Community Calendar

The History Museum on the Square will host a free program including a panel discussion led by Dr. Marlin Barber, Assistant Vice President for Inclusive Engagement and Faculty Development at MSU, and a sneak peek of the new Civics in Action education trunk at the Historic Fox Theatre. The event will take place Saturday, October 5th at 2 pm in the Historic Fox Theatre, located at 157 Park Central Square. Educators and community members alike are invited to attend.

“Voting & Beyond will give educators and community members the opportunity to engage in a meaningful conversation about why education is vital to democracy,” explains Whitney Mosley, Education Manager at the History Museum on the Square. “We are grateful to Dr. Marlin Barber and the Voting & Beyond panelists for sharing their expertise and helping us enhance student citizenship and support civic education in the region.”

Civic leaders from Missouri State University, Drury University, and the City of Springfield will discuss how we can engage students and foster civic engagement through education, exploring themes of leadership, citizenship, service, and legacy with students in the classroom and beyond. Attendees will be the first to view the Civics in Action education trunk–a new resource for regional educators to use in the classroom when teaching about civics, democracy, government, and citizenship to students of all ages. The trunk is the newest addition to the History Museum on the Square’s Educational Trunk Program, which offers schools and community organizations the opportunity to rent educational trunks covering different history themes and social studies topics.

“The Civics in Action trunk is full of hands-on, interactive resources that are typically inaccessible to many teachers. The education trunk provides an opportunity to interact with these civic topics in an engaging and impactful way,” says Jill Hodge, History Museum on the Square’s Civics Education Coordinator.

Music Monday of the Ozarks will present Randy Erwin on October 7.

Musician, artist manager and booking agent, Randy has presented and represented artist from all over the world. Currently, he books the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. He started as a musician in Springfield, playing with local bands, including Uncle Wally. He soon started a booking agency in Springfield and gradually began moving into a bigger situation booking national acts throughout the country, working out of Minnesota. Randy has moved back to Springfield and is into artist management these days.

Author Tim Ritter will present a program on a 1913 fire that destroyed the entire northeast corner of the Springfield Square.

In the history of the Springfield Fire Department, this was “The Big One”. Hear how this blaze grew quickly from a small basement fire to a raging inferno that threatened the entire town.

This event is free and open to the public

This event is hosted by Missouri State University's Political Science and Philosophy Department. It will feature a timely conversation about the status of American Democracy. This is a non-partisan event and is intended to be educational for all. Light refreshments will be served before and after the event.