1–26 FEBRUARY 
The Light
On their two-year dating anniversary, modern day couple Rashad and Genesis have plenty to celebrate — a marriage proposal and the promise of a new life together. But will their relationship survive when memories buried long ago are uncovered? The Light takes us on an emotional journey of love, laughter, and heartache as the two young adults reconcile their past and reaffirm their personal values to live in the truth. Written by Loy A. Webb and directed by Kristi Papailler. St. Louis Black Repertory.
Washington University, Mallinckrodt Center, A.E. Hotchner Theatre

4–25 FEBRUARY |  2 PM 
Public Tour: Power of Place
Student educators lead interactive tours of the permanent collection designed to prompt discussion and reflection on the power of place in relationship to works by such artists as Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Torkwase Dyson, and Martín Chambi, as well as early travel photography. Public tours take place Feb. 4, 2 pm; Feb. 11, 2 pm; Feb. 18, 2 pm; Feb. 25, 2 pm. Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.
Washington University, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum

8 FEBRUARY  |  12:30 PM
From Darkness to Light: Examining Oppression and Liberation Through Poetry 
ERICA BUMPERS, PhD, managing director, Race and Opportunity Lab, Washington University. The power and impact of poetry is on the rise, as a way for our nation to turn inward to understand our social, political, and economic inequities. Join Erica Bumpers as she explores the writings “Hanging Fire” (Audre Lord) and “And Perhaps That Made Her Beautiful” (Morgan Harper Nichols), and their relevance to the lived experiences of today’s youth who face a society resistant to change. RSVP required; see website. Open Classroom, Brown School of Social Work.
VIRTUAL - RSVP
 

9 FEBRUARY  |  12:30 PM
Super-intelligence, Frankenstein, and Post-humanism: AI Ethics Beyond Data and Algorithmic Bias 
RUOPENG AN, associate professor, Brown School, Washington University. Moving beyond the contemporary debates centering on data and algorithmic bias, join Ruopeng An as he discusses the philosophical and practical issues concerning AI ethics in the future. Do AI's have sentience or awareness, and if so, do we want/need to treat AI’s as moral agents and offer them rights? How can we learn to coexist with AI (super)intelligence? Do we have a “third way” besides technological singularity (and resulting apocalypse) and trans-humanism (superhuman)? RSVP required; see website. Open Classroom, Brown School of Social Work.
VIRTUAL - RSVP
 

9 FEBRUARY  |  5:30 PM 
Gallery Talk: New on View in Photography
MOLLY MOOG, curatorial assistant, discusses two newly opened photography installations. The first highlights travel photography taken primarily for American and European audiences by commercial studios in Italy, Japan, Egypt and the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The second examines the works of Martín Chambi and Edward Sheriff Curtis, who carried out influential photographic practices at different latitudes of the Americas in the early twentieth century. The juxtaposition of Chambi and Curtis’s images creates a context for dialogue about the photography of Indigenous communities under the conditions of settler colonialism and during rapid processes of modernization and urbanization in the Americas. Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.
Washington University, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.

9 FEBRUARY  |  8 PM
Visiting Writer: Kate Bernheimer
KATE BERNHEIMER’s most recent book is Office at Night, a novella co-authored with Laird Hunt. She also is the author of two-story collections, How a Mother Weaned Her Girl from Fairy Tales (illustrated by Catherine Eyde) and Horse, Flower, Bird (illustrated by Rikki Ducornet). Bernheimer’s work as an author, critic and professor explores the intersections of contemporary fairy tales with multiple disciplines. She frequently collaborates with her brother, Andrew Bernheimer (Principal of Bernheimer Architecture and Associate Professor of Architecture at Parsons The New School of Design), on new fiction, architectural competitions and for an ongoing “Fairy-Tale Architecture” series for Places, an international, interdisciplinary magazine dedicated to scholarship on architecture, landscape and urbanism. Department of English.
Washington University, Duncker Hall Rm. 201, Hurst Lounge

10–11 FEBRUARY 
Change Gon’ Come
Black Anthology aims to tell stories about the Black experience. Our hope is that viewers are immersed, become a part of that experience, and are motivated to learn more. This year’s play will bring to light the struggles African Americans face in their everyday lives and in neighborhoods. We get to see firsthand generations live through a seemingly similar cycle. There will be a preshow panel at 6:15 pm each night. Black Anthology 2023.
Washington University, Mallinckrodt Center, Edison Theatre

10 FEBRUARY  |  2:30 PM
Book Celebration for Anca Parvulescu’s Creolizing the Modern: Transylvania Across Empires
Please join us for a book celebration of Anca Parvulescu’s Creolizing the Modern: Transylvania Across Empires (cowritten with Manuela Boatcă), followed by a discussion. Creolizing the Modern revisits the history of Transylvania as a series of migrations and imperial formations. It uses as the center of its archive Liviu Rebreanu’s novel Ion (2010), long considered the first Ro-language modern novel, which it re-reads as a marginal text of world literature. Cross-pollinating literary studies and sociology, the book develops a comparative method for engaging with regions of the world that have inherited multiple, conflicting imperial and anti-imperial histories. Respondents are J. Dillon Brown, associate professor of English; Nicole Svobodny, senior lecturer in global studies; and Laura Evers, graduate student in English. Melanie Micir, associate professor of English, will moderate the discussion. Department of English.
Washington University, Duncker Hall, Room 201 (Hurst Lounge)
 

