Arts and Crafts BuildingArts and Crafts Building
Miller Bell TowerMiller Bell Tower
In 1896 the schools were again reorganized under Dr. Harper's supervision. The School of Fine Arts and the New York Summer Institute for Teachers were new departments, the latter under the direction of the Regents of the New York State University. The School of Sacred Literature was increased in its faculty, having among them President Harper, Professor Shailer Mathews, and Professor D. A. McClenahan of the United Presbyterian Theological School. Prominent among the lecturers this year were Dr. George Adam Smith of Scotland, Dr. Gunsaulus, Rev. S. Parkes Cadman, Dr. Booker T. Washington, Rev. Dr. George A. Gordon, Dr. Charles F. Aked, then of England, but soon to become an American, Professor F. G. Peabody, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, soon afterward the President of Columbia University, and Dr. Russell H. Conwell. A lady appeared on the platform whose experience had been unlike that of any other woman in the land. This was Mrs. Robert E. Peary, who accompanied her husband on one of his North Pole explorations and had a daughter born within the polar circle—"The snow baby," as she was called. She gave a lecture with stereopticon views descriptive of thelife in the frozen North. Another woman gave a lecture this year upon her travels in Equatorial Africa, Miss Jessie T. Ackerman. President Charles W. Eliot of Harvard University gave the oration on Recognition Day, his subject being "America's Contribution to Civilization." In looking through the list of the speakers on Recognition Day, I find the names of no less than ten college presidents, and also that of the Hon. William T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, who might be regarded as standing at the head of the nation's educational system. The value of Chautauqua as a force in education has been fully recognized by the highest authorities.
FOOTNOTE:[2]From theHandbook of Informationpublished by the Chautauqua Institution (1918) we give the following extract. "The Chautauqua tradition which taboos card playing and social dancing, and the rule which forbids the sale or importation of alcoholic beverages, disclose the influence which dominated the early life of the Assembly. As to card playing and dancing, the tradition is preserved not because all agree in condemning these things in themselves, but because they are deemed unsuitable to Chautauqua conditions and even hostile to its life. It is believed that they would prove divisive and distracting, and that they suggest a very different type of society from that which Chautauqua seeks to set up for a few summer weeks. Chautauqua, therefore, disapproves these diversions as not only unnecessary, but as involving disintegrating influences. The fact that many who indulge in these amusements at home express gratification that they are not permitted at Chautauqua is significant."
[2]From theHandbook of Informationpublished by the Chautauqua Institution (1918) we give the following extract. "The Chautauqua tradition which taboos card playing and social dancing, and the rule which forbids the sale or importation of alcoholic beverages, disclose the influence which dominated the early life of the Assembly. As to card playing and dancing, the tradition is preserved not because all agree in condemning these things in themselves, but because they are deemed unsuitable to Chautauqua conditions and even hostile to its life. It is believed that they would prove divisive and distracting, and that they suggest a very different type of society from that which Chautauqua seeks to set up for a few summer weeks. Chautauqua, therefore, disapproves these diversions as not only unnecessary, but as involving disintegrating influences. The fact that many who indulge in these amusements at home express gratification that they are not permitted at Chautauqua is significant."
[2]From theHandbook of Informationpublished by the Chautauqua Institution (1918) we give the following extract. "The Chautauqua tradition which taboos card playing and social dancing, and the rule which forbids the sale or importation of alcoholic beverages, disclose the influence which dominated the early life of the Assembly. As to card playing and dancing, the tradition is preserved not because all agree in condemning these things in themselves, but because they are deemed unsuitable to Chautauqua conditions and even hostile to its life. It is believed that they would prove divisive and distracting, and that they suggest a very different type of society from that which Chautauqua seeks to set up for a few summer weeks. Chautauqua, therefore, disapproves these diversions as not only unnecessary, but as involving disintegrating influences. The fact that many who indulge in these amusements at home express gratification that they are not permitted at Chautauqua is significant."
TheChautauqua session of 1897 was fifty-nine days long, from June 26th to August 23rd. This year the School of Domestic Science, directed by Mrs. Emma P. Ewing, attracted attention. Almost as many ladies whose cookery was accomplished by servants, as those who broiled their own steaks and baked their own puddings, met in Mrs. Ewing's model kitchen, learning to make bread, to prepare appetizing sauces and dressings, and to learn how to serve tables with refinement. I remember hearing one lady remark that until she had received Mrs. Ewing's instruction she had never really known how to make good bread.
Among those who gave lectures in 1897, we find the names of Anna Howard Shaw, Ballington and Maud Booth, Bishop (better known as Chaplain) McCabe; quite a list of college presidents—Goucher of Baltimore, Hyde of Bowdoin, Harper of Chicago, John Finley of New York, and G. StanleyHall of Clark; also Professor Graham Taylor, Mr. Percy Alden of England, and Mr. Jacob Riis. A new reader of noble presence, rich voice, and rare dramatic power, recited on the platform of the Amphitheater and assisted in the School of Expression—Mrs. Bertha Kunz Baker, who was to entertain us through many years. Professor Clark gave readings; Mr. George W. Cable rendered a number of his own stories; Mrs. Jessie Eldridge Southwick and Miss Katherine Oliver also gave recitals.
After Dr. Vincent's election as Bishop in 1888, he found it increasingly difficult to supervise the ever-increasing work of Chautauqua. Often during the Assembly season he would be compelled to hold conferences in the far west, and one year in South America. In 1896, his episcopal residence was changed from Buffalo to Topeka, Kansas, and in 1900 he was removed to Zurich, Switzerland, to take charge of Methodist missions in Europe. More and more he delegated the care of Chautauqua to his son, who, one of the most popular of lecturers, was supreme in his ability as administrator. In 1898 Professor George E. Vincent was formally appointed Principal of Instruction, and very soon every department of Chautauqua, both in its lecture platform and its educationalwork, felt the touch of a master hand. Some of us oldsters who had loved Chautauqua from its earliest years, had felt anxious for its future as we saw one of its Founders called aside into other fields, and the other failing in strength, although we knew not how near was his earthly end. But we all had a sense of relief and confidence that the future of Chautauqua was assured when we found "George" taking his father's place as executive in the Department of Instruction. The Bishop retained the title of Chancellor, however, as long as he lived.
