What did people think of the Missouri region when they first arrived around the time of its statehood? Thanks to letters, diaries, and memoirs, we can get a sense of the impressions that the land and the people of Missouri may have made. Join Librarian Emily Jaycox and Associate Archivist Jaime Bourassa for this fascinating look at Missouri’s early years.

St. Louis author Thomas F. Curran will give an overview of his latest book, which focuses on women Confederate partisans who were imprisoned in St. Louis—and the United States government’s response to their political agency.

When the Mississippi River and its tributaries flooded in 1927 it was arguably the greatest natural disaster in United States history. It went on to inspire more than 20 recorded songs. Many of them were blues, gospel, and country—the genres that most appealed to flood victims in the South—and the disaster was referenced in pop music as well. Music scholar and performer David Evans will play selections from these songs and examine their themes. Most of these songs were written by Black singers, who imbued them with a perspective that has often been overlooked in more modern retellings of the flood