10 FEBRUARY  |  3 PM
When Bossa Was Black: Brazilian Music in ’60s America
RAMI TOUBIA STUCKY is a lecturer in music at Washington University and a music scholar who specializes in 20th-century American music and culture. Ask your Amazon Alexa or Google Home to “play bossa nova.” You will hear the mellifluous sounds of white artists, such as Grammy winners Frank Sinatra, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz. Their recordings of bossa nova, a style of music developed in Brazil during the late 1950s, captivated American audiences during the 1960s and continue to impact us today. Seemingly forgotten, though, are the various black artists that took part in this initial craze of the 1960s: the doo-wop groups, the soul singers, the hard bop musicians and the funk drummers. These musicians often recorded alongside artists like Sinatra and Getz, but they also released their own albums. Yet their stories have remained untold. The music they made is conspicuously absent from contemporary understandings of bossa nova – absent from the Spotify playlists, the Apple Music Jazz Charts and the history books. This talk tells their stories. It reclaims their music. It tells the history of when bossa nova was black. Department of Music.
Washington University, Music Classroom Building, Room 102
 

10 FEBRUARY  |  5 PM
Faculty Showcase
WashU performance faculty will perform various solo and chamber works. Department of Music.
560 Music Center, Pillsbury Theatre
 

14 FEBRUARY  |  4 PM
The Experience: Cathartic Writing, Collectivity, and Care Among Undocumented Mexican Immigrants
ANGELA GARCIA, associate professor, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, draws from an ethnography of a little-known therapeutic community of undocumented Mexican immigrants living in the United States. The foundation of this community is a grueling three-day healing ritual called an experience (la experiencia). This talk describes one such experience that took place in the northern California forest in 2019, focusing on its novel practice of cathartic writing. She argues that this writing practice is far more than a tool for self-care or self-expression; it is also a medium for collectivity and political critique, one that helps us examine the limits of the biomedical self. By writing a “self” that is never alone, the experience provides a mode of care and healing that enables immigrants to collectively weather and represent the myriad forms of violence that accompany undocumented life. Department of Anthropology.
Washington University, McMillan Hall, Room G052

16 FEBRUARY  |  4 PM
The deaf shoemaker: Ability, disability and daily life in the sixteenth century
JACOB BAUM is the interim director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Association and associate professor of late medieval and early modern Germany at Texas Tech University. Baum will discuss his research on a deaf shoemaker named Sebastian Fisher who chronicled his attempts to cure his disability in early modern Germany. Early Modern Medicine Reading Group.
Washington University, Busch Hall, Room 18

16 FEBRUARY  |  8 PM
Visiting Hurst Professor: Cedar Sigo, Craft Talk
CEDAR SIGO is the author of eight books and pamphlets of poetry, including Language Arts, Stranger in Town, Expensive Magic, two editions of Selected Writings and most recently All This Time. He also published the Bagley Wright Lecture Series book, Guard the Mysteries. Sigo was raised on the Suquamish Reservation in the Pacific Northwest and studied at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute. Department of English.
Washington University, Duncker Hall Rm. 201, Hurst Lounge

 

22 FEBRUARY  |  12:30 PM 
Anti-oppressive and De-colonial Approaches to Community Engagement in St. Louis
DURRELL SMITH, assistant professor, Brown School, Washington University. Against a backdrop of de-colonial challenges, what should be the role of anti-oppressive community work practice? Join Durrell Smith, who has over a decade of experience actively combating institutionalized racism, as he identifies anti-oppressive and de-colonial approaches to community engagement. We will discuss guidance, lessons learned, and practical tips to build healthier communities in the St. Louis region. RSVP required; see website. Open Classroom, Brown School.
VIRTUAL - RSVP

22 FEBRUARY  |  5:30 PM 
Jan Wagner Reading & Discussion
JAN WAGNER, the Max Kade Visiting Writer, will present his work in English translation. Wagner is a German poet, essayist, and translator. His collections of poems include Guerickes Sperling, Achtzehn Pasteten, Australien and Regentonnenvariationen, for which he was awarded the Prize of the Leipzig Bookfair. The Art of Topiary is the most recent translation of Wagner’s work into English. He’s the editor of two influential anthologies of German language poetry, including, with the poet Björn Kuhligk, Poetry of the Now: 74 Voices. Wagner is also the German translator of several British and American poets, including James Tate, Matthew Sweeney and Charles Simic. He is the recipient of the Mondsee Poetry Award, the Anna Seghers Award, the Ernst Meister Award for Poetry, the Mörike Preis and the first Arno Reinfrank Award. In 2017, he was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize. RSVP required; see website. University Libraries.
Washington University, John M. Olin Library, Ginkgo Reading Room

23 FEBRUARY  |  4 PM
Legacies of (De)segregated Medicine
EZELLE SANFORD III is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where he teaches courses in the history of American medicine and public health as well as African-American history. He is currently working on a book manuscript titled, “Segregated Medicine: How Racial Politics Shaped American Healthcare, which uses the important case of St. Louis’ Homer G. Phillips Hospital, the largest Black-serving U.S. general hospital in the mid-20th century, to trace how the logic and legacy of racial segregation established enduring structures of health inequity. Sanford's scholarship uses historical perspectives and analysis to inform his advocacy for an equitable future in American healthcare.  After the lecture, join us in Glaser Gallery for a reception to celebrate the opening of our latest exhibit, In Their Own Words: Stories of Desegregation at Washington University Medical Center. Livestream also available. Bernard Becker Medical Library and the Center for History of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. 
Washington University School of Medicine, Connor Auditorium 

