USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I > Part 76
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The Chautauqua salute-waving of handkerchiefs in- stead of handclapping-was devised on the spur of the moment by Bishop Vincent at Chautauqua in honor of a deaf-mute who had spoken to the audience in sign- language and could not hear ordinary applause. The salute is given only a few times each season, is limited to the honoring of especially distinguished guests, and is never initiated except by the presiding officer. As a memorial to those who have gone, the handkerchiefs arc silently raised and lowered. The "drooping of the lilies" by the great audience on Old First Night is a sight never to be forgotten
The quiet Chautauqua Sunday is a tradition from the earliest days which finds rational sanction in the present. No needless restrictions are placed on the freedom of anyone on the grounds although no tickets are sold, no excursion parties enter, and all needless traffic and business is suspended. All possible means are taken to make an atmosphere of rest, of thought and devotion which will inspire and re-create the spirit, the mind, and the body. The eleven o'clock preaching ser- vice is the largest audience of the whole week and the ablest preachers of the English-speaking world be- longing to different denominations are always to be heard. There are Sunday school classes for the chil- dren, an organ interlude late in the afternoon on the great organ in the Amphitheater, the C. L. S. C. vesper service at five o'clock in the Hall of Philosophy, a Lakeside service at seven on the model of Palestine, and a sacred song service at seven forty-five in the evening which again unites all of the visitors at Chau- tauqua. An experience of a Sunday at Chautauqua is something which is always remembered by any one who has ever enjoyed it.
Introduction of speakers to Chautauqua audiences is almost an art. The introduction of the late Dr. P. S. Henson at Chautauqua years ago by Bishop John H. Vincent has become classic: Bishop Vincent said: "I now take great pleasure in announcing the lecture on "Fools' by one-(great laughter) of the wisest of men." Dr. Henson arose, bowed, and began: "I would have you understand, ladies and gentlemen, that I am not as much of a fool as Bishop Vincent-(greater laughter) would have you believe."
A model of the land of Palestine in the early days was one of Chautauqua's most famous attractions to visitors. It was originally constructed by Dr. W. W. Wythe, the idea being to present visual aid regarding Bible lands to Sunday School teachers and Bible students generally. The suggestion of Chautauqua's origin is here once more apparent. The model of Palestine was built to scale, plaster cities were properly located, mountains were plaster capped, and lecturers were followed by great crowds of eager listeners in tours over the land of Palestine from Mt. Hermon and the Mountains of Leb- anon to the foot of the Dead Sea and beyond. The line of the shore of the lake was made to represent the Mediterranean Sea, and the artificial Dead Sea, River Jordan, and Sea of Galilee are easily recognized by the observer. Such an object lesson is of great value, even to the children; not only American scholars, but Ori-
ental representatives, often in costume, lead the tourist classes and vividly impress their hearers.
From the beginning there has been a close relationship between Chautauqua county and Chautauqua Institution. Judge William L. Ransom of New York City, a native of the county and a trustee of Chautauqua Institution, said on Chautauqua County Day, July 12, 1914:
"It is no accident that such an institution, founded in such a county, has been permanent; it is no acci- dent that such a county, stimulated and inspirited by an institution bringing here the leaders of the world's work and thought, has risen to renown and influence in many fields of activity. So I say that Chautauqua County's distinctive contribution to our national life is Chautauqua Institution-a nationwide force for things which must be fundamental in a republic. And Chautauqua Institution's distinctive contribution to the life of the state and nation is a county which ex- emplifies faithfully the kind of citizenship and public spirit that is the product of the Chautauqua idea at work in everyday life.