In 1898 a new building was erected on College Hill—The Hall of Pedagogy. The report of the season's work showed that attendance had increased in the schools twenty-five per cent. over the last year, the advance being distributed quite evenly among the departments. By this time nearly all the universities and many of the colleges were holding summer schools, yet Chautauqua, first in the field, was still leading in its membership. This year Chautauqua received a visit from Lord Aberdeen, the Governor-General of the Dominion of Canada, and his wife, the Countess. Americans are apt to look for a freezing dignity on the part of the higher nobility, and some were a little surprised to find the Governor-Generaland his Lady unreservedly approachable, and unaffectedly democratic in manner.
Some of those who gave lectures in 1898 were Dr. Richard T. Ely of the University of Wisconsin, President Thirkield of Atlanta, afterward Bishop, Dr. Moulton, Miss Jane Addams, Hon. Murat Halstead, General John B. Eaton, Mr. Leon H. Vincent, Bishop Daniel A. Goodsell, Dr. J. H. Barrows, President of Oberlin, President Faunce of Brown, Dr. Robert McIntyre, also to become a Bishop in due time, Dr. Charles E. Jefferson of New York, Dr. Amory H. Bradford of Montclair, N. J., and Mr. John Kendrick Bangs. Mr. Leland Powers was with us on his biennial visit, and recitals were also rendered by Mr. C. F. Underhill, Mr. John Fox, Miss Isabel Garghill, Mr. Will Carleton, and Miss Ida Benfey. Up to that date, the season of 1898 was one of the most successful in Chautauqua history.
At this time, theChautauquan Magazine, the organ of the C. L. S. C., and theDaily Assembly Herald, were taken over by the trustees, and theChautauqua Presswas established as the publishing agency for the periodicals and books of the C. L. S. C. Mr. Frank Chapin Bray was appointed Editor. By birth and education he was a thorough Chautauquan, having, as it were,grown up on the ground from early childhood and gone through all the courses from the Children's Class to the C. L. S. C. As a small boy he had sold theAssembly Herald;as a young man had written for its columns, and he is not the only journalist who took these steps upward to a literary career.
The season of 1899 opened with a cloud hanging over Chautauqua, bringing sorrow to one family and deepest sympathy from many.
On February 17, 1899, Lewis Miller died in a hospital in New York where he had been taken to undergo an operation from which he failed to rally. He was seventy years of age and had given his whole heart and the best of his life to Chautauqua. But for Lewis Miller there would have been no Chautauqua, though there might have been an Assembly under some other name. He had chosen the place, had urged the location, and in its inception had aided in its plans, had supervised its business interests, and had contributed generously to its needs. At the opening of the "Old First Night" service in August, 1899, the white lilies bloomed in his honor, but instead of being waved, were held in solemn stillness for a full minute, and then slowly lowered, and this memorial has been observed on every "Old First Night" since.The names of Lewis Miller and John H. Vincent stand together in equal honor as the two Founders of Chautauqua. Next to these Founders we remember on "Old First Night" two of the Vice-Presidents of the Board of Trustees, the late Francis H. Root of Buffalo, and Clem. Studebaker of South Bend, Indiana, both wise counsellors and generous givers to Chautauqua.
During the session of 1899, Theodore Roosevelt was for the third time the guest of Chautauqua. The war with Spain had come and gone; he had been Colonel of the Rough Riders, and was now Governor of New York. One of those Rough Riders was young Theodore Miller, the son of the Founder of Chautauqua, and the only Yale student to lay down his life in that campaign. His memory is preserved by the Miller Gate on the University campus. Another Governor was with us that summer, Robert L. Taylor of Tennessee. The two brothers Taylor were the heads respectively of the two political parties in their State, were candidates opposed to each other, stumped the State together, slept together every night, played the violin together at their meetings, and then after the concert, made their speeches against one another. The writer of these pages may claim a humble part in their careers, for both of them asboys, and also an older brother, were students under his teaching in 1864 and '65 in Pennington Seminary, New Jersey. We could tell some stories about those three Taylor boys, but we refrain. I think that the Republican Taylor, Alfred, is even now (1920) the Governor of Tennessee, as his brother was its Democratic Governor in 1899.
Another visitor of about this date, though we are not certain of the precise year, was Mr. Horace Fletcher, whose name is in the dictionary in the word "Fletcherize," which means to count the chewing of each mouthful thirty times before swallowing it. We have tried some steaks in the early Chautauquan days when fifty chews would hardly make an impression. He spoke on the platform, and the few who could hear him said that his talk was not about dietetics, but foreign politics, though the two words are somewhat alike and they may have misunderstood him. His fiftieth birthday came while he was at Chautauqua, and he celebrated it by doing some amazing stunts, double somersaults, etc., into the lake at the diving place. I sat at the table next to his at the Athenæum and noticed that he ate very slowly, but I could not count the chews on each mouthful. A lady at the same table told me that Mr. Fletcher eschewed coffee but put seven lumps of sugar inhis tea, calmly observing that his "system needed sugar." I know some young people who have the same opinion concerning their own systems, if one may judge by the fate of a box of chocolates in their hands.
In this year the School of Religious Teaching was reorganized, the Department of Sacred Literature being conducted by Chancellor Wallace of Toronto, and that of Religious Pedagogy, by Dr. J. R. Street. We may as well insert here the fact that for many years before, and during the seasons since that year, Sunday School lessons were taught in the morning and a lecture given at the Park of Palestine in the afternoon by the author of this volume. The plan with the lessons has been to give every morning a preview of a coming Sunday School topic, so that by the close of the season all the lessons for six months to come have been taught, and at Palestine Park to treat the geography of the land historically in a series of lectures. Also, it should be remembered that every Sunday of the Chautauqua season, from the first year, a Sunday School has been held in the morning, for all ages from youngest to oldest, the grades being taught in different places on the grounds by specialists in their several departments. For some years, if one strayed on Sunday morningover Palestine Park, he might find a class of boys seated on the hills around Nazareth listening to a lesson on the boyhood of Jesus, and a group of girls looking down on the Sea of Galilee, while a teacher was telling stories of the tempest stilled and the five thousand fed.
