Chautauqua! for a Time, It Was the Most American Thing in America
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QUINTESSENTIALAMERICA BY DAVID RUTTER Music was an important part of the Chautauqua gatherings. John Philip Sousa’s band is seen in this panoramic photo performing at a Chautauqua, around 1925. (Library of Congress) FOR A TIME, IT WAS THE MOST AMERICAN Chautauqua! THING IN AMERICA. F HISTORY WERE A PERSON, you would pity it. Circle meeting which called participants to four of Methodist Sunday School teachers and their We abuse history even though history trans- years of common study. A week later, the festivi- education. Iforms us. We ignore it; shun it as irrelevant. ties moved to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Walter But the movement that sprang from that sum- We pretend it doesn’t exist and, when we do allow Harrower. And eventually to a dozen Barrington mer became less dogmatically religious than it it sit at the table occasionally, we are just likely to homes. was a subtle blend of progressive Midwest Protes- completely mistake history for something else, of- So it was everywhere in America. Chautau- tant ethics and civic spirituality. ten distorted quackery. Yes, poor history. It’s an or- qua was an event, a movement, and a moment. It Why any small American town should care phan who gets the short end of our attention span. was America’s first invented intellectual circus. At about those in need, seek the betterment of all, The nano-second focus of modern life has some point after a Methodist minister invented the and advance civic virtue and tolerance was only made us forget Chautauqua now. We do not re- idea in 1874, 12,000 mostly Midwestern Ameri- theoretically appreciated. The young nation member what it was, what it meant, or perhaps can hamlets, including Barrington, had their own even how to pronounce the word: “Shuh-tok-wah”. home-only networked version of Chautauqua. The old Iroquois word for moccasins sounds There were “Mother Chautauquas,” “Daughter quaint to 21st century sensibilities, and, in truth, Chautauquas”, and even “Tent Chautauquas.” it echoes an odd, unintended simplicity. As an idea, Chautauqua might not translate easily into CURRICULUM FOR A NATION modern life because we are too sophisticated and The founders at the original Institute near Lake worldly to accept its premise. We have 24-hour Chautauqua, N.Y., set the academic curriculum cable news and the Internet now. and the nation followed. How sad we can no longer summon its charm. There were permanent organized encamp- President Theodore Roosevelt once proclaimed ments with grand hotels, classroom complexes, Chautauqua “the most American thing in America.” and pavilions for entertainment – 10 of which still It is long gone. But for 50 years, it was the most exist. There were traveling educational tent shows profound self-educational, spiritually unifying in- and local literary and scientific “circles” where the stitution in Middle America. If you have shared nation adopted and shared classical culture. in adult education, book clubs, home extension, History seldom occurs merely as a function of or correspondence courses, thank the Methodists chance. It is invented. Chautauqua was invented who invented Chautauqua. on August 4, 1874, at Fair Point, N.Y., on the west William Jennings Bryan was the most popular speaker As the Barrington newspaper noted, the Satur- shore of Chautauqua Lake. on the circuit. He traveled throughout the Chautau- day evening of April 15, 1893, was filled splendidly Lewis Miller and John Heyl Vincent were both qua System using his powerful voice and political with intelligence and literature at the Lines family involved in the Methodist ministry in the late stature (from 1900 to 1912) to inspire the large crowds. home. The occasion was the regular Chautauqua 19th century and sought to improve the quality (Library of Congress) 42 • Quintessential Barrington | QBarrington.com taught itself to value higher qualities of life, including philanthropic good, as a core value. Chautauqua taught the nation how to be smarter. And care more. Barrington learned well. In 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant was asked to visit the Institute and bestow his blessing on the concept. He was welcomed by 20,000 fans. Chau- tauqua’s founders knew the President/General’s support would win the na- tion’s heart. It did. The movement espoused several unsolvable contradictions. Although the center of its being was religiously-inspired liberalism, the boundaries of race and class were more difficult questions. The movement was pervasive in American life, but often disorganized. Keith Vawter saw the Chautauqua inefficiencies and organized touring schedules for the skillful speakers and music programs, so the tents could stay up and the event costs be covered. There was no denying Chautauqua’s power. By the mid-1890s, it had spawned more than 80 imitators. As the century turned, 15,000 men and women across the country were enrolled in