"The hand of directing Providence was never more obvious in the affairs of Chautauqua Institution than in the initial selection of site. It cannot have been chance or mere worldly wisdom which brought Dr. John Heyl Vincent here from New Jersey and Lewis Miller here from Ohio, and started the new movement in soil so congenial and favorable. I dislike to think what might have happened to Chautauqua Assembly had it heen founded in some other county than this or some other state. Beyond question it is true that what is today known thruout the world as the Chautauqua idea and the Chautauqua spirit in civic affairs, educa- tion and religion, had been indigenous to the intel- lectual soil of this county and had flourished here, be- fore the Fairpoint camp-meetings were started in these groves and along these shores. I am conscious of the danger that the local historian will exaggerate and lose perspective; I am aware of the perils of local pride and county loyalty; but I know these factors and still say, with moderation and with truth, that some- how it has been the fate and fortune of this county to be ever on the firing line of the world's advance and to play a part and exercise an influence in state and national affairs, far beyond anything warranted hy the number of its inhabitants or the expense of its territory. Thruout this state and far outside of it. I have heard this recognized and testified to in startling ways. Outside of New York County itself. I do not believe that any county in this state, and few, if any, in other states, have played so influential and decisive a part in so many state and national events of far-reaching importance, or have influenced so pro- foundly the currents of popular thought."
Recent events have called attention to the so-called "Chautauqua Circuit." From 1880 to 1890, Chautauqua assemblies which imitated more or less closely the original institution sprang up in many parts of the country, especially in the Middle West. Gradually the lyceum bureaus, through their control of prominent speakers and superior executive ability, began to domini- ate the field. First the assemblies secured a few speak- ers from the bureaus, then the whole program. Finally the bureaus began to conduct assemblies direct and there are now something over 8,000 of these bureau Chau- tauquas, organized in circuits, as compared with 600 of the independent assemblies.
The Chautauqua circuit has been developed largely through economic causes-savings through efficient or- ganization, the elimination of long railroad jumps, guar- antees to "attractions" of continuous seasons, better publicity, concentration of responsibility. In each place a big tent is pitched for a week and a daily program carried out. Local organizations guarantee the sale of a minimum number of tickets ; the Bureau does the rest. College boys make up the tent crews; a Scout Master organizes the Boy Scouts; "morning hour men" give lectures in series and endeavor to arouse the civic life of the community ; musical companies, bands, individual artists and dramatic companies furnish the popular pro- grams; political leaders find here the greatest forum for their messages.
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These local programs, however, can never take the place of a summer community where far from the routine of daily life people can give their attention to new ideas, enjoy the broadening influence of social in- tercourse with men and women of many different types and find true re-creation. Chautauqua as a summer city combines the attractions of nature with exceptional opportunities for study, for hearing noted speakers, for listening to fine music, and for gaining new inspiration for life in home and community. Chautauqua provides social groupings of many kinds, so that it is an organic whole, not merely a temporary collection of unrelated individuals. The permanent demands of human nature find gratification in the stimulating community life and spirit which Chautauqua offers.
Chautauqua Institution today has a well-equipped plant with over three hundred acres, many permanent public buildings, a large clientele, an inspiring history and an encouraging prospect for the future. The char- ter of Chautauqua provides that all surplus revenues must be used for building up the Institution. There are no stock dividends. The property is vested in a self- perpetuating body of trustees who serve without pay. The characteristic features of Chautauqua may be sum- marized as follows: (1) A resident summer popula- tion organized into a community ; (2) a system of sum- mer schools; (3) lecture courses of the university ex- tension type; (4) symposia on current social problems ; (5) popular lectures, concerts and entertainments, and (6) a plan of home reading. The fundamental aim of Chautauqua is educational in a broad sense which in- cludes not only mental alertness, but ethical earnestness and spiritual idealism.
Chautauqua has made a large contribution to patriotic nationalism. Founded only nine years after the Civil War, it has always been a meeting place of the North and the South. Men and women from all parts of the country, with widely varying economic, religious, social, and political beliefs, have been brought together here under ideal conditions of common living. They have been brought by some dominant interest, but they have all been fused together as a social group. Living under such conditions offers opportunity for working out some of the problems of life which in the bustle of existence has otherwise become almost impossible. In this great community people have worked out their intellectual and religious salvation in terms of intercourse with one another and have gained new ideals of national unity and the need of patriotic solidarity.
Chautauqua has also enabled leaders of communities in all parts of the country to study under competent educators the newer conceptions of the state, and to hear discussions of the various movements of govern- ment control by the administrators themselves. An attempt has always been made to have discussed on its platform those problems in which the country and the world were to be interested the next day and the day after tomorrow. A list of the symposia conducted here and the weeks of discussion will reveal the fact that Chautauqua has always been a little in advance of the public opinion of the country with respect to these new plans.