Prominent upon the lecture platform in 1899 were Prof. C. T. Winchester, Dr. Charles E. Jefferson, Prof. John Fiske, Prof. A. B. Hart, Bishop C. B. Galloway of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, President Faunce, Dr. George Adam Smith, Dr. E. E. Hale, and Governor G. W. Atkinson of West Virginia. Mr. John Kendrick Bangs was also on the platform with readings.
The year 1900 rounded out a century, and one of its outstanding events at Chautauqua was a course of lectures by Principal Fairbairn of Oxford on "The Nineteenth Century." He asserted that in the ages to come, this hundred years will be looked upon as perhaps the greatest of all the centuries in the world's progress made during that period. He spoke in turn upon the historical, the political, the inventive, the literary, the religious, and the philosophic progress, giving without a written reminder names, dates, facts, processes of thought in the widest range. Many regarded itas one of the ablest and most enlightening series of addresses that they had ever heard.
South GymnasiumSouth Gymnasium
Among the new faces on the platform we saw Dr. Lincoln Hulley, the new President of the John B. Stetson University of Florida, an exceedingly interesting speaker and a charming personality. We heard also Mr. Edward Howard Griggs in a series of lectures in the Amphitheater, and an appreciative class also met him in the school. From 1900 until the present, Mr. Griggs has given us biennial courses, and on "Old First Night" his tall form rises and sits down as the record is made up for every alternate year. No lecturer on thoughtful subjects has more engagements or brings together larger audiences than Mr. Griggs. Dean Charles D. Williams of Trinity Cathedral, and in a few years Bishop (Protestant Episcopal) of Detroit, an independent thinker and powerful preacher, welcomed both on the platform and in the pulpit many times since that appearance, his first among us. I think also that Professor Bliss Perry of Harvard spoke for the first time this season, also President Benjamin Ide Wheeler. Others who came as old friends were Prof. Moses Coit Tyler, President Henry Churchill King, Dr. Graham Taylor, Dr. Cadman, Mr. Edward Howard Griggs, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Miss Susan B. Anthony,and Miss Jane Addams. I must not forget that this summer Mr. Francis Wilson was with us again, and gave a lecture upon Eugene Field and his poetry, an appreciation inspired by friendship as well as literary insight. On a former visit to Chautauqua Francis Wilson not only joined the C. L. S. C., but formed a reading circle in his dramatic company, directing their studies and holding their literary meetings in railroad stations, in hotel parlors, and in the green rooms of theaters, wherever they chanced to be when the meeting day arrived.
On August 7, 1900, the corner stone of the Hall of Christ, "Aula Christi," was laid. The address on that occasion was given by Bishop James M. Thoburn of India. Bishop Vincent was now living overseas in Zurich, Switzerland, and could not be present. The stone was laid by Principal George E. Vincent and a telegram from his father was read. This Hall was one of the creations of Bishop Vincent's poetic mind. He aimed to make it a building not large, but beautiful, a sort of shrine, a chapel for meditation and prayer, a place of quiet, spiritual fellowship, not of class teaching, but of thoughtful addresses on themes directly relating to our Lord. Bishop Vincent did not possess the genius for raising large sums ofmoney for his conceptions; he shrank from pressing them upon rich men. Another projector would have ventured boldly, demanded contributions and obtained them, to build the Hall at once; but Dr. Vincent was delicate in speaking of it, though all knew his ardent desires for this ideal. The building grew slowly as gifts were received. Begun in 1899, it was not dedicated until 1912. Although no thought of his own honor in this building was in the Founder's mind, yet to many it stands as his monument at Chautauqua. Most appropriately it is used as the center for the Department of Religious Work, and daily lectures are given within its walls on Biblical themes.
As Dr. George Vincent was now an associate professor in the University of Chicago, it became necessary for him to have some assistance in the management of the Chautauqua program and platform. Mr. Scott Brown was this year appointed General Director and Vice-Principal of Instruction.
Theseason of 1901 was the longest of any thus far, sixty days, from July 1st to August 29th. In the schools Manual Training was introduced under the direction of Mr. Henry J. Baker, also a school of Library Training under the general guidance of Mr. Melvil Dewey, at that time New York State Librarian, and soon after made one of the Chautauqua trustees. The resident director of this school was at first Miss Mary E. Hazeltine of Jamestown; later, and up to the present time, Miss Mary E. Downey, of the Utah State Library. The growth of public libraries throughout the country has made this school very popular among young women seeking the profession of librarian.
Some voices new to Chautauqua were heard from the Amphitheater platform in 1901, such as Dr. O. P. Gifford of the Baptist Church, Captain Richmond Pearson Hobson, Mrs. L. Ormiston Chant of England, a descendant of the greatEdmund Burke, we were informed, and the Governor of New York, Hon. Benjamin B. Odell. Mr. Joseph Jefferson, whom all the world of that generation knew as "Rip Van Winkle," gave a lecture showing the relations of the lecture platform and the stage. Rev. John McNeill, whose speech showed that he came from the north of the Tweed, preached a powerful and searching sermon. Dr. Robert Stuart McArthur gave a lecture on "Mountain Peaks in Russian History." Dr. Hale, President Crawford, Mr. Leland Powers, Dr. S. H. Clark, Dr. Moulton, and Mr. George W. Bain were among the old Chautauqua favorites of that season. As the C. L. S. C. Class of 1900 had taken the name "The Nineteenth Century Class," the one graduating this year was entitled "The Twentieth Century Class." The speaker on Recognition Day was Chancellor E. Benjamin Andrews of the University of Nebraska, on the subject, "Problems of Greater America."
