Acclaimed author and activist Bell Hooks died on Wednesday, December 15. She was 69. Hooks, whose real name was Gloria Jean Watkins, was born on Sept. 25, 1952, in Hopkinsville,…
Beverly Cleary: April 12, 1916–March 25, 2021 Photo By Christina Koci Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle by Getty Images Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, Oregon, and, until she was old enough…
1
KPL TV Videos
No results found for: %2A. Showing results for: %was instead.
Kalamazoo Public Library presents Writers Block, a forum where independently published local writers can tell the world about their work. This edition features Lorenzo Cross, author of The Life and…
419
Articles & Pages
No results found for: %2A. Showing results for: %was instead.
Today’s Kalamazoo brewmasters follow a long line of local brewers and malt makers that reaches back to the early nineteenth century. In fact, the art of crafting fine beers and ales can be traced to Kalamazoo’s earliest days as a frontier village.
Colorful names alone often indicate the history and early settlement of a place. "Jug Corners," "Wakeshma," "Bonnie Castle Lake," "Schoolcraft," "Climax," or for that matter, "Kalamazoo" itself. We're adding new names to the list as we find them.
From an early age, Chester Z. Bronson was at the forefront of American popular entertainment during its most formative years. Though he called Kalamazoo home for much of his adult life, Bronson’s tireless professional career took him on the road...
From an early age, Chester Z. Bronson was at the forefront of American popular entertainment during its most formative years. Though he called Kalamazoo home for much of his adult life, Bronson’s tireless professional career took him on the road...
Few things better illustrate Kalamazoo’s rapid growth during the late nineteenth century than the rise of the city’s carriage industry. By 1887 eighteen firms produced approximately forty seven thousand horse-drawn vehicles sold nationwide. In...
The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO) officially began in 1921 under the shrewd leadership of business manager and president Leta G. Snow, with Chester Z. Bronson directing. But this was not Kalamazoo's first symphony orchestra nor was it Chester...
The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO) officially began in 1921 under the shrewd leadership of business manager and president Leta G. Snow, with Chester Z. Bronson directing. But this was not Kalamazoo's first symphony orchestra nor was it Chester...
Sources and general information about the early schools in Kalamazoo Township (and the village of Kalamazoo), including an 1880 sketch about the township's first schools.
As nineteenth century Victorian charm gave way to twentieth century modern, the phonograph emerged as a compelling new form of home entertainment. The skeptics, of course, refused to take the “talking machine” seriously at first, viewing it more...
As nineteenth century Victorian charm gave way to twentieth century modern, the phonograph emerged as a compelling new form of home entertainment. The skeptics, of course, refused to take the “talking machine” seriously at first, viewing it more...
To say that military and brass bands were popular during the 19th century is like saying the Beatles were popular during the 1960s; military bands were immensely popular in their day. Band music was viewed by most as both patriotic and “proper.”
More than 27 million people — nearly half of the US population at the time — visited the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Yet most of those who attended were probably not aware that they had witnessed the birth of a new art form, which would...
More than 27 million people — nearly half of the US population at the time — visited the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Yet most of those who attended were probably not aware that they had witnessed the birth of a new art form, which would...
The following is a partial list of the origins behind the names of city streets, many of which were named after prominent members of business and politics. As with many…
When did O.H. Gibson arrive in Kalamazoo, and why? Volumes have been written about the Gibson Guitar company and its musical legacy, but less is known about the man behind the name; the musician, the performer, the craftsman, Orville H. Gibson.
When did O.H. Gibson arrive in Kalamazoo, and why? Volumes have been written about the Gibson Guitar company and its musical legacy, but less is known about the man behind the name; the musician, the performer, the craftsman, Orville H. Gibson.
Kalamazoo has a rich history of manufacturing. But long before the stoves, sleds, guitars, and other products that made the city famous, the mills operated by Lovett Eames helped establish the village of Kalamazoo as a manufacturing center.
In Kalamazoo’s earliest days, there were no funeral homes in the sense that we know them, or even “undertakers,” but as the population became more urbanized, other arrangements gradually became necessary.
The Mittenthal name itself has been linked to successful enterprise in the United States since the middle of the nineteenth century. But one branch of the Mittenthal family placed Kalamazoo closer to the popular entertainment limelight than ever...
If you’re under the impression that Kalamazoo has only recently become involved in the sport of professional and semi-professional baseball, think again. Our community’s love affair with America’s favorite pastime dates back to the days before the...
One of the first products made in the village, and the first to bring national attention to Kalamazoo, was of all things, whiskey. From “Enniskillen” to “Luke’s Best,” these are the stories behind Kalamazoo's pioneer distilleries.
Oscar Coleman was an early Kalamazoo resident who helped organize the first “official” village baseball team about 1858. According to Coleman, many of the town’s earliest baseball matches were held in Bronson Park, that is until village president...