24–26 FEBRUARY 
The Oresteia
The House of Atreus is burdened by an old curse and trapped in a cycle of retributive violence. How can justice be achieved without piling new crimes on top of old ones? Ellen McLaughlin’s gripping adaptation of the trilogy by Aeschylus explores the intimacy of violence and the centrality of actions by women in this ancient Greek story about the foundations of the law. The performance is translated by Ellen McLaughlin and directed by Pannill Camp. Tickets required; performances take place Feb. 24 & 25, 8 pm; Feb. 26, 2 pm. The Oresteia is presented with the permission of use from Ellen McLaughlin. Performing Arts Department.
Washington University, Edison Theatre

24 FEBRUARY  |  3 PM
Through Lines: Working with Old and New
MOLLY HERRON is an associate professor of composition and theory at Vanderbilt University. Herron discusses the process of making her album Through Lines: New Music for Viola da Gamba Consort and her collaboration with the ensemble Science Ficta. With the album’s seven original works (and four interludes), Herron achieves a modern sound informed by baroque music. She discusses the micro and macro concerns of composing both personally and in conversation with tradition. Department of Music.
Washington University, Music Classroom Building, Room 102

25 FEBRUARY  |  8 AM–6 PM
Forum on Medicine, Race, and Ethnicity in St. Louis, Past to Future
Along with a keynote address by Will Ross, MD — associate dean of diversity at Washington University School of Medicine — 22 speakers, including scholars, public health leaders, artists and citizens of St. Louis, will take part in six moderated panels: The History and Legacy of Pruitt-Igoe; The History and Legacy of Homer G. Phillips Hospital; Questions of Health and Wellbeing in the St. Louis Latin American Community; Bodies at Risk: Obstetrics, Trauma, and Disease; Questions of Health and Wellbeing in the St. Louis Asian Community; and Activist and Reparative Art. This is a public-facing event and all members of the university and broader St. Louis community are welcome. Free; lunch provided. Medical Humanities. 
Washington University, Clark-Fox Forum, Hillman Hall

 

25 FEBRUARY  |  11 AM
The Importance of Racial Socialization Messages in the Lives of African-American Youth
SHERETTA BUTLER-BARNES is an associate professor at the Brown School of Social Work, Washington University. In the MLA tradition of approaching a theme from multiple perspectives, our speakers address bridges and divides locally, internationally and even across species. The current presidential administration began with a commitment to bridging political divides, even offering physical bridges in the form of an infrastructure bill to help meet that goal. Locally, the team at Health Equity Works has studied inequity created by geographical divide resulting from conscious choices to create a segregated city and then explored recommendations and activities that dismantle regional divides. Co-sponsored by University College and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
VIRTUAL – RSVP
 

28 FEBRUARY  |  6 PM
NEXT Award 2022 Presentations
Join us for this opportunity to hear from the 2022 Newman Exploration Travel Fund (NEXT) Awardees, who will share presentations about their travels, followed by a poster session and special reception with opportunities to interact with the winners. RSVP required; see website. University Libraries.
Washington University, John M. Olin Library, Room 142

1 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM
Goldie Taylor, The Love You Save: A Memoir (Author Talk)
St. Louis raised journalist, political analyst and human rights activist Goldie Taylor will discuss her memoir of family, faith and the power of books. Taylor will be in conversation with her former teacher and senior advisor for the Office of Illinois State Representative LaToya Greenwood, Peggy Lewis-LeCompte. Aunt Gerald takes in anyone who asks, but the conditions are harsh. For her young niece Goldie Taylor, abandoned by her mother and coping with trauma of her own, life in Gerald’s East St. Louis comes with nothing but a threadbare blanket on the living room floor. Amid the pain and anguish, Goldie discovers a secret. She can find kinship among writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. She can find hope in a nurturing teacher who helps her find her voice. Books, she realizes, can save her life. Taylor's debut memoir shines a light on the strictures of race, class and gender in a post–Jim Crow America while offering a nuanced, empathetic portrait of a family in a pitched battle for its very soul. RSVP required; see website. Left Bank Books.
Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road, St. Louis, 63117

1 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM 
De’Shawn Charles Winslow, Decent People (Author Talk)
Center for Fiction First Novel Prize-winning author De’Shawn Charles Winslow will be in conversation with fiction writer and Saint Louis University professor Ron Austin. Decent People is a novel of a Black community reeling from a triple homicide and the secrets the killings reveal. In the still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina, in 1976, three enigmatic siblings are found shot to death in their home. The people of West Mills — on both sides of the canal that serves as the town’s color line — are in a frenzy of finger-pointing, gossip and wonder. The crime is the first reported murder in the area in decades, but the authorities don’t seem to have any interest in solving the case. Fortunately, one person is determined to do more than talk. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Natural Bridge Branch, 7606 Natural Bridge Rd., St. Louis, 63121