The season of 1902 was noteworthy from a visit of Bishop Vincent. It seems strange to read of avisitfrom the Founder of Chautauqua, but he was at that time living in Zurich, Switzerland, holding Methodist conferences all over Europe, in many languages through interpreters, and for several years had been absent from Chautauqua. We ofthe older generation always missed his presence, but to the younger troop of Chautauquans his was only a revered name. The Vincent whom they knew, and packed the Amphitheater to hear, was the Director George E. Vincent, the man at the wheel of Chautauqua. This year the announcement was made that the Chancellor was coming, and a royal welcome was prepared. A printed account of this event reads as follows:
Arriving at Lakewood, the Bishop was met by members of his family, and the Board of Trustees. After the welcome greetings, the party took a special steamer for Chautauqua. At the Pier a fleet of craft of all descriptions—launches, sail-boats, and row-boats—awaited the arrival of the Bishop's steamer. As soon as it came within hailing distance, the larger boats dipped colors and all the people waved handkerchiefs, the chimes at the Point rang in a familiar tune, and as the steamer headed toward the Pier, the Chautauqua choir, gathered in the balcony, sang the old Chautauqua song, "Join, O friends, in a memory song."As the boat came to the wharf, the bank and the Park of Palestine were a mass of waving handkerchiefs. The Reception Committee, composed of officials of the Institution, stood on the Pier, and back of them an immense throng all eager to catch a glimpse of their beloved leader. Lines were formed on either side of the walk, and as the Bishop passed between them he was greeted with the salute of the whitehandkerchiefs. In Miller Park were gathered the cottage owners, the Summer Schools, and the C. L. S. C. classes, with their banners and emblems, and the various clubs and children's classes. On the way to his cottage on Lake Avenue, the Bishop was escorted by about two hundred and fifty members of the Boys' and Girls' Clubs, whose sweet voices rang out clear and full in "Auld Lang Syne." From the veranda of his tent cottage, the Bishop made an eloquent address of appreciation, full of the joy of home-coming.
Arriving at Lakewood, the Bishop was met by members of his family, and the Board of Trustees. After the welcome greetings, the party took a special steamer for Chautauqua. At the Pier a fleet of craft of all descriptions—launches, sail-boats, and row-boats—awaited the arrival of the Bishop's steamer. As soon as it came within hailing distance, the larger boats dipped colors and all the people waved handkerchiefs, the chimes at the Point rang in a familiar tune, and as the steamer headed toward the Pier, the Chautauqua choir, gathered in the balcony, sang the old Chautauqua song, "Join, O friends, in a memory song."
As the boat came to the wharf, the bank and the Park of Palestine were a mass of waving handkerchiefs. The Reception Committee, composed of officials of the Institution, stood on the Pier, and back of them an immense throng all eager to catch a glimpse of their beloved leader. Lines were formed on either side of the walk, and as the Bishop passed between them he was greeted with the salute of the whitehandkerchiefs. In Miller Park were gathered the cottage owners, the Summer Schools, and the C. L. S. C. classes, with their banners and emblems, and the various clubs and children's classes. On the way to his cottage on Lake Avenue, the Bishop was escorted by about two hundred and fifty members of the Boys' and Girls' Clubs, whose sweet voices rang out clear and full in "Auld Lang Syne." From the veranda of his tent cottage, the Bishop made an eloquent address of appreciation, full of the joy of home-coming.
In 1904, Bishop Vincent was placed on the retired list, to dwell where he chose, free from episcopal service. From that year until 1918, he passed a portion of each summer at Chautauqua and took part in the program, but without the responsibility of supervision. Most of the time he was happy in his release, but there would come occasional hours when he longed to hold the reins once more.
In this year, 1902, a new charter was received from the Legislature of New York, giving a new title, "Chautauqua Institution." The Girls' Club and the Unitarian House were built this season, also the Disciples' Headquarters on Clark Avenue received its pillared portico. The Lutheran House was established during this season.
Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio, who was looked upon as "the power behind the throne" duringthe presidency of his friend, William McKinley, spoke at Chautauqua in 1902, also Mrs. Pennybacker of Texas, Dr. A. E. Dunning of Boston, editor of theCongregationalist, General John C. Black of Pennsylvania, Dr. Earl Barnes, Prof. Charles Zeublin, Dr. W. F. Oldham of India, afterward a Bishop, and the ever-welcome Frank Beard who had been absent for a number of years.
Chautauqua has always believed in the open and free discussion of vexed questions, and this year from August 4th to August 8th was held a most interesting conference on "The Labor Movement." The introductory address opening the subject was given by the Hon. Carroll D. Wright, U. S. Commissioner of Labor. Supplementary lectures, followed by discussion, were by President Harper on "The University and Industrial Education"; Mr. Frank P. Sargent, "Growth and Influence of Labor Organizations"; Mr. John Mitchell, "The Joint Conference between Employer and Employee." On both sides there was the frankest expression of opinion. I remember that when one speaker was asked whether he was an actual worker or a professional agitator, without a word he held out his hands that all might see they were the hands of a working-man.
This year was notable in the Department ofMusic, by the entrance of Mr. Alfred Hallam as Director. His whole-hearted, absolutely self-forgetting labor, and his reach after the highest standards in his art, from 1902 to 1919, made Mr. Hallam dear not only to his choir, but to all Chautauquans.
The year 1903 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the C. L. S. C. in 1878. That event in popular education was commemorated by a great meeting in the Amphitheater and the laying of the corner stone of a new Hall of Philosophy on the site of the old hall, which, being a wooden building, was decaying. The Class of 1882 planted some ivy brought from the Palatine Hill in Rome, other classes planted oak and pine trees. A sealed box, containing portraits of the Founders and copies of Chautauqua publications, was placed in the corner stone, which was then lowered into place and made secure with mortar, the trowel being handled in turn by Dr. George Vincent and Director Scott Brown. As the stone was put in place, a cablegram was read from Bishop Vincent at Helsingfors, Finland—"Remember the foundation is Christ." Vincent.
This year, 1903, the Arts and Crafts shops, which had been in various places over the ground, were brought together by the director, HenryTurner Bailey, making the Arts and Crafts Village, in later years to become the Arts and Crafts Building. The Grange Building on Simpson Avenue was erected and presented as headquarters for that order by Mr. Cyrus W. Jones of Jamestown. This year, 1903, Dean Percy H. Boynton of the University of Chicago was made Secretary of Instruction, and placed in full charge of the Summer Schools, which by this time had grown to more than two thousand students. A few years later he received the title of Principal and gave to the summer schools his unremitting attention until 1917. To Dean Boynton's careful choice of instructors and watchfulness over details of management during those years the growth and success of the schools is largely due.