A background of knowledge is the first requisite of an understanding of our part in the world today. It is possible that Chautauqua has a more significant func- tion touching all the issues of the present than immedi- ately appears. Since 1878 the readers of the Chau- tauqua Literary and Scientific Circle have had in every four-year cycle a Modern European, an English, and an American year besides one devoted to more ancient times. Three-quarters of a million people have largely
secured their historical orientation in this study. A book like that of Dr. H. H. Powers, "What Men Fight For," written for the Chautauqua course, has been of incalculable value in giving these readers and many outside the Chautauqua circles an understanding of what the war was all about. Nowhere in the world is there a forum as influential as this Chautauqua platform, where many of the important problems of modern history have been discussed by experts.
The ability of Chautauqua to enter sympathetically into world movements is perhaps best illustrated by what happened in late July, 1914. On twenty-four hours' notice a symposium on the impending war was arranged. The German point of view was presented by a member of the Chautauqua faculty who had served his time in the German army; the French by a member of the faculty who had served his time in the French navy ; the English by a member of our medical staff who had been with Kitchener on the way to Khartoum; and the general European situation was presented by an assistant in the Program Department who had spent his winters for many years in Europe and who said on the after- noon of Franz Ferdinand's assassination, that that was the opening event in the European war. A little later a Cambridge professor, James Hope Moulton, who two years later lost his life by exposure on a ship torpedoed in the Mediterranean on its way back from India, gave his interpretation of England's entrance into the war. During the last week of the season there were addresses by religious leaders who were on their way to the Church Peace Congress in Constance when the war broke out. What was true of the season of 1914 has been true of each successive season.
Chautauqua lasts because it is able to adapt itself to new conditions as they arise. Ideas, not buildings, have made it what it is. Beginning as an experiment, it was not strange that physical equipment at Chautauqua should be considered a more or less temporary matter. Nevertheless, it is a revelation to note how many phases of development have left their visible mark on the Chautauqua grounds in some concrete form. Having proved its right to be recognized as an established In- stitution, the tendency is toward permanent buildings, in the long run less expensive to maintain and more suit- able for the work.
In the domain of ideas Chautauqua has been won- derfully prolific. As a School for Out-of-School Peo- ple she has contributed an educational plan and an educational impulse of inestimable value ; as the mother of study clubs and reading circles; as the model for scores of Assembly centers of popular culture all over the country; as a feeder of colleges -- in any one of these fields alone her fruitfulness is unparalleled.
Some of her ideas, as we have seen, have gone over to institutions endowed with facilities to handle them to better advantage. Although empowered as a university to grant degrees, Chautauqua determined that her special field was to be distinct from the university. The "old Chautauquan" can recall an honorable roll of ex-Chau- tauqua organizations, like the "School of Theology," "School of Sacred Literature," "Church Congress," "Missionary Institute," "Teachers' Retreat," "Teachers' Reading Union," "Tourist Conferences," "Town and Country Club," "Young Folks' Reading Union," "Boys' Congress" ( Mock Senate and House of Representa- tives), and "Mothers' Meetings." Adapted to the times and seasons when they were promulgated, they have been absorbed, appropriated, revived, or promoted un- der other names and auspices, or superseded by means better adapted to changed conditions. In a sense, there- fore, Chautauqua has been and will continue to be an
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ideal experiment station. For such sociological and educational tests it is considered that the capacity of the station is only limited by the endowment in various forms which may be provided.
It is being demonstrated at Chautauqua, that a town, like more familiar kinds of educational "plants," can be administered summer and winter for educational pur- poses. Town activities have centered upon the creation of special conditions of life and work during the sum- mer season. Then there are some ten thousand resi- dents besides excursionists. But the permanent popula- tion of the place has grown to over five hundred persons, and several thousand residents choose to live there in the spring and fall. Interesting possibilities of develop- ment for such an institutional town might tempt to prophecy.
The idea of the "vacation school" for children is hav- ing a new-century run in progressive municipalities. As a long-established and successful vacation school of life for the whole family-father and mother as well as children-the Chautauqua summer community presents another specific claim to endowment quite as strong as that of other institutions.