2 FEBRUARY  |  12 PM
Art Speaks: Inspiration, Preservation, Appropriation—A Conversation about Collecting Central European Folk Textiles
Join Megan Brandow-Faller, professor of history, City University of New York Kingsborough at The City University of New York; St. Louis–area collector Marvin Moehle; and Genny Cortinovis, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the Saint Louis Art Museum, for a conversation about collecting Central European folk textiles, from imperial Vienna to greater St. Louis. Drawing upon works in Fabricating Empire: Folk Textiles and the Making of Early 20th-Century Austrian Design, the group will explore how and why modern designers in Austria-Hungary became interested in the region’s folk dress and textiles and what draws contemporary collectors today. Saint Louis Art Museum.
VIRTUAL - RSVP

2 FEBRUARY  |  5:30 PM 
The Artists of the #1 in Civil Rights Exhibit and Beyond
The Missouri History Museum exhibit #1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis was a gathering place for more than 260,000 people in 2017 and 2018 to explore, recall personal memories and family legacies, and engage in meaningful conversations. To share St. Louis’ profound past in a visually compelling way, the Missouri Historical Society commissioned local artists to create portraits and murals for the exhibit that would help tell the story of the city’s complex history in the struggle for civil rights. On this special night these artists will talk about how they created their work. Missouri Historical Society’s Gwen Moore, curator of urban landscape and community identity, moderates a presentation and panel discussion with artists Dail Chambers, Darnell Chambers and Robert Ketchens. #1 in Civil Rights now lives online as a virtual exhibit, and components of the physical exhibit will travel to local institutions. Missouri Historical Society.
Missouri History Museum, Lee Auditorium, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 63112

2 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM 
Marie Benedict, The Mitford Affair (Author Talk)
Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters — each more beautiful, brilliant and eccentric than the next — dominate the English social scene. Though they’ve weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana marries a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister’s lead all the way to Munich, inciting rumors that she’s become Hitler’s mistress. As the Nazis rise in power, novelist Nancy Mitford grows suspicious of her sisters’ constant visits to Germany. Probing the ways that seemingly sensible people can be sucked into radical action, The Mitford Affair follows Nancy’s valiant resistance efforts and the complicated choices she must make between her country or her family. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis, 63123

3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 FEBRUARY 
Drop-in Collection Tour: Festivities & Feasting
Join a Saint Louis Art Museum docent for a lively and engaging tour of the museum’s collection. February’s theme is Festivities & Feasting, which highlights celebrations across cultures and time. Tour themes change monthly. Tours begin at the Information Center in Sculpture Hall, and they are limited to 10 visitors on a first-come, first-served basis. Saint Louis Art Museum.
Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., Forest Park, St. Louis, 63110

3 FEBRUARY  |  2 PM 
Recipes for Respect with Rafia Zafar
RAFIA ZAFAR, professor of English, Washington University, will discuss her book Recipes for Respect: African American Meals and Meaning as well as the Black foodways that influenced African American culture. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Central Library, 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, 63103

4 FEBRUARY  |  11 AM 
Final Curatorial Tour: Barbara Chase-Riboud
Join Pulitzer Arts Foundation curator Stephanie Weissberg for a final in-person tour of Barbara Chase-Riboud Monumentale: The Bronzes. You’ll learn more about the artist’s work, her use of innovative techniques and the diverse influences that have informed her six-decade practice. Pulitzer Arts Foundation.
Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 63108

4 FEBRUARY  |  1 PM 
Jaer Armstead-Jones, My Invisible Father (Author Talk)
Local author, songwriter, librarian and educator Jaer Armstead-Jones presents a young adult novel about three teens coping with issues around missing fathers. As they try to make sense of their lives without a stable father figure, they encounter tragedies and triumphs. For this event, Armstead-Jones will discuss the importance of music in his writing. As he weaves through the book’s musical soundtrack, Armstead-Jones shares how music can be a powerful tool to help readers see and hear stories in novels. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Oak Bend Branch, 842 S. Holmes Ave., 63122

4 FEBRUARY  |  1 PM 
St. Louis in Service Exhibit Tours
Explore St. Louis’ military history from the American Revolution through the present day. Your group’s guide will introduce you to artifacts, places and stories of individuals featured in the galleries at Soldiers Memorial. Groups have the option to add on a 15-minute tour of the outdoor memorials honoring St. Louisans who made the ultimate sacrifice. Missouri Historical Society.
Soldiers Memorial, Court of Honor, 1315 Chestnut St., St. Louis, 63103

4 FEBRUARY  |  2 PM 
Vietnam: At War and At Home Exhibit Tours
Your guide will walk you through the exhibit, exploring the Vietnam War’s origins, evolution and legacy. The exhibit will present a diverse and holistic snapshot of the turbulent times in Vietnam, America and the St. Louis region. Groups have the option to add on a 15-minute tour of the outdoor memorials honoring St. Louisans who made the ultimate sacrifice, including those who served in Vietnam. Missouri Historical Society.
Soldiers Memorial, Court of Honor, 1315 Chestnut St., St. Louis, 63103