The Liquor Problem was the subject of the Conference on August 3-8, 1903. I find on the list of speakers and their subjects eight names to which might be added five times as many who participated in the discussions. Commander Frederick Booth-Tucker and his wife Emma Booth-Tucker, told of "The Salvation Army and the Liquor Problem." Mr. Raymond Robins, an eminent social worker of Chicago, spoke on "The Saloon and the World of Graft, Vagrancy, and Municipal Correction," although it may have been "municipalcorruption," for I think he spoke on both subjects. Mrs. Lillian M. N. Stevens told of the work of the W. C. T. U.; Prof. I. P. Bishop showed "The Physiological Effects of Alcohol," Prof. Frederick Starr, the anthropologist, gave an interesting account of "Stimulants among Primitive Peoples." Other speakers were Rev. E. C. Dinwiddie, Mr. Frederick H. Wines, and Mrs. John G. Woolley.
A Corner of the PlaygroundA Corner of the Playground
Another Conference was held August 10th to 15th on "The Mob," and attracted the deepest interest. President William G. Frost of Berea College, Kentucky, told of "The Mountain Feuds"; Mr. John Temple Graves spoke in defense of lynching, and declared that the only solution of the negro problem in the south would be the enforced deportation of the negro back to Africa; but other Southerners present did not agree with him. Dean Richmond Babbitt gave "A Study of the Lynch Law"; Mr. D. M. Parry spoke on "The Mob Spirit in Organized Labor"; Mr. Thomas Kidd on "The Labor Unions and the Mob Spirit." Chief Justice Charles B. Lore of Delaware and Judge John Woodward gave "The Legal Aspects of the Mob Spirit." No discussion at Chautauqua awakened such feeling, although it was carried on with perfect courtesy by speakers on the opposing sides.
We can name only a few of the many lecturers in the regular program of 1903. One was Governor Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, soon to attract attention as an insurgent in the United States Senate. Another was Mr. George Willis Cooke, on social subjects. Mr. Hamlin Garland, the story-writer, gave a lecture, also General John B. Gordon of Georgia, Dr. Richard Burton, a course in literature; Hon. Wm. T. Harris, Dr. Moulton, and the Rev. R. J. Campbell of London. The platform during the season was fairly crowded, the speakers and concerts following in such close succession.
In 1904, Bishop Vincent having been relieved from the cares of the Episcopacy, went to live for a time in Indianapolis. He was now able to come with more or less regularity to Chautauqua, and gave the opening address of the season. The exercises of that year extended through sixty days beginning June 30th and ending August 28th. We note that the School of English included in its staff Prof. Richard G. Moulton and Edward Howard Griggs. The work in Nature Study was enlarged to include courses in Botany and Physiography. The courses for teachers embraced systematic work in all the grades from the kindergarten to the college. This year the new electricrailway was opened from Jamestown to Chautauqua and thence to Mayville and Westfield on Lake Erie. Bishop Vincent was a passenger on the first car over the line. This improved means of transportation enabled people to come by rail every hour to Chautauqua, gave direct and speedy connection with the New York Central Railroad, and resulted in making the principal entrance to the grounds no longer by water but by land. Hence the crowds forsook the stores in the Pier Building and the Arcade, and a new business center grew up on the hill.
This year the new Hall of Philosophy was opened, of the same general plan as the old building, but with floor and pillars of concrete, a more durable material. The building was also somewhat larger than its predecessor and was in every way more convenient. In the concrete floor are inserted tablets in honor of the classes that contributed toward the building. The pillars also bear the names of their givers. The list of exercises in the Hall during any Assembly season would of itself make a long catalogue.
The Devotional Hour had now become a systematic order and called together large congregations. It was not altogether the fame of the great preachers, but also the strong religious atmosphereof the place that gathered every day at ten o'clock for five mornings of each week a thousand people for worship. How many churches could show a congregation as large, not only on Sundays, when the service was attended by five thousand people, but through the days of the week? Among the chaplains of this season, each serving a week, were Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, Dr. Hugh Black, Bishop Oldham, Dr. Daniel Dorchester of Pittsburgh, and the evangelist, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman.
The Conference of 1904 was from July 24th to 29th on the subject of Missions, Home and Foreign. Among the speakers were Dr. Francis E. Clark of the Christian Endeavor movement, recently returned from an all-around the world visit to missions abroad, Dr. Frederick G. Stanley, Dr. George M. Boynton, Dr. Homer Stuntz from the Philippines—afterward a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church—Bishop Oldham, and Mr. J. L. Joslin of India.
I remember hearing Dr. Stuntz tell of a native Filipino who came to him soon after the American occupation of Manila, and after carefully closing the door, and looking in closets to be sure that no one was in hearing, carefully unrolled a package, showed a small Bible in the Spanish language, and asked: "Would it be safe for me to be found readingthis book? I have kept it hidden for years, for my life would have been the penalty if it had been seen." Dr. Stuntz led him to a window, pointed to the American flag flying over the castle, and said; "Do you see that flag? As long as that flag flutters over these islands, you can stand in the market place and read in as loud a voice as you choose out of this book and you will be safe. Wherever that flag flies, the Bible is an open book!"
Most of the men whom we have named gave lectures, as well as participating in the conferences. Besides these, we saw on the platform the massive form of William Howard Taft, then Secretary of War, after a few years to be President of the United States; Mr. Griggs also gave a course of lectures and taught classes in literature, and Prof. Frederick Starr was one of the speakers. Dr. George Adam Smith of Scotland was also with us during the season of 1904.
Some of the recitations this year were by Dr. S. H. Clark, Mrs. Bertha Kunz Baker, Mrs. Emily M. Bishop, Miss Marie L. Shedlock, and Prof. Henry L. Southwick.
