical risk to psychological strain, the COVID-19 pandemic has weighed heavily on our nation’s health care workforce for more than 2½ years. Patrick Robinson, president of Kansas City’s Research College of Nursing, joins a panel of nurses in examining those burdens and the ongoing impact of the outbreak on frontline medical staff – nurses in particular.
 

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Wednesday, November 9, 2022 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Central Library
Event Videos

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