Missouri Humanities

Half the Town Burned: THe Great Wooldridge Fire of 2022
2026-07-14 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Ozark Heritage Research Center, Garnett Library, 128 Garfield Avenue, West Plains, 65775
The presentation gives the background of Wooldridge, Missouri and it’s historic decline. The fire burned half the town in ninety minutes. I present audio recordings of the participants and some of the illustrative videos that show the intensity of the fire. This was the largest fire that some of the most seasoned first responders in the state ever saw. They navigated these challenges of unprecedented situations never seen before in the Midwest.
It also tells the stories of the dozen residents, some of which escaped minutes before fire took their homes. It tracks their lives after the fire up to the one year anniversary. The village has rebuilt some structures in the community, but most struggle after losing everything. It highlights the issue of micro-disasters in the state.

RiverBend Bluegrass
2026-07-16 19:00 - 20:00 | Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, 7400 Grant Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63123, United States
RiverBend is a five-piece bluegrass known for delivering high-energy, heartfelt performances. Rooted deeply in traditional bluegrass, the band blends time-honored
standards with thoughtfully crafted original songs, all driven by authentic instrumentation, tight arrangements, and soaring multi-part harmonies. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket to enjoy this free concert. Outside food and beverages are allowed.

KC Nerd Fest
2026-07-18 09:00 - 18:00 | The Story Loft, 10605 E Winner Rd, Independence, MO, 64052, United States
Hey KC Book Beat community!
We are thrilled to announce KC Nerd Fest — a free, all-ages block party taking over the Englewood Arts District in Independence on Saturday, July 18 from 11 AM to 6 PM.
Here is what to expect:
Cosplay — show up dressed, no gatekeeping
Comics, books, and indie vendors
Tabletop games and trading cards
Food trucks
Raffle with proceeds going directly to the historic Englewood Theatre restoration
Admission is completely free. Come support local creators, grab some raffle tickets for a great cause, and spend the day with your people in one of KC’s coolest neighborhoods.
This event is hosted by KC Book Beat and made possible by our sponsors Finnegan Tax Services and the Englewood Business Association.
Get more info and donate at kcbookbeat.com/nerdfest
See you July 18.

Author Talk: Guerillas in Civil War Missouri
2026-07-18 13:00 - 14:00 | Field House Museum, 634 S Broadway, Saint Louis, MO, 63102, United States
The Field House Museum is pleased to welcome author and historian James Erwin!
James Erwin will speak on his book Guerillas in Civil War Missouri at the Field House Museum, Saturday, July 18th at 1:00pm. As a border state, and one with deeply divided political sentiments, the Civil War was uniquely intimate in Missouri. Besides the 26 large battles fought in the state, Missouri was the setting for countless skirmishes. Citizens and soldiers alike took part in or fell victim to the guerrilla warfare that became a characteristic of Missouri’s Civil War struggle. James Erwin will walk listeners through the key people, places, and engagements of Missouri’s guerilla war.
This program is free with limited availability in person and on Zoom. Reservations must be made in advance on our website, by calling the Museum at 314-421-4689, or by emailing info@fieldhousemuseum.org.
About the Speaker:
Jim Erwin practiced law in St. Louis for 38 years. He is the author or co-author of eight books on various local history subjects, including the Civil War in Missouri, steamboat disasters, and 200 years of notorious crimes in Missouri. His latest book (with his wife Vicki) is Ulysses and Julia Grant’s Missouri Love Story, published by the History Press in 2025.

Author Talk: Webster Groves: A Walk Through History
2026-07-25 10:00 - 11:00 | Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, 7400 Grant Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63123, United States
People drawn to Webster Groves have undoubtedly been struck by the charming old houses
tucked away on those leafy avenues. As the casual observer may suspect, there is history
in those homes! In Webster Groves: A Walk Through History, author Steve Schoenbeck
introduces the stories behind the development of one of St. Louis County’s oldest suburbs,
including the time that Grant’s cabin, Hardscrabble was located on Log Cabin Lane. The
program is free. Call 314-842-1867 ext. 230 for reservations.

Ranger Program: Archaeology Tour
2026-07-26 13:00 - 14:00 | Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, 7400 Grant Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63123, United States
Archaeology uses artifacts to tell a story of what life was like in the past. Join Ranger Blake
for a guided tour of the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site grounds as he uses artifacts
and the landscape to show how archaeology works and what everyday life was like at the
White Haven plantation. The program is free. Call 314-842-1867 ext. 230 for reservations.