Thenotable event in the Assembly of 1905 was the fourth visit of Theodore Roosevelt. He was the President of the United States, not now by succession, but by direct vote of the people, for his first term, after the death of Mr. McKinley, had been completed. He had promised to maintain his predecessor's policies during the period for which Mr. McKinley had been elected, and through that term he had initiated no new movements. But his pledge having been kept and his administration ratified by the popular vote, Mr. Roosevelt was now free to bring forward his own plans. His address at Chautauqua on August 11th, five months after his inauguration, was the first public announcement of his principles and policies, and in its boldness, its candor, and its originality was fairly startling. Mr. McKinley was a cordial, but a reticent party leader. Everyone who talked with him was charmed, but no onecould recall any definite promise or statement that he had made. Mr. Roosevelt was absolutely, unreservedly open; he would state to anybody his opinion on every public question. Lyman Abbott once said, "Mr. McKinley and Mr. Roosevelt were both great men and great statesmen, but between the absolute reticence of the one and the absolutely openness of the other, there is no half-way house."
The presidential party included his son Kermit, his nephew Paul Roosevelt, his cousin Philip Roosevelt, Mr. Jacob A. Riis, and a number of leading politicians, besides secret service men, and the inevitable troop of newspaper reporters. They were met at Lakewood by Bishop Vincent, his son the Principal, and representatives of the Chautauqua Board. A breakfast was served to the party and to some invited guests in Higgins Hall. I sat beside a prominent politician who said to me that on the train and boat he was absolutely amazed at the knowledge of President Roosevelt upon every subject, and his readiness to state his views upon even the deepest matters of State. At the table I noticed Dr. James M. Buckley sitting beside the President and in earnest conversation with him. As we passed out of the Hall, I mentioned to Dr. Buckley what the public man hadtold me of Mr. Roosevelt's outspoken candor, and Dr. Buckley said that the President had answered every question in utter frankness, evidently having nothing to conceal; and Dr. Buckley could ask searching questions.
The adage, "It sometimes rains at Chautauqua," was verified that day by a steady downpour, which with the umbrellas lifted over the moving procession made every avenue, seen from an upper balcony, look like an endless serpent with a series of bulging black knobs on his back. No words can express the jam of people in and around the Amphitheater and the breathless interest with which all listened to the President's address, which came like a revelation, with its outspoken utterances upon subjects hitherto held as State secrets. He talked of our relations with nations abroad, and of problems at home, the trusts, questions of capital and labor, and, indeed, every subject under discussion at that time. A statesman once said, "Language was invented to conceal thought," but that was certainly not the use of language by one eminent American. As Mr. Roosevelt was leaving the Amphitheater, he saw the Boys' Club standing together, on guard, and he gave them a short, appreciative, practical speech.
Some of the speakers at the Assembly of 1905were District Attorney William Travers Jerome of New York, Governor Joseph W. Folk of Missouri, the Hon. Robert Watchorn, Commissioner of Immigration, President Charles Cuthbert Hall of the Union Theological Seminary of New York, recently home from giving addresses in India and China under the auspices of the Parliament of Religion, President Rush Rhees of the University of Rochester, President Herbert Welch of Ohio Wesleyan, Dean Charles D. Williams—on his next visit to be a Bishop—and Dr. Richard Burton. Mrs. Bertha Kunz Baker, Dr. S. H. Clark, Mr. Leland Powers, and others entertained us with readings and impersonations; but it should also be said that the leading elocutionists at Chautauqua made it a large part of their task to acquaint us with great literature, both in poetry, in prose, and especially in the drama.
In 1905 the Colonnade Building was built and became the business center of Chautauqua. During this season Mr. Scott Brown, the General Director under Principal George E. Vincent, called into the service of the Chautauqua Institution, as assistant, a young man to become in a few years his successor, Mr. Arthur E. Bestor. Mr. Bestor also began lecturing upon the platform in a course on "Studies in American Diplomacy."
In the report of the year 1906, I notice a custom that is mentioned for the first time this year, though it may have been observed before. On the opening night, June 28, signal fires were lighted at prominent points around the lake, notifying the summer residents, whose cottages by this year were girdling Lake Chautauqua, that the Assembly had now begun for another season. This illumination has been followed every year since 1906, and appropriately gives notice to every village between Mayville and Jamestown that the light of Chautauqua has begun to shine.
The program of July we find as full as that of August. During the earlier month were lectures and addresses by Professor F. Hyatt Smith on "Eminent Englishmen of the Nineteenth Century"—Coleridge, Macaulay, Carlyle, Matthew Arnold, and others; literary lectures by Leon H. Vincent, who was now "Doctor of Letters," Mr. Henry Turner Bailey, head of the Arts and Crafts, but lecturer on many subjects; Newell Dwight Hillis of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn; Dr. W. J. Dawson, an English preacher and author who had lately come to live in America, equally great in the pulpit and in literature; Dr. S. C. Schmucker, one who could make a scientific subject plain to the lay-mind; Dr. John T. McFarland, head ofthe Sunday School work of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Mrs. Donald McLean, President-General of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and other speakers.
During August a most interesting course of lectures was given by Mr. John Graham Brooks on "America Viewed by Outside People"—showing how the estimates of our country, especially by English writers, had arisen from almost contemptuous criticism (much of it deserved, it must be admitted) to high appreciation. Mr. Griggs gave a new course of literary lectures. Bishop Vincent gave a lecture on Martin Luther. Prof. Cecil F. Lavell spoke on historical subjects. Sir Chentung Lieng Chang, the Ambassador from China, graduate of an American college, Amherst, I think—was a visitor and spoke in excellent English. Prof. Edward A. Steiner, the great authority on immigration, lectured on "Our Foreign Population," and told a remarkable story of a journey that he had made through underground Russia, visiting nearly a hundred revolutionary centers. Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton talked on wild animals, to the enjoyment of both young and old.
On Recognition Day of the C. L. S. C., August 15, 1906, the new Hall of Philosophy was dedicated.
In 1907 Professor George E. Vincent was made President of the Chautauqua Institution. His father retained the title of Chancellor, but the active duties of the management were now entirely in the hands of the President. In the following year, Mr. Arthur E. Bestor was advanced to the place formerly held by Mr. Scott Brown, that of Senior Director in charge of all business administrations and assisting President Vincent on the educational side.
A man who made his mark deeply on Chautauqua came this year for the first time, Mr. Henry Turner Bailey of the Arts and Crafts School. He could not only teach, but could lecture on art or history in a most fascinating manner, all the time drawing pictures on the blackboard with both hands at once. Under his care the Arts and Crafts shops were assembled, grew into a village, and later found their home in a series of fine buildings on College Hill. He continued with us year after year until a new position in Cleveland, Ohio, compelled him to sever relations with Chautauqua.