the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC), and 3,000 graduated yearly. In a nation of only 70 million persons, probably 500,000 participated in some form of Chau- tauqua fare every year in the 1890s. The original institution had tripled in acreage to 750 acres. Its summer program had ballooned from 12 to 56 days. The movement’s role as religious indoctrination was brief. Within five years, it became Middle America adults educating themselves and especially women for whom higher education was often too far to reach economically. The educational courses reflected Vincent’s original philosophy:A “ ll Things of Life ... Art, Science, Society, Religion, Patriotism, Education ... whatever tends to enlarge and ennoble.” When adults in Barrington examined the words and ideas of Shake- speare, Sophocles, or Spinoza for the first time, it most likely was at Chau- A 1917 promotional brochure displays a season ticket for the Vawter System. tauqua. Invest $5 a year in the texts to educate yourself with your closest friends. There were tests, certificates, diplomas. populist message of temperance and care for the needy. A “Chautauqua graduate” could claim legitimate proof of higher education. Russell Conwell was the “Redpath” Chautauqua tent circuit’s most pro- lific speaker. R“ edpath” was a traveling tent version of Chautauqua operated LEARNING ABOUT AMERICA out of Chicago. In Chautauqua, the concepts of faith and intellectual show- When new immigrants came to appreciate the Constitution, modern Rus- biz were both thought to radiate equally from God. sian politics, or ancient Greek philosophy, it likely was from Chautauqua. Conwell delivered his “Acres of Diamonds” speech 6,152 times. The The nation was hungry for shared education that nurtured souls and mat- theme was “get rich young man, for money is power and power ought to be tered in real life. in the hands of good people. I say you have no right to be poor.” Chautauqua delivered that. But it was so much more. He earned enough from Chautauqua to found what would become Tem- The major “permanent Chautauqua camps” were usually constructed ple University in Philadelphia. (Story continued next page) near railroads to accommodate travelers. The first national appreciation of “The Summer Vacation” was traveling to Chautauqua to spend a week en- joying music, art, philosophy, orators, and usually a splendiferous fireworks display at the end of each day. Chautauqua became not only an idea and a place to visit, but then trans- David Rutter is a frequent contributer to Quintessential Barrington. formed into a tent show that came to each town on a regular circuit. The great orators, politicians, and artists of the day arrived under the big top to share culture in the only way possible before radio and motion pictures. Some tent shows brought animal acts – with very intelligent animals. Quintessential America is a recurring series of stories reflecting American values A POWERFUL PLATFORM and community achievement. Some will be big stories. Some will be small. They’ll There were human stars, too. The most popular speaker of the 19th century, all be about Americans doing what we do best — sharing, helping, living. William Jennings Bryan, barreled into town to thunderously proclaim his QBarrington.com | Quintessential Barrington • 43 The Eastman School of Music forged the American Opera Company to serve Chautauqua. In 1926, the “AOC” performed “Mikado” 133 times in 133 villages from Ohio to Oregon. In Lake County, the center of Chautauqua life was Lake Bluff. Method- ists liked the place and bought 200 acres near the lakefront to produce a grand, permanent Chautauqua camp. Frances Willard, president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, brought together other “no alcohol will pass these lips” leaders in Lake Bluff to form the national Prohibition Party there. That led to the 18th Amendment and made smalltime hood Al Capone into a national figure. But our attention span wandered. Depression came clanking down on Chautauqua’s head in 1929, and then movies and radio carried culture to every town. Clark Gable and Katherine Hepburn didn’t need Chautauqua A 1940 Barrington Town Warming Meeting in the gym of the old to introduce themselves. Hough Street that became Barrington High School. Chautauqua, the electric spark of American culture, suddenly flickered out. By 1930, Chautauqua was gone from America, except for quaint vacation Two civic-minded businessmen of Barrington felt that a need outposts that still carry its message and brand. But what it was, it is no longer. existed for a rebirth of the early American town meeting. Taking And gone, too, from America’s memory. clues from the Methodist campground and also the Chautauqua revivalist models, Barrington’s Town Warming was a smash hit. Where Chautauqua Lives Barrington’s Town Warming meetings echoed the cultural and Although Chautauqua both as a place and idea no longer domi- educational call of Chautauqua, with the first meetings sched- nate as they once did, both still exist.