4 FEBRUARY  |  4 PM
Dzeneta Karabegovic and Adna Karamehic-Oates, Bosnian Studies: Perspectives from an Emerging Field (Author Talk) 
Bosnian scholars Dzeneta Karabegovic and Adna Karamehic-Oates will discuss their new collection of thoughtful and deeply researched essays on diaspora, ethnicity, and politics in the contemporary Balkans. It has been 27 years since the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The history of the conflict, its consequences and long-term implications for the politics and lives of its citizens has remained a source of interest for scholars across the globe and across disciplines. This scholarship has included works by historians and political scientists seeking to explain the war's origins with a view to Bosnia’s traditional multi-ethnic character and background. The country has been used as a case study in state- and peace-building, as well as to study the implications of ongoing transitional justice processes. Co-sponsored by the Center for Bosnian Studies and Left Bank Books.
Center for Bosnian Studies, Taylor Library, Fontbonne University, 6800 Wydown Blvd., 
St. Louis, 63105

7 FEBRUARY  |  11 AM
The Collecting Process: Black History Initiative at the Missouri Historical Society
Learn more about the Missouri Historical Society’s collecting process with a particular focus on the Black History Initiative. Join MHS’s Gwen Moore, curator of urban landscape and community identity, and other staff for presentations and a question-and-answer session. Missouri Historical Society.
Missouri History Museum, Lee Auditorium, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 63112

7 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM
James Rollins, The Cradle of Ice (Author Talk)
Author of the Sigma Force adventure-thriller series, James Rollins presents the second installment in his speculative fiction series. In The Starless Crown, Rollins introduced a magical world on the edge of apocalypse. To stop a looming disaster, a fellowship was formed: a soldier, a thief, a lost prince and a young girl bonded by fate. Now, they must split, traveling into a vast region of ice and to a sprawling capital of the world they’ve only known in stories. Time is running out and only the truth will save us all. RSVP required; see website. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Daniel Boone Branch, 300 Clarkson Rd., Ellisville, 63011

8 FEBRUARY  |  6 PM
Jordan Harper, Everybody Knows (Author Talk)
Edgar Award–winning and Missouri-raised author Jordan Harper will discuss his novel, Everybody Knows. Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “nobody talks, but everybody whispers.” As a “black bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich, powerful and depraved by any means necessary. After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel in a random attack, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast's lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate. It takes her on a roving neon joyride through a Los Angeles full of influencers pumped full of pills and fillers; sprawling mansions footsteps away from sprawling homeless encampments; crooked cops and mysterious wrecking crews in the middle of the night. In person and livestream. RSVP required; see website. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, 63108

8 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM 
Peter Shinkle, Uniting America: How FDR and Harry Stimson Brought Democrats and Republicans Together to Win World War II (Author Talk)
Former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Peter Shinkle shares the untold story of the most crucial bipartisan alliance in United States history. As Hitler’s armies threatened Europe, Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt urged a divided America to mobilize to defend democracy and freedom. FDR shocked the country by appointing prominent Republican Harry Stimson as secretary of war. The move placed a bipartisan relationship at the center of America’s confrontation with global fascism. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis, 63123

9 FEBRUARY  |  12 PM
Art Speaks: Edmonia Lewis, Sculpting Her Path Forward
Edmonia Lewis (American, 1844–1907), a sculptor active during the 19th century, worked when it was difficult for Black and Indigenous women to break into art stardom. Refusing to be constrained by the limitations of the time, she went on to be an esteemed sculptor, first in the United States, then in Rome. Learn more about Lewis’ life and legacy in this talk by Charlie Farrell, the 2022–2024 Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow. Saint Louis Art Museum.
VIRTUAL – RSVP

9 FEBRUARY  |  2 PM
African American History at Father Dickson Cemetery
In celebration of Black History Month, join a park ranger from the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site to learn about Father Dickson, a historically Black St. Louis cemetery where more than 6,000 people are buried, including Civil War veterans, civil rights leaders and educators. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Oak Bend Branch, 842 S. Holmes Ave., St. Louis, 63122

9 FEBRUARY  |  5:30 PM 
The Black Collecting Expo: Sharing Untold Stories through Artifacts
Learn about Black artifacts in MHS’s collection as well as the process of collecting. Curator of Urban Landscape and Community Identity Gwen Moore and other MHS staff will present about the artifacts currently in the collection, and you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and hear about the possibilities that can be unlocked by sharing untold stories. Missouri Historical Society.
Missouri History Museum, Lee Auditorium, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 63112

9 FEBRUARY  |  6:30 PM
Tahereh Mafi, These Infinite Threads (Author Talk)
National Book Award-nominated, bestselling author of the “Shatter Me” YA series presents the second installment in a series full of explosive magic, searing romance, and heartbreaking betrayal. With the heat of a kiss, the walls between Alizeh, the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom, and Kamran, the crown prince of the Ardunian empire, have crumbled. And so have both of their lives. RSVP required; see website. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Daniel Boone Branch, 300 Clarkson Rd., Ellisville, 63011

9 FEBRUARY  |  6:30 PM
Candace O’Connor, Climbing the Ladder, Chasing the Dream: The History of Homer G. Phillips Hospital (Author Talk)
Homer G. Phillips Hospital — founded in an era of segregated healthcare and named for the murdered attorney who fought for its existence — became a beacon of hope and healing for the Black community and a path to professional progress for hundreds of Black physicians and nurses. Built to serve St. Louis’s rapidly expanding African-American population, the grand new hospital opened its doors in 1937, toward the end of the Great Depression. “Homer G.,” as many called it, joined a burgeoning group of black hospitals amid a national period of institutional segregation and strong racial prejudice nationwide. Candace O’Connor draws upon contemporary newspaper articles, institutional records, and dozens of interviews with former staff members to create the first, full history of the Homer G. Phillips Hospital. She also brings new facts and insights into the life and mysterious murder (still an unsolved case) of the hospital’s namesake, a pioneering Black attorney and civil rights activist who led the effort to build the sorely needed medical facility in the Ville neighborhood. Subterranean Books.
Richmond Heights Memorial Library, 8001 Dale Ave., Richmond Heights, 63117

