#kalamazoo Videos
John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age
The author of John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age, Brian C. Wilson PhD. presents the remarkable story of lifetime Michigan resident, radio and TV pioneer, and…Recorded 09/12/2019
Categories: Authors @ KPL; Kalamazoo History; Michigan History
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
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
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
How FDR Segregated Kalamazoo
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Downtown Kalamazoo: Then and Now
“Rose Street, South Street and Around the Park” Sharon Ferraro, Kalamazoo’s Historic Preservation Coordinator, presents a peek into Kalamazoo’s past — inside and out of downtown’s historic buildings. Presented at…Recorded 11/14/2013
Categories: Kalamazoo History
Kalamazoo Area Boys in Blue, 1861-1865
John Urschel, archivist, historian and author of the Michigan Boys in Blue series, follows the soldiers of the five most heavily-recruited Civil War regiments from the Kalamazoo area. Presented Wednesday,…Recorded 10/23/2013
Categories: Authors @ KPL; Kalamazoo History