Second Sunday- Free Days at the Museum
2026-08-09 10:00 - 16:00, 2026-09-13 10:00 - 16:00, 2026-10-11 10:00 - 16:00, 2026-11-08 10:00 - 16:00, 2026-12-13 10:00 - 16:00, 2027-01-10 10:00 - 16:00, 2027-02-14 10:00 - 16:00 | The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures, 5235 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO 64112, Kansas City, M, 64112, United States
Bring the whole family to Free Days at the Museum. Occurring on every second Sunday of the month, Free Days provide greater access to The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures’ vast and awe-inspiring collections for visitors near and far.
All attendees can explore the Museum at no charge.

Si Siman, the Ozark Jubilee, and Music Business at the Crossroads
2026-08-15 13:00 - 15:00 | Rolling Hills Library, St. Joseph, Missouri
Kitty Ledbetter will tell the story of Si Siman’s role in creating, developing, securing talent for, and co-producing the first continuous live network country music television show in history (and one of the first in color), the Ozark Jubilee. Almost all major country artists appeared on the Jubilee during its run from 1955 to 1960. At its peak, 25 to 30 million viewers watched the show every week, broadcast live from the Jewell Theater in Springfield, Missouri, making Springfield the third largest broadcast origination point behind New York City and Hollywood.

Women in the Archive
2026-08-19 18:00 - 19:00 | Jefferson County Library – Northwest Branch, 5680 Missouri PP, High Ridge, 63049
Dive into the untold stories of remarkable women through short vignettes centered around meaningful objects. Participants are invited to bring their own piece of women’s history, whether a family heirloom or personal memento, and join the discussion on preserving and recovering the often overlooked narratives of women’s lives.

Civil War Camp & Encampment & Bank Raid Reenactment
2026-08-22 10:00 - 15:00 | Felix Valle House, 198 Merchant Street, Ste. Genevieve, MO, 63670, United States
Come join us for a family friendly historic event that is free to public. Civil War displays, list of SG Civil War Soldiers, marching, and camp life from 10am to 3pm. Live music 10:30am Reenactment at 11 am
Event Sponsored by: St. James Camp # 326 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
Located: Felix Valle House 198 Merchant St.

Author Talk: The War for Missouri: 1861-1862
2026-08-22 13:00 - 14:00 | Field House Museum, 634 S Broadway, Saint Louis, MO, 63102, United States
The Field House Museum is pleased to welcome author and historian Joseph McCoskrie.
Author of War for Missouri: 1861-1862 Joseph McCoskrie will walk guests through the history detailed in his book . McCoskrie will reveal the first years of the Civil War in Missouri, a particularly bitter theatre of the American Civil War.
Join us at the Field House Museum Saturday, August 22nd at 1:00 pm to learn about the important people, places and events of the Civil War in our state!
This program is free with limited availability in person and on Zoom. Reservations must be made in advance on our website, by calling the Museum at 314-421-4689, or by emailing info@fieldhousemuseum.org.
About the Speaker:
Joseph McCoskrie is a long time Kansas City, Missouri resident currently living in Fulton, Missouri. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. McCoskrie taught Leadership & Military History for the University of Missouri’s Army ROTC, and has been a Churchill Fellow and tour guide at the National Churchill Museum in Fulton for the past 13 years. McCoskrie’s books include The Civil War Missouri Compendium: Almost Unabridged and War for Missouri: 1861-1862.