9 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM
Elle Cosimano, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Author Talk)
Dating. Diapers. And dodging bullets. Who said single moms can't have fun? Finlay is still in debt to the Russian mob after they got her out of her last jam. Still running the show from behind bars, mob boss Feliks has a task for Finlay: find a contract killer before the cops do. Problem is, the killer might be an officer. Luckily, hot cop Nick has started up a citizen’s police academy. Through firearm training and forensic classes (and some hands-on research with the tempting detective), Finlay has the perfect cover to sleuth out the real criminal and free herself from the mob’s clutches — all the while dodging spies and juggling the daily trials of parenthood. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis, 63123

10 FEBRUARY  |  10 AM 
Movement and Migration: The Black Diaspora
St. Louis has been a starting point, rest stop or homecoming for millions of travelers and migrants. From the Exodusters of the post–Civil War era to the Great Migration of the early 20th century to today, we’ll explore the history of Black Americans who have traveled to or through St. Louis. Missouri Historical Society.
Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 63112

10 FEBRUARY  |  11 AM
Gallery Talk: Alayna N. Pernell
Join us for a free Gallery Talk with artist Alayna N. Pernell in conjunction with the exhibition, Our Mothers’ Gardens. RSVP required; see website. The Sheldon.
The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 63108

11 FEBRUARY  |  VARIOUS TIMES 
See STL Walking Tours 
See STL’s fun and creative tours mix engaging storytelling and a deep well of historical knowledge with an infectious enthusiasm for the exciting changes the city is currently undergoing. Tours are 2 hours in length and are wheelchair accessible. $15–$20. Tour starting/ending points are included in your booking details. Missouri Historical Society.
Feb. 11: Forest Park; Feb. 12: Art Under the Arch; Feb. 18: Cherokee Street; Feb. 19: Tower Grove; Feb. 25: Musical St. Louis; Feb. 26: Dutchtown

11 FEBRUARY  |  1:30 PM
Classical Club of St. Louis: Satire on the Edge(s)
CATHY KEANE is the chair and professor of classics at Washington University. Classical Club of St. Louis.
John Burroughs School, Newman Auditorium, 755 S. Price Rd., Ladue, 63124

11 FEBRUARY  |  2 PM 
Black Queer Resistance: Maxi Glamour on Art, Drag, and Community Activism
Join us for an afternoon with local artist, drag performer and community activist Maxi Glamour. Glamour will share a presentation of their current artistic practice, how they are involved with local activism and ways the community can also get involved in activism. St. Louis Public Library.
St. Louis Public Library – Carpenter Library, 3309 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 63118

13 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM
Alvin Hall, Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance (Author Talk)
In the era of Jim Crow, Black travelers encountered locked doors and potentially violent encounters throughout the U.S. From 1936 to 1967, millions relied on The Negro Motorist Green Book, the definitive guide to businesses where they could safely rest, eat or sleep. Alvin Hall set out to revisit the world of the Green Book by visiting motels, restaurants and stores where Black Americans once found a friendly welcome. Along the way, he gathered memories from some of the last living witnesses for whom the Green Book meant survival —remarkable people who not only endured but rose above the hate, building vibrant Black communities against incredible odds. St. Louis County Library.
Mirowitz Performing Arts Center, 2 Millstone Campus Dr., St. Louis, 63146

15 FEBRUARY  |  6 PM
Jim and Vicki Berger Erwin, A History Lover's Guide to St. Louis (Author Talk)
St. Louis is well known for its stunning arch that represents the Gateway to the West, but the city has many more exciting landmarks and historic sites that offer a glimpse into the past. In person and livestream. RSVP required; see website. Left Bank Books.
Schlafly Public Library, 225 N. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, 63108

15 FEBRUARY  |  6 PM
John D’Emilio, Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood: Coming of Age in the Sixties (Author Talk) 
JOHN D’EMILIO is emeritus professor of history and gender and women’s studies at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellow; he was a finalist for the National Book Award for Lost Prophet, which won the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award for nonfiction. D’Emilio was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2005 and was named Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune in 2004. Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood is D’Emilio's coming-of-age story in which he takes readers from his working-class Bronx neighborhood to an elite Jesuit high school in Manhattan to Columbia University and the political and social upheavals of the late 1960s. He shares his personal experiences of growing up in a conservative, tight-knit, multigenerational family and how he went from considering entering the priesthood to losing his faith and coming to terms with his same-sex desires. Throughout, D’Emilio outlines his complicated relationship with his family while showing how his passion for activism influenced his decision to use research, writing, and teaching to build a strong LGBTQ movement. In person and livestream. RSVP required; see website. Left Bank Books. 
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, 63108

16 FEBRUARY  |  3 PM 
The Political Alliance of Ulysses S. Grant and Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was a steadfast supporter of President Ulysses S. Grant who actively campaigned for him in 1868 and 1872. Grant recognized Douglass’ talents and asked him to visit Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic) to learn more about the country. Presented by the history and genealogy department, historian Nick Sacco will discuss the political partnership of Ulysses S. Grant and Frederick Douglass. RSVP required; see website. St. Louis County Library.
VIRTUAL

