In the Bettendorf Public Library's latest event in its "Community Connections" series, a true-life tale involving social reformer Frederick Douglass, iconic author Harriet Beecher Stowe, and the United States' first public discussions about abolition will be explored on February 17 through scenes from Sons & Daughters of Thunder, the locally produced 2019 drama boasting the talents of Fourth Wall Films' Kelly and Tammy Rundle and more than two dozen familiar area performers.

Held in conjunction with Black History Month, a special presentation of massive cultural import will be held at the Davenport Public Library's Fairmount Branch on February 22, with Black History: The Fight for Civil Rights in Davenport celebrating figures of the Civil Rights movement who have a local connection – among them the formerly enslaved African-American who stayed in Davenport, and whose name is etched in history through the notorious "Dred Scott decision."

On February 11 and 12 at Davenport's Outing Club, the Quad Cities' professional dance company Ballet Quad Cities will present its traditional assemblage of vignettes Love Stories, and this year's collection of Valentine's Weekend pieces will climax with what is perhaps the love story: William Shakespeare's timeless, tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet. Don't worry, though. Before Ballet Quad Cities breaks hearts, they'll be giving audiences plenty of reasons for cheer.

A little-known but historic event in the history of the Hoover administration will be presented as part of the Davenport Public Library's virtual 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum programming, with retired Stanford University staffer Evelyn McMillan, on February 17, discussing how the Brussels Lace Committee, the Hoovers, and two major relief organizations came together to support the lacemakers of Belgium during World War I in the virtual program A Successful Humanitarian Story Hidden in Belgian War Lace of 1914-1918.