Speaker Series: Poetry with Laureate Justin Hamm
2026-09-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Field House Museum, 634 S Broadway, Saint Louis, MO, 63102, United States
The Field House Museum is pleased to welcome Missouri Poet Laureate, Justin Hamm, for a special live performance.
Justin Hamm, named Poet Laureate in 2025, will bring his modern verse to the birthplace and boyhood home of the “Children’s Poet,” Eugene Field. Join us at the Field House Museum to enjoy an afternoon of poetry honoring the form Eugene Field held dear.
This program is free with limited availability in person and on Zoom. Reservations must be made in advance on our website, by calling the Museum at 314-421-4689, or by emailing info@fieldhousemuseum.org.
About the Speaker:
Justin Hamm is the current Missouri Poet Laureate (2025-2027). He is the author of five books of poetry—O Death, Drinking Guinness With the Dead: Poems 2007–2021, The Inheritance, American Ephemeral, and Lessons in Ruin—as well as the creator of Poet Baseball Cards and founding editor of the museum of americana. Justin was chosen as a 2024 and 2022 Woody Guthrie Poet, a 2020 Missouri Arts Council Featured Artist, a finalist for the 2018 River Styx International Poetry Prize, and the winner of the 2014 Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize.
His poems, stories, collages, and reviews have appeared in Nimrod International Journal, The Midwest Quarterly, Sugar House Review, Verse Daily, Southern Indiana Review, the New Poetry from the Midwest anthology series, and many other publications. In 2022 he delivered a performance entitled “The American Midwest: a Story in Poems” at TEDx Oshkosh, and in 2019 his poem “Goodbye, Sancho Panza” was studied by approximately 50,000 students worldwide as part of the World Scholar’s Cup curriculum.

Unseen St. Louis
2026-09-11 12:00 - 13:00 | Jefferson College, 1000 Viking Drive, Hillsboro, 63050
When historians visit the archive, they often find weird, surprising, and fun material that they rarely get to share with others…but that ends here! This event shares the stories of a selection of images and objects from various St. Louis archives that reveal an unknown side of St. Louis history. The presentation is fun, upbeat, and conversational spanning from the nineteenth century to today, from newspapers and magazines to photography and phonograph records.

SECOND ANNUAL FLY WITH THE HIVE HONEY FESTIVAL
2026-09-12 10:00 - 18:00 | Historic Downtown Ste. Genevieve, 245 Merchant Street, Ste. Genevieve, MO, 63670, United States
Come join us in Historic Downtown Ste. Genevieve for the Second Annual Fly with The Hive Honey Festival. There will be honey forging demos and vendors selling honey related items. Live music, vendors, food, snacks and drinks. Kids game activities in the large backyard area. Entertainers dressed in bee themed costumes walking throughout the festival area.

Ste. Genevieve History Conference
2026-09-19 08:30 - 16:30 | Ste. Genevieve American Legion Hall, 2 Park Drive, Ste. Genevieve, MO, 63670, United States
Each Fall, the Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve invites a number of scholars to present on various topics pertaining to Ste. Genevieve and mid-Mississippi valley culture in the colonial era. This all-day conference includes additional events and tours throughout the weekend.

ARCHER ALEXANDER MEMORIAL
2026-09-20 13:00 - 15:00 | St. Peters UCC Cemetery, 2101 Lucas & Hunt, St. Louis, MO, 2101 Lucas and Hunt Road, St. Louis (Normandy), 63121
In 1876, Archer Alexander (1806-1880) became America’s embodiment of the word Emancipation. On the only memorial ever erected by the formerly enslaved to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C. he still rises on the Emancipation Memorial. Though born in Virginia, he would become the last fugitive slave captured in Missouri, a border state under Martial Law during the Civil War. In 1863, he had overheard the area’s Confederate’s planning an attack on a nearby railroad bridge near the Union’s Fort Peruque; and risked his life to report it. He saved hundreds of lives, supplies, the payroll and a vital link for the Union Army by so doing. Then he would lead sixteen men on a run for freedom at Howell’s Ferry on the Underground Railroad. He was granted freedom for his services to the military on September 24, 1863, and is the third great- grandfather of Muhammad Ali. Yet, he is buried in an unmarked grave in St. Louis.
Join us as we commemorate his day of Freedom, on the third Sunday in September, September 20, 2026, at 1:00 pm at the St. Peter’s United Church of Christ Cemetery at 2101 Lucas and Hunt Drive for the annual Memorial Service for Archer Alexander. Both the Howell’s Ferry Crossing and Archer Alexander’s burial are listed on the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, which has over 800 listings across our country, with fourteen listings here in St. Louis. The public is invited and this is a program for all ages, please bring lawn chairs.

OKTOBERFEST
2026-09-26 10:00 - 18:00 | Historic Downtown Ste. Genevieve, 245 Merchant Street, Ste. Genevieve, MO, 63670, United States
Come join us for a fun filled family friendly event in historic downtown Ste. Genevieve September 26th 10am -6pm. The Oktoberfest will feature an Volks Wagen Parade, games, Muny band, vendors, food trucks, games for the kids, and the every popular Wiener Dog Race fun for the young and the old as well. Come join in the fun. Starts at 10am-6pm
