Programs A-Z

Meet the Past
With Crosby Kemper III

Thursdays at 8:30 pm

It's a toasty Tuesday night in July and the Central Library in downtown Kansas City is buzzing with anticipation. A crowd of nearly four hundred has turned out to hear what the artist Thomas Hart Benton has on his mind.

Sounds like the start of a news report from the 1930s or 40s, but the event in question actually occurred in 2009. And similar scenes have taken place over the last few months with the likes of Harry Truman, Amelia Earhart, Langston Hughes, Jesse James and Walt Disney!

These historic figures and others with connections to our town have "come back to life" in the KCPT series Meet the Past with Crosby Kemper III. The show's format is deceptively simple. Kemper, the library director, sits down for a chat with costumed "re-enactors" in an unscripted, off the cuff exchange that unfolds before a live audience.
As a way to reveal local lore, it's refreshing and effective.

Sometimes, as when William Allen White reminisces about his daughter's death, it's quietly moving. As the host, Kemper's portfolio is always well-stocked with facts, rumors and anecdotes that keep the conversation lively and the crowd engaged. (And one branch or another of his illustrious family tree is often woven into the tale!)

KCPT's cameras capture all the verbal sparring and spontaneous exchanges. Eventually, the final, edited program distills the night into a fun and informative half-hour unlike any other on TV.

The pilot for Meet the Past, which featured Bill Worley as political boss Tom Pendergast, was nominated for a regional Emmy in 2008. Don't be surprised if one (or more) of the 12 new episodes that begin airing on KCPT October 8 "meet" with more awards as well.

Meet the Past with Crosby Kemper III

 

Episodes

April 1

Thomas Hart Benton

 Crosby paints the town with Thomas Hart Benton—Kansas City’s most charismatic painter and muralist. His regionalist style brought the everyday life of Americans to the canvas.

April 8

Charlie Parker

 Crosby harmonizes with Charlie “Bird” Parker, the Kansas City native known as the architect of bebop, and an uncompromising artist who changed the sound of jazz forever.

April 15

John Brown

 Crosby chats with John Brown—the sword-wielding, Bible-quoting abolitionist, some would say ‘terrorist,’ who brought his holy war against slavery to Kansas, and to the nation.

April 22

Nell Donnelly Reed

 Crosby reminisces with Nell Donnelly Reed – a pioneer in the business of women's wear. Her Nellie Don brand, based in Kansas City’s Garment District, outfitted women from coast to coast.

April 29

Langston Hughes

Crosby riffs with poet and playwright Langston Hughes—Born in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes gained worldwide renown for integrating poetry with the cadence of jazz during the Harlem Renaissance.

May 6

Jesse James

Crosby holes up with Jesse James, the legendary Liberty, Missouri outlaw whose daring daylight bank robberies, alongside his brother Frank, became the stuff of local and national lore.

May 13

Annie Chambers

Crosby cozies up with Annie Chambers, KC’s most famous madame--born Leanna Loveall, Chambers’ City Market brothel catered to the city’s burgeoning population at the turn of the century.

May 20

Thomas Hart Benton

 This week, Crosby paints the town with Thomas Hart Benton—Kansas City’s most charismatic painter and muralist. His regionalist style brought the everyday life of Americans to the canvas.

May 27

Charlie Parker

 Crosby harmonizes with Charlie “Bird” Parker, the Kansas City native known as the architect of bebop, and an uncompromising artist who changed the sound of jazz forever.