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.

Video

Audio

The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson

Jeff Pearlman

In a discussion of his definitive biography, bestselling author Jeff Pearlman discusses the life and exploits of one of the greatest athletes in history. Bo Jackson starred in baseball (with the Kansas City Royals) and football, and Nike’s “Bo knows” commercials helped cement him as a cultural icon. A career-shortening injury only fed his legend: What more might he have done?

Learn More »

Tuesday, January 24, 2023 - 6:00pm

Reception:

5:30 pm

Plaza Branch

Venetophilia

Lucille Windsor, Paul Hindemith, Lamar Sims, Robert Gibby Brand

Four acclaimed Kansas City-area performers join a special musical celebration of Venice, Italy, and all who’ve fallen into its incurable thrall over the centuries. The 70-minute program spotlights the works of classical composers and popular songwriters who lived, worked, and played in Venice – from Giuseppe Verdi and Gioachino Rossini to Cole Porter and Noel Coward.

Learn More »

Sunday, January 22, 2023 - 2:00pm

Reception:

1:30 pm

Plaza Branch

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.

Learn More »

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.

Learn More »

Tuesday, January 10, 2023 - 6:00pm

Reception:

5:30 pm

Plaza Branch

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.

Learn More »

Sunday, January 8, 2023 - 2:00pm

Central Library

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.

Learn More »

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.

Learn More »

Tuesday, December 6, 2022 - 6:00pm

Reception:

5:30 pm

Central Library

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.

Learn More »

Thursday, December 1, 2022 - 6:00pm

Reception:

5:30 pm

Plaza Branch

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.

Learn More »

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.

Learn More »