As an educational institution Chautauqua has many desirable features. There is no element of private profit, the control being in the hands of a board of self- perpetuating trustees composed of men of standing, business acumen and vision, who serve without salary. It gives its advantages to its recipients on a basis of individual payment of less than cost. Few educational institutions with a general appeal have been able to maintain themselves without state or private support or endowment. While its business administration is con- ducted according to the most efficient principles, it is subordinate to its educational administration. Its plant is adequate for its needs and its whole organization has been built and carried on according to a definite educa- tional program.
The principles of the development of Chautauqua may be clearly traced. It is a system of popular educa- tion designed primarily for adults but with facilities for all members of the family. While religious and educational in purpose, it had from the beginning many recreative features and it offers a scheme of life to all to whom it appeals. Courteous conformity and co- operation are enforced by public opinion and necessary regulations. It is a pioneer in educational development, having established the first summer school in the country at a time when conventional institutions held that it was impossible for people to study in the vacation, and having inaugurated the idea of the summer conferences so successfully conducted by the Y. M. C. A. and other organizations. It blazed the way for the modern emphasis on the use of leisure and the margin of time for study and gave the initial impulse and opportunity to many movements which are carrying on their own work under their own names. When other institutions are developed which can do specific work in a more effective way or where elaborate equipment becomes necessary for success, it withdraws from these fields. For instance, when endowed universities began to con- duct correspondence courses it withdrew from that field and conducted thereafter its own distinctively cultural, non-resident courses. It carries on its work under the guidance of experts. While popularizing knowledge, it welcomes to its educational leadership only those who have a right to speak and teach because of experience and thorough study.
In the religious field Chautauqua has been a meeting place for people of different beliefs and therefore a center for real church unity and the application of
Christianity to social and industrial life. Nine Protestant denominations maintain headquarters and several of them entertain missionaries during the summer in their own missionary homes. The National Board of the Y. W. C. A. has expended $10,000 for property for a Hospitality House.
Its national significance lies in the deepening sense of national unity. Founded within ten years of the end of the Civil War, it has helped to break down sectionalism by providing a common meeting ground for the North and the South. It brings together the most influential and widely representative gathering in the entire coun- try. During the war it was a dynamo for patriotic education, and its leaders everywhere were influential in the unification of the country. As an exponent of effec- tive community organization Chautauqua has institution- alized its own community and carries on its activities under a common educational impulse. It brings to- gether the most influential leaders of public opinion and activity, who under expert direction receive instruction with respect to current problems, and who go back into their own communities in all parts of the country to try out in actual life these new methods in social organiza- tion and community welfare.
Every friend of the Institution has a right to look to the future with high hopes. Chautauqua's past is secure because it has profoundly influenced two genera- tions of American life and has had a significant part in making the public opinion which rules the country today. It has been a center of patriotic education, an experiment station for new ideas, a great national in- fluence making for intelligent, religious tolerance and democracy.
Chautauqua's present is one of large opportunity. The Institution is in a powerful position of leadership through a platform known around the world. through the oldest summer schools of the country marvelously adaptable to new educational needs. through a system of educational home reading without a rival in the cultural field, through a physical plant, giving opportunities for wholesome recreation and high thinking and out-of-door living.
Chautauqua's future is wholly in the hands of its friends. It can be put in a position of unassailable security, it can be maintained as one of the potent factors in the life of the nation, it can adapt its methods and scope and mission to the changing social order which the coming years will bring.
It would not be easy to estimate the effect of Chau- tauqua on the unification of national sentiment, the promotion of civic reform, the cultivation of religious spirit, or the development of popular taste. Bishop Vincent, who died in May, 1920. at the age of 88, had the wonderful pleasure of seeing many of his dreams come true. This history of the development of the Institution can best be closed in his own lan- guage summing up what he felt were the essentials of the movement which he and Lewis Miller inaugurated in 1874:
"Chautauqua is a place 'beautiful for situation,' where Nature and Art unite to bless all who land on its shores, wander among its forests, float on its wa- ters. enter its halls, and enjoy its fellowships.