Two great conferences were held this summer. The first was on "The Juvenile Problem," July 8th-13th. Speakers on the subject were Rev. W. Byron Forbush on "The Knights of King Arthur," an order of which he was the founder; Mr. W. R.George, on "The George Junior Republic"; Judge Ben B. Lindsey of Denver on "The Juvenile Court." Mr. Melvil Dewey, Rev. Crawford Jackson, Judge Willis Brown and Mr. E. B. DeGrott spoke on "Public Playgrounds," "The Public Library," "The Child and the State," and kindred subjects.
The other conference was held July 29th to August 3d, on "The Social Unrest." A few of the speakers and their topics were: Mr. John Graham Brooks on "The Challenge of Socialism"; Mr. James Wadsworth, Jr., afterward U. S. Senator from New York, on "Politics"; Mr. R. R. Bowker on "The Corporation"; Mr. Henry Clews on "Capital"; Mr. J. G. Phelps Stokes and his wife, Rose Pastor Stokes, on "A Defense of Socialism"; Bishop Henry C. Potter, "The Church"; Mr. Charles Stelzle, "The Church and the Classes"; Miss Jane Addams on "The Settlement Movement."
On the regular lecture platform appeared Governor Charles E. Hughes of New York, Mr. William Jennings Bryan who had just returned from a trip around the world and spoke on "The Old World and Its Ways," President G. Stanley Hall a series on "Five Non-Christian Religions," President George E. Vincent on "Utopias," aseries describing the ideals of men for the community and the state from Plato'sRepublicto the Community of Robert Dale Owen. Bishop Vincent also gave a lecture, the father and the son speaking on different days from the sameplatform. My recollection is that the Bishop spoke this summer on "Sidney Lanier and His Poetry," and placed him high on the roll of American poets.
Another lecturer who pleased us all was the bright essayist, Samuel McChord Crothers. His paper on "The Society for Polite Unlearning" was heard by a crowd in the Hall of Philosophy. Most of the audience caught the undertone of wisdom with the wit, but a few thought that it was only funny, in which they were mistaken. Dr. Shailer Mathews, Dr. C. F. Aked, and Bishop McDowell were among those who conducted the daily Devotional Services.
Grand Army Day was a dramatic occasion in the fact that before an audience of old Union soldiers, in their G. A. R. uniforms, the address was given by Mrs. LaSalle Corbell Pickett, the widow of General George Edward Pickett of the Confederate Army, who led the famous "Pickett's Charge" in the battle of Gettysburg—an attack that stands in history beside the "Charge of the Light Brigade," sung by Tennyson. Her storyof that great day, deciding the destiny of a continent, was listened to, not merely with interest, but with outbreaking enthusiasm by an audience of Union soldiers, who honored the memory of a soldier whom they looked upon less as a foe than as a hero.
One little incident told by Mrs. Pickett we must make room for; in substance it was this: On Lee's march through Pennsylvania, Pickett's division passed a young girl who waved a United States flag, and then, fastening it around her waist, cried, "Traitors! come and touch this flag if you dare!" At this fierce challenge, a mingled stir of many voices went through the long gray ranks and many a rifle shifted uneasily. General Pickett rode in front of his men, and with true southern chivalry saluted her flag. Then he turned and faced his men. The soldiers followed his example, and as they passed by, every hat was swung aloft in honor of the girl and her flag. The little maiden was so overcome by this generosity that she cried out, "I wish I had a rebel flag; I'd wave that too!"
In October, 1907, the Colonnade Building, which had been standing only two years, was wholly destroyed by fire, causing a loss of $100,000, with an insurance of about $55,000. The indirect loss is not easy to estimate, for it included the contentsof the stores and the issues of the Magazine ready for mailing, with much other printed matter of the Institution. This was the fourth fire which had occurred during the thirty-four years of Chautauqua; a remarkable record when one remembers how close together are many of the houses, and all built of wood. Plans for rebuilding the Colonnade were taken up immediately, also the beginning of a quadrangle of buildings for the Arts and Crafts Department and the erection of a Post Office Building.
In 1908 the July program included the names of Professor J. E. McFadyen of Knox College, Toronto, Principal James Robertson of Scotland, and Dr. W. L. Watkinson of England; all these in the Department of Religious Work, which was unusually strong that year. Dr. Watkinson looked the least like an Englishman that could be imagined. Long and lank and lean, he might have been taken for a Yankee of the Yankees, until he began to speak. His oratory is indescribable, original thoughts expressed in original language, with here and there a solemn witticism at which the hearer wanted to laugh but hardly dared to. Bishop Vincent gave a lecture on "An Old School House." Dr. H. W. Wiley, the food specialist and foe of misbranded packages of food, gave anaddress. Norman Hapgood ofCollier's Magazine, Hon. Everett Colby of New Jersey, a leader in political reform, Prof. Graham Taylor, a sociologist and social reformer, were among the speakers.
In August of 1908, a notable English lady spoke on the Amphitheater platform, Mrs. Philip Snowden, wife of a member of Parliament. It was said that her husband owed his election to her power of public speaking, and especially to her skill in answering "heckling" questions—a political method quite common in England, though regarded as not quite proper in America. In our country when one party holds a meeting, it is not considered fair to interrupt the flow of oratory and disconcert the orator by disagreeable questions from the other side; but in Great Britain every political speaker must face such enquirers, and the one who put them to little Mrs. Snowden generally got the worst of the encounter. Though slight and seemingly fragile, speaking apparently without effort, every syllable of her speeches on the question of woman's enfranchisement could be distinctly heard from every seat in the Amphitheater. Other speakers in August, 1908, were Lieut.-Governor Chanler of New York, Edward Howard Griggs, Prof. Charles M. Cobern, an authority on Biblical archæology,Dr. Leon H. Vincent in a course on "French Literary Celebrities," President J. D. Moffatt of Washington and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, Charles Stelzle on social rights and wrongs, and George Riddle in some enjoyable recitations. Percy Alden, M.P., spoke on "Social and Economic Questions" in England and Charles F. Lavell gave a course on historical lectures. Dr. R. S. MacArthur and Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman were among the preachers and leaders of the Devotional Hour.