16 FEBRUARY  |  5:30 PM 
An Evening with Bishop Deon Johnson
DEON KEVIN JOHNSON was ordained as the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Although he is its 11th bishop, he holds the distinction of being both the first Black and first openly gay leader of the diocese. Join us for an evening with Bishop Johnson as he shares his story of growing up in Barbados, immigrating to the U.S. as a teen and navigating his sexuality. He’ll also discuss his perspective on the relationship between faith and activism, political polarization and his commitment to fostering inclusion for the Episcopal church in eastern Missouri. Missouri Historical Society.
Missouri History Museum, Lee Auditorium, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 63112

16 FEBRUARY  |  6 PM 
Jared Sexton Yates, Midnight Kingdom: A History of Power, Paranoia, and the Coming Crisis (Author Talk)
Author, podcaster and political analyst Jared Sexton Yates will be in conversation with author
Sarah Kendzior. Midnight Kingdom is an ambitious account of how white supremacist lies, religious mythologies and poisonous conspiracy theories built the modern world and threaten to plunge us into an authoritarian nightmare. To fully understand these strange and dangerous times, Sexton takes a hard look at our nation’s history: namely, the abuses committed by those in power and the comforting stories that shaped the way the West has viewed itself up to the present. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., Saint Louis, 63108

17 FEBRUARY  |  6 PM
Fantasies in Steel: The Age of Armor
JEFFREY L. FORGENG, curator of arms and armor and medieval art at the Worcester Art Museum, has a perennial fascination with the human imagination. Armor was mythologized by the cultures that produced it, and it remains a vibrant part of modern mythologies through stories, cinema, and digital games. But what of the realities behind the myth? Who made the armor, who wore it, how well did it work—and how did it come to be in Saint Louis half a millennium later? Join Forgeng, curator of Age of Armor: Treasures from the Higgins Armory Collection at the Worcester Art Museum, as he takes you on a personal journey through highlights of the exhibition and the centuries of human stories forged into the steel of these objects. In-person ($5, free for members) and livestream (free) options. Registration required. Saint Louis Art Museum.
Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., Forest Park, St. Louis, 63110

17 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM 
Carlotta Walls LaNier, A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School (Author Talk)
The 2023 Frankie Freeman Inspirational Lecture with civil rights leader Carlotta Walls LaNier is the author of A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School. Will Ross, MD, will receive the Frankie Freeman Inspirational Award during the program. Ross is associate dean of diversity at Washington University, Alumni Endowed Professor of Medicine, Nephrology and principal officer for community partnerships. He is founder of the Saturday Neighborhood Health Clinic, a free service for those in underserved areas. When 14-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the journey of the “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be known, would lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one that would challenge prevailing attitudes, break down barriers and forever change the landscape of America. For Carlotta, simply getting through the door of her high school involved angry mobs and racist elected officials, but entry was simply the first of many trials. St. Louis County Library.
Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd., St. Louis, 63117

18 FEBRUARY  |  2 PM
Lea Rachel, Seeking Forgiveness (Author Talk)
LEA RACHEL’s latest novel, Seeking Forgiveness, tells the story of interracial adoption in the United States today from the perspective of a white mother who adopts a Black son and finds she has no idea what she is doing. St. Louis Public Library.
St. Louis Public Library – Machacek Library, 6424 Scanlan Ave., St. Louis, 63139

18 FEBRUARY  |  6 PM
Lois Lowry, Windeby Puzzle (Author Talk)
Newbery Medalist and New York Times best-selling author Lois Lowry will be in conversation with St. Louis author Catherine Bakewell. Lowry transports readers to an Iron Age world through the suspenseful dual narrative of a boy and girl both battling to survive. In a one-of-a-kind blend of fiction and history, a master storyteller explores the mystery and life of the 2,000-year-old Windeby bog body. Estrild is not like the other girls in her village; she wants to be a warrior. Varick, the orphan boy who helps her train in spite of his twisted back, also stands apart. In a world where differences are poorly tolerated, just how much danger are they in? Left Bank Books.
Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd., St. Louis, 63117

20 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM
Steve Berry, The Last Kingdom: A Cotton Malone Thriller (Author Talk)
Eccentric to the point of madness, King Ludwig II of Bavaria engaged in a worldwide search for a new kingdom — a place he could retreat into and rule as he wished. But a question remains: did he succeed? Enter Cotton Malone. Everything hinges on a 19th-century deed to lands that Germany, China and the United States all now want. In a race across Bavaria for clues hidden in Ludwig’s three fairytale castles, Malone battles an ever-growing list of deadly adversaries, all intent on finding the last kingdom. St. Louis County Library.
Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd., St. Louis, 63117

23 FEBRUARY  |  6:30 PM
Portraits of African American Women in Missouri: Before, During and After the Civil War
Storyteller Carole Shelton offers first- and third-person portrayals of Black women in Missouri, creating biographical sketches that illustrate the impact of enslavement and pending freedom upon their lives. Shelton’s presentation will focus on two icons of St. Louis history: Harriet Scott, wife of Dred Scott, and Annie Malone, businesswoman and philanthropist. Richmond Heights Memorial Library.
Richmond Heights Memorial Library – Program Room, 8001 Dale Ave., St. Louis, 63117