By the late 1800s, baseball had become America’s favorite pastime—perhaps the most widely played sport in the country—and it had changed considerably. No longer a casual game reserved for the country club elite, baseball had become a rough and...
“Early Recollections of Kalamazoo County” was originally drafted in the early-to-mid 1930s by Lucien Harding Stoddard, an early resident of Kalamazoo. In 1993, it was discovered and retyped by William…
“Kalamazoo has put on real city garments during the last two or three years. This is evidenced by the tall office buildings – sky-scrapers that have been erected where low ancient buildings once stood.”
The above statement was published in...
Before the days of the big bands; before jazz and ragtime; while military bands ruled street parades and open air concerts, Kalamazoo's many dance orchestras filled nineteenth century assembly halls and ballrooms with the sweet strains of the...
Before the days of the big bands; before jazz and ragtime; while military bands ruled street parades and open air concerts, Kalamazoo’s many dance orchestras filled nineteenth century assembly halls and ballrooms with the sweet strains of the...
After Kalamazoo was organized and chartered in 1829, it took three years before the first Catholic mass was said in the home of Dennis Talbot, who was the first Catholic to settle in this region. He hardly settled in an area that tolerated...
During the 1870s, a local farmer named James Taylor hosted a fall event he called the Annual Harvest Home Festival “Bou-Yah!” in what was known then as Taylor’s Grove, the orchards on the west side of Kalamazoo where Frank Henderson later built...
The First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo is the oldest congregation in the city. The church traces its origins to James T. Robe, a young Methodist circuit rider, who came to Kalamazoo in 1830 as part of a missionary effort known as the...
The Kalamazoo Public Library was one of the first public libraries in the nation to recognize the need for a children’s department. In December 1894, a children’s reading room was opened in the basement of the library...
In 1870 the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad began service through Kalamazoo with a passenger station on the southeast corner of Pitcher Street and East Main, today’s East Michigan Avenue. The presence of this station and the countless out-of-town..
Kalamazoo has long had a strong connection with the production and performance of music. Since the mid-nineteenth century, local, nationally-recognized, and even world-famous instrument makers, educators and performers have actively pursued their...
Kalamazoo has long had a strong connection with the production and performance of music. Since the mid-nineteenth century, local, nationally-recognized, and even world-famous instrument makers, educators and performers have actively pursued their...
The Tyson family was deeply rooted in Kalamazoo County long before Grace Tyson was born. Herbert Tyson (born about 1812) and Elizabeth D. Tyson (born about 1813) maintained a farm in Climax (Pavilion Township, Kalamazoo County) where they raised...
With its large lakeside hotel and "over the water" dance hall, the resort along the south side of Gull Lake called “The Allendale” was tremendously popular during the decades around the turn of the 20th century.
The origins of hospitality on the present site of the Radisson Plaza Hotel date to August 1850 when construction of an imposing four-story brick structure began. Built by Frank Dennison and initially known simply as Dennison’s brick block, the new...
From the final decades of the nineteenth century into the midst of the “roaring twenties,” Grace Tyson, a child actress from Kalamazoo, was to become one of the most popular and respected worldwide stage and vaudeville stars of her time.
27 July 1999 was a bittersweet day in the history of New York City. It was the last day of operation for the only remaining legal Checker cab in that city. The cab’s driver, Earl Johnson, found himself at the center of a media circus as he took...
Pauline Byrd Johnson was many things: an outspoken critic of forced desegregation policies, an active member of the Kalamazoo Republican Party, a tireless advocate for the value of education, and…
The community once known as Williams is now a ghost town in northwestern Kalamazoo County. Williams was a busy rail stop along the Kalamazoo & South Haven Railroad line with more than a hundred inhabitants and an abundance of commercial activity.
On 14 August 1917, Kalamazoo said good bye to Colonel Joseph Westnedge and the 32nd Michigan Regiment with a parade, kisses from mother, and a packet of cigarettes. The city, family and…
In 1999, Anna Whitten received the Women of Achievement Award from the YWCA of Kalamazoo. In their brochure for the event, Whitten was described as “one of the busiest public…
Of all the dance orchestras and concert ensembles that Kalamazoo produced during the 19th century, the Phillips Brothers’ Orchestra was among the busiest… and perhaps the best. Five talented violinists; Joseph, Joshua, Sylvester, Albert and...
Long before the Kalamazoo Growlers, before the Kalamazoo Kings or the Kalamazoo Kodiaks, even before the infamous Kalamazoo Lassies, or crack local teams sponsored by Checker Motors, Gibson, Shakespeare, and the Sutherland Paper Company...
KPL’s Local Information Database combines indexing of local newspapers, magazines, historical photos, and other Local History resources. Library staff add new records to this rich resource of more than one million items every day.
KPL’s Local Organization Directory features 900+ social service agencies, clubs, associations, churches, and other nonprofit organizations in Kalamazoo County. Library staff annually update each organization’s entry.
