StoryTarium

FEBRUARY Thursday-Sunday | 12 & 2 p.m. | Free

MARCH Wednesday-Sunday | 12 & 2 p.m. | Free

The StoryTarium is a fantastic feature at the Kansas City Museum, where visitors can learn about Kansas City’s rich local and regional history. The StoryTarium features films, lectures and other history-related programming in an intimate auditorium that seats 40 people. It is housed in the Museum’s former planetarium. The regular programming schedule in the revamped space features a variety of original programs that first aired on KCPT, Channel 19.

February Featured Film: A Step Above the Plaza

Saint Luke’s Health Systems commissioned Rodney M. Thompson to produce this oral history documentary, “A Step Above the Plaza,” about a small black community that thrived in Kansas City’s Westport area during the 1920’s to the 1960’s when segregation was the rule in Kansas City. The film received the Community Spirit Award from the Jackson County Historical Society.

March Featured Film: Nelly Don: A Stitch in Time

From 1916 to 1978, Nell Donnelly made 75 million dresses, making her the largest dress manufacturer of the 20th century. During the company’s peak years, every fifteen seconds a woman somewhere in the world purchased a Nelly Don. She fought unions and gangsters, married a U.S. presidential candidate and clothed American military women during WWII. Her personal travails amaze all who all who come to know her.