23 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM
Amy Poeppel, The Sweet Spot (Author Talk)
AMY POEPPEL brings her signature witty, warm-hearted style to this wise and joyful novel that celebrates love, hate and all of the glorious absurdity in between. In the heart of Greenwich Village, three women form an accidental sorority when a baby — belonging to exactly none of them—lands on their collective doorstep. As each woman juggles her personal crisis — a demanding family, a messy divorce and an unjust firing–together they find a way to move their little village toward the happily-ever-afters they all desire. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis County Library – Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis, 63123

24 FEBRUARY  |  11 AM 
Victory at War and at Home: Civil Rights Activism in World War II
DAVID LUCANDER, author of Winning the War for Democracy: The March on Washington Movement, 1941-1946, will discuss Black American activism during World War II with a focus on St. Louis. Missouri History Museum.
Soldiers Memorial, 1315 Chestnut St., St. Louis, 63103

24 FEBRUARY  |  7:30 PM 
Tegan Nia Swanson, Things We Found When the Water Went Down (Author Talk)
Part eco-Nordic noir, part magical realist examination of power, identity and myth, Things We Found When the Water Went Down is a story that asks us to explore what it means to heal — or not — after violence. Join Swanson and Kristin Fleischmann Brewer, deputy director, public engagement at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation 12 pm, Feb. 25 at MaTovu, 4200 Blaine Ave., St. Louis, 63110 for “Artist as Advocate Conversation.” Left Bank Books.
Wildfruit Projects, 4704 Virginia Ave., St. Louis, 63111

25 FEBRUARY  |  2 PM 
Jazz: A Tradition of Resistance with the Usual Suspects
Celebrate Black History Month and join us for a jazz performance by local St. Louis band The Usual Suspects. Throughout the concert, the band members will talk about what music, jazz and resistance means to them. St. Louis Public Library.
St. Louis Public Library – Central Library, 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, 63103

27 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM 
Bobby Bostic, Time: Endless Moments in Prison (Author Talk)
BOBBY BOSTIC will be in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger. At the age of 16, Bostic was sentenced to 241 years behind bars for an armed robbery. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life without the possibility of parole for nonhomicidal crimes. Through the efforts of the ACLU and the now-retired judge who originally sentenced him, Bobby Bostic finally left prison as a free man in 2022. While incarcerated, Bobby earned his GED and wrote several books. St. Louis County Library.
St. Louis Public Library – Florissant Valley Branch, 195 New Florissant Rd. S., Florissant, 63031

27 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM
An Evening with Sarah Schulman
SARAH SCHULMAN is author of Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT Up New York, 1987-1993. In just six years, ACT UP, New York, a broad and unlikely coalition of activists from all races, genders, sexualities and backgrounds, changed the world. Armed with rancor, desperation, intelligence and creativity, it took on the AIDS crisis with an indefatigable, ingenious and multifaceted attack on the corporations, institutions, governments and individuals who stood in the way of AIDS treatment for all. They stormed the FDA and NIH in Washington, D.C. and started needle exchange programs in New York; they took over Grand Central Terminal and fought to change the legal definition of AIDS to include women; they transformed the American insurance industry, weaponized art and advertising to push their agenda and battled and beat The New York Times, the Catholic Church and the pharmaceutical industry. Their activism, in its complex and intersectional power, transformed the lives of people with AIDS and the bigoted society that had abandoned them. Based on more than two hundred interviews with ACT UP members and rich with lessons for today’s activists, Let the Record Show is a revelatory exploration and long-overdue reassessment of the coalition’s inner workings, conflicts, achievements and ultimate fracture. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108

28 FEBRUARY  |  11 AM 
Black Resistance: Extraordinary Black Missourians
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s national theme for Black History Month 2023 is Black Resistance. Join John A. Wright Jr. for a deep dive into the history of Black resistance in Missouri and in St. Louis, highlighting historical figures from the book Extraordinary Black Missourians. Missouri Historical Society.
Missouri History Museum, Lee Auditorium, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 63112

28 FEBRUARY  |  6 PM
StitchCast Studio LIVE! 
Watch and be a part of Story Stitchers Youth Council’s live podcast discussions. Story Stitchers artists and guest artists will round out each presentation with live art interludes. RSVP required; see website. Saint Louis Story Stitchers.
High Low, 3301 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 63103

28 FEBRUARY  |  7 PM
Ciera Horton McElroy, Atomic Family (Author Talk)
Debut St. Louis author Ciera Horton McElroy will be in conversation with St. Louis author Margaret Hermes. A South Carolina family endures one life-shattering day in 1961 in a town that lies in the shadow of a nuclear bomb plant. It’s November 1, 1961, in a small town in South Carolina, and nuclear war is coming. Ten-year-old Wilson Porter believes this with every fiber of his being. He prowls his neighborhood for Communists and studies fallout pamphlets and the habits of his father, a scientist at the nuclear plant in town. Meanwhile, his mother Nellie covertly joins an anti-nuclear movement led by angry housewives and his father, Dean, must decide what to do with the damning secrets he's uncovered at the nuclear plant. When tragedy strikes, the Porter family must learn to confront their fears of the world and of each other. In person and livestream. RSVP required; see website. Left Bank Books.
Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63108