"Chautauqua is an idea, embracing the 'all things' of life-art. science, society, religion, patriotism, educa- tion-whatsoever tends to enlarge, refine, and ennoble the individual, to develop domestic charm and influ- ence, to make the nation stronger and wiser, and to make Time and Eternity seem to be what they are-parts of one noble and everlasting whole.
"Chautauqua is a force, developing the realities of life in the consenting personality; applying to the in- dividual the energies that make for character-wisdom, vision, vast horizon, ever-brightening ideals, strength
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of resolve, serenity of soul, rest in God, and the mul- tiplied ministries that enable the individual to serve society."
Board of Trustees-Honorary President-George E. Vincent, President Rockefeller Foundation, 61 Broad- way, New York City.
President of Institution-Arthur E. Bestor, 311 Sixth Avenue, New York City.
President of Board of Trustees-Clement Studebaker, Jr., South Bend, Indiana, formerly Treasurer Stude- baker Corporation.
Chairman of Executive Board-Charles E. Welch, Westfield, New York, President Welch Grape Juice Company.
First Vice-President of Trustees-William L. Ran- som, 120 Broadway, New York City, member of law firm of Whitman, Ottinger and Ransom.
Second Vice-President-A. M. Schoyer, 437 Com- mercial Trust Building, Philadelphia, Penn., Vice- President Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
Third Vice-President-Ira M. Miller, 34 Mull Avenue, Akron, Ohio.
Treasurer-H. A. Truesdale, Conneaut, Ohio, Manu- facturer.
Secretary-Alburn E. Skinner, 18 West 63rd Street, New York City, treasurer Warren-Nash Motor Corpora- tion.
Ernest Cawcroft, 48 Fenton Building, Jamestown. New York, City Corporation Counsel; Noah F. Clark, 803 Magee Building, Pittsburgh, Penn., capitalist; Mel- vil Dewey, President Lake Placid Club, Essex County, New York: George W. Gerwig, Secretary Board of Ed- ucation, Pittsburgh, Penn .; E. Snell Hall, 127 Forest Avenue, Jamestown, New York, capitalist; Louis J. Harter, Chautauqua, New York, real estate; Fred W. Hyde, Jamestown, New York, City Treasurer; J. C. McDowell, 1321 Farmers Bank Building, Pittsburgh, Penn., capitalist; William F. McDowell, 1509 Sixteenth Street, Washington, D. C., Bishop Methodist Episcopal Church; Vincent Massey, Secretary Massey Harris Com- pany, Ltd., Toronto, Canada; Shailer Mathews, Dean Divinity School, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illi- nois; Mrs. Robert A. Miller, 17 West 45th Street, New York City; S. 1. Munger, President Continental Gin Company, Dallas, Texas; Mrs. Percy V. Penny- backer, 2606 Whitis Avenue, Austin, Texas; Frank M. Potter, Chautauqua, New York, real estate.
Honornry Trustees-Scott Brown, 208 South LaSalle Street, Chicago; W. H. Hickman, Montpelier, Ind .; Julius King, Julius King Optical Company, Cleveland, Ohio; Chester D. Massey, 519 Jarvis Street, Toronto, Canada; J. C. Neville, 703 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, Cal .; Z. L. White, Columbus, Ohio.
Eduentionnl Counell-Lyman Abbott, Editor Outlook, New York City; Jane Addams, Hull House, Chicago; Percy H. Boynton, University of Chicago, Chicago; Frank Chapin Bray, League of Nations Union, New York City; John Graham Brooks, 8 Francis Avenue. Cambridge, Mass .; Elmer E. Brown, Chancellor New York University, New York City; E. B. Bryan, Pres- ident Colgate University, Hamilton, N. Y .; Richard T. Ely, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis .; W. H. P. Faunce, President Brown University, Providence, R. I .; J. M. Gibson, Linnell Close, Hampstead Gardens, London, England; Frank M. Gunsaulus, President Ar- mour Institute, Chicago; G. Stanley Hall, President Clark University, Worcester, Mass .; Jesse L. Hurl- but. 981 Broad Street, Newark, N. J .; F. G. Peabody, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass .; Sir George Adam Smith, Principal Aberdeen University. Aberdeen, Scotland; Charles David Williams, Bishop of Michigan, Detroit, Mich.
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