KPL Videos: Kalamazoo History — Kalamazoo Public Library

Celebration of the Life & Legacy of Alma Harrod Powell

In 1978, 11 years after the passing of Alma H. Powell, staff and friends of the Alma Powell Branch designated a week in June to be known as “Alma Harrod…

Recorded 07/22/2019

Categories: Archival Films & Video; Kalamazoo History

Tags: black history; kalamazoo

Historic Preservation 101

Historic preservation has been at work in Kalamazoo for over 50 years. Learn more about how keeping our Kalamazoo heritage has benefited the city and debunk a few myths. Presented…

Recorded 05/08/2019

Categories: Information; Instructional; Kalamazoo History

Tags: architecture; history; kalamazoo

The Kalamazoo Corset Workers Strike

The Kalamazoo Corset Company was one of Kalamazoo’s largest employer in the early decades of the 20th century. The overwhelming majority of its 1000-strong workforce were women. In 1911, the…

Recorded 04/18/2019

Categories: Kalamazoo History; Michigan History

Tags: history; kalamazoo; michigan

A presentation and discussion about the history of redlining, racially restrictive covenants, and segregation in Kalamazoo. Learn how the federal government and the city of Kalamazoo successfully financed white homeownership…

Recorded 10/02/2018

Categories: Kalamazoo History; Timely Topics

Tags: black history; history; kalamazoo; segregation; urban renewal

Red Terror in Kalamazoo

The Shakespeare Company, a leading manufacturer and supplier of fishing equipment and other sporting goods, was founded in Kalamazoo in 1897. Local historian Tom Dietz recounts the surprising story of…

Recorded 05/10/2018

Categories: Kalamazoo History; Michigan History

Tags: business; history; kalamazoo; michigan

Kalamazoo’s Colored School (1861-1871)

Among the many mysteries in Kalamazoo’s history was the existence of a separate school for the community’s African-American children, located on North Street between 1861 and 1871. Lynn Houghton, Regional…

Recorded 02/27/2018

Categories: Authors @ KPL; Kalamazoo History; Timely Topics

Tags: author; black history; education; history; kalamazoo; segregation

Welcome to Kalamazoo, 1917

What was Kalamazoo like 100 years ago, and what was going on around town? With the Kalamazoo Gazette for our time machine, Kalamazoo librarian Ruth Wilson leads the audience through…

Recorded 12/12/2017

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: culture; history

I Remember Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo’s Historic Preservation Coordinator, Sharon Ferraro, working with her 95-year-old dad, retired professional photographer, Lance Ferraro, walk us inside Kalamazoo’s historic facades and sites, with remembrances from the 1920s to…

Recorded 02/23/2017

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: culture; history; kalamazoo

The Library Ladies of Kalamazoo

Authors of the new book “The Library Ladies of Kalamazoo: Their Home and History” tell how they collaborated to create a beautifully designed 220-page pictorial guide of the oldest women’s…

Recorded 09/22/2016

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: architecture; culture; history; kalamazoo; women

The Library Ladies of Kalamazoo

Authors of the new book The Library Ladies of Kalamazoo: Their Home and History tell how they collaborated to create a beautifully designed 220-page pictorial guide of the oldest women’s…

Recorded 09/22/2016

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: culture; education; history; kalamazoo

Fascinating Kalamazoo Women

There are many women in Kalamazoo who have played a role in our history. Lynn Houghton, Regional History Curator at the Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections, and…

Recorded 02/25/2016

Categories: Authors @ KPL; Kalamazoo History

Tags: author; culture; history; women

Farmers and Fast Horses: Harness Racing in Kalamazoo

During the nineteenth century, Kalamazoo was home to some of the fastest trotting tracks in the nation, but this popular sport was not without controversy. Graduate student Rachel Hekman shares…

Recorded 10/08/2015

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: history; kalamazoo

Frank Lloyd Wright in Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo County (MI) boasts one of the largest collections of Usonian Houses in the world. Just after WWII, a group of young scientists from Upjohn worked together to build their…

Recorded 09/24/2015

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: architecture; history; kalamazoo

Westnedge Hill Neighborhood: History & Architecture

Lynn Houghton, regional history curator at Western Michigan University’s Archives and Regional History Collections and co-author of Kalamazoo: Lost and Found, examines the history and architectural styles that are found…

Recorded 05/14/2015

Categories: Authors @ KPL; Kalamazoo History

Tags: architecture; author; history

Westnedge Hill Neighborhood: Everyman’s House

Former homeowner Wendy Mutch presents the story of the five-room Everyman’s House on Westnedge Hill, designed by civic leader Caroline Bartlett Crane, which won the 1924 “Better Homes in America”…

Recorded 05/04/2015

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: architecture; culture; history; kalamazoo; women

Westnedge Hill Neighborhood: Crane Park History and Transformation

Natalie Patchell examines of the history and transformation of Crane Park in the Westnedge Hill neighborhood from an 1880s gravel pit to the park it is today with beautifully designed…

Recorded 04/30/2015

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: culture; history; kalamazoo

Picturing Kalamazoo's Past: Notable Kalamazoo Photographers

Local historian Lynn Houghton looks at more than 100 years of Kalamazoo’s history through the work of six notable photographers: Schuyler Baldwin, Wallace White, Ward Morgan, George and Mamie Austin,…

Recorded 02/23/2015

Categories: Authors @ KPL; Kalamazoo History

Tags: author; history; kalamazoo

Commercial Brewing in Kalamazoo (1837-1915)

Kalamazoo, Michigan’s thriving local brewing trade is rooted in traditions that date back to the earliest decades of the 19th century. From ‘Old Joe’ and Dorothy Burchnall to George Judge’s…

Recorded 09/16/2014

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: beer; business; culture; history; kalamazoo; overdue brew

The Kalamazoo Mall

How did the Kalamazoo Mall come to be — whose idea was it, how did it evolve from its original island oasis design to what it is today? Explore the…

Recorded 05/08/2014

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: architecture; culture; history; kalamazoo

Fountain of the Pioneers in Bronson Park

Bronson Park’s Fountain of The Pioneers artist Alfonso Iannelli worked throughout the United States before and after he designed our fountain complex. Historic preservation consultant Pam O’Connor explores some of…

Recorded 03/18/2014

Categories: Kalamazoo History

Tags: culture; history; kalamazoo

Catalog

Digital Catalog

Additional Resources

By Age

By Location

By Date

By Service

Annual

KPL TV

Kalamazoo History Videos

Celebration of the Life & Legacy of Alma Harrod Powell

Historic Preservation 101

The Kalamazoo Corset Workers Strike

How FDR Segregated Kalamazoo

Red Terror in Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo’s Colored School (1861-1871)

Welcome to Kalamazoo, 1917

I Remember Kalamazoo

The Library Ladies of Kalamazoo

The Library Ladies of Kalamazoo

Fascinating Kalamazoo Women

Farmers and Fast Horses: Harness Racing in Kalamazoo

Frank Lloyd Wright in Kalamazoo

Westnedge Hill Neighborhood: History & Architecture

Westnedge Hill Neighborhood: Everyman’s House

Westnedge Hill Neighborhood: Crane Park History and Transformation

Picturing Kalamazoo's Past: Notable Kalamazoo Photographers

Commercial Brewing in Kalamazoo (1837-1915)

The Kalamazoo Mall

Fountain of the Pioneers in Bronson Park