August 11, 1908, was Pennsylvania Day, with addresses in praise of the Keystone State by Governor E. G. Stuart, Ex-Governor and General J. A. Beaver, and others.
Thethirty-sixth session of Chautauqua was epoch making in the development of material resources. The blackened ruins of the burned Colonnade Building were replaced by a new structure, the official headquarters of the Institution, the business center, and on its upper floor a rooming place for many employees in the offices. On the southern front of the Plaza arose the new Post Office Building, with the village public library, the presses and office of theChautauqua Press. The first section of the projected Arts and Crafts quadrangle was built, to the great joy of Mr. Bailey, who had labored and almost fought for its construction. The Hall of Pedagogy arose at one end of the grounds and the Athletic Club House at the other. The Hall of the Christ was completed after many years of slow growth, and the Commons, a boarding-place for students, was opened through all the year for employees residingduring the winter. As a venture, with some questioning, the New York Symphony Orchestra was engaged for a week of concerts, its leader being Walter Damrosch. Who would have dreamed in 1909 that in 1920 the same orchestra would sound its harmonies through six full weeks!
The keynote of the year, and indeed of Chautauqua through all its history, was expressed in President George E. Vincent's utterance in his annual report—that Chautauqua must "be kept in close and sympathetic connection with the great currents of national life. It must be a center from which the larger and more significant movements may gain strength and intelligent support." The season this year opened on Friday, July 2d, with a lecture by President Vincent on "Vocation and Culture."
To even name the speakers of the year and their subjects would necessitate the enlargement of our book, and to omit any of them may bring the author into peril of his life if he should meet any of those left out; but he must face the prospect of a martyr's end, by naming only a few. President Edwin Earle Sparks, of the Pennsylvania State College, gave a series of lectures on American history; Prof. Archer B. Hulbert on "The Military Conquest of the Alleghanies"; Prof. StocktonAxson on "Literary Leaders"; Dr. Andrew Sloan Draper, Superintendent of Education for New York State, spoke, also Prof. George Albert Coe, Prof. Clyde W. Votaw, and Dr. Richard M. Hodge—these four on subjects relating to education; Mr. Earl Barnes gave a course of lectures, besides teaching in the schools; Booker T. Washington, President Frank R. Sanders, Dr. P. S. Henson, Prof. Henry F. Cope, Mr. Ernest Hamlin Abbott, ofThe Outlook, and many more were with us in July, 1908.
In August we heard Prof. Richard Burton in a course of literary lectures; Dr. George Adam Smith, Richard G. Moulton, and J. M. Thoburn, Jr., a nephew of Bishop Thoburn, also Bishop Samuel Fallows of the Reformed Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Samuel A. Eliot, a son of the Harvard President. Mr. S. S. McClure gave an offhand conversational address on "The Making of a Magazine," the story of his own experience.
The Devotional Hour was by this year firmly fixed in the Chautauqua system. The Chaplain preached on Sunday morning, at the great Amphitheater service, and at ten o'clock for five days following gave an address on some religious topic. Among our chaplains during the season of 1908 were Dr. Charles E. Jefferson of New York, Prof.Herbert L. Willett of the University of Chicago, President Herbert Welch, and Dr. R. H. Conwell. The Recognition address to the graduating class of the C. L. S. C. was by President Faunce of Brown University on "Ideals of Modern Education."
This year a course in Esperanto, the proposed world-language, was conducted, and the second Esperanto Congress of America was held at Chautauqua. Not having studied the language and being too busy to attend the convention, the writer is unable to state whether the lectures were given in that tongue or in English, the inferior language which Esperanto is expected to displace. Probably two or three hundred years hence Shakespeare's plays, Milton's poems, and Mark Twain's stories will be known only in that language, English being a quarry for archæological research with about as many students as Greek or Sanscrit has to-day.
An event of 1901 which attracted crowds from all Chautauqua County and its surroundings was the historical pageant of scenes in the history of Chautauqua Lake. It included scenes from the Indian Wars before the Revolution, the French explorers, the British and American soldiers of the Revolutionary period, and the settlement of the shores. This was followed by the rendition of a play,TheLittle Father of the Wilderness, by Francis Wilson and his company. The concerts of the preceding year by the New York Symphony Orchestra, under Walter Damrosch, had been so successful that the management brought them for a second visit in 1910.
One distinguished visitor in 1910 was the Right Honorable James Bryce, Ambassador of Great Britain to our country. His lecture was on "History and Politics." Dr. S. M. Crothers gave four lectures in his own inimitable manner on "The One Hundred Worst Books." He proposed as an interesting question, "Suppose that twenty centuries hence, when the English language may be as dead as Latin and Greek are now, what authors in English literature will be remembered?" Director Bestor found time in the midst of his labors to give us a fine lecture on "Gladstone." Paul Vincent Harper, son of President Harper, spoke on "Life in Palestine" after a visit to that land. Dr. Griggs gave a course on "Social Progress." Distinguished visitors from the old country were Sir William Ramsay, the highest authority in the English-speaking world on the church in the New Testament age, and Lady Ramsay. Both lectured, Lady Ramsay on "The Women of Turkey." Mrs. Philip Snowden gave another courseof lectures, maintaining fully her popularity. She was strongly in favor of the suffrage for women but as strongly opposed to the methods of the militant suffragettes. Another speaker who attracted attention, although his views were not accepted by the majority at Chautauqua, was the Secretary of the American Federation of Labor, Mr. John B. Lennon. On the questions pertaining to trade unions and collective bargaining, however, one who talked with the Chautauqua constituency was surprised to find so large a number of progressive thinkers taking the side of labor against capital.
The Chautauqua Devotional Hour was represented in the season of 1910 by Dr. Hugh Black, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, Dr. G. A. Johnston Ross, and Charles D. Williams, who was now Bishop of Michigan.
It has been found that many are eager to enjoy the advantages of the Summer Schools at Chautauqua who are unable to meet the expense. To aid these, various gifts have been made from time to time. On old First Night in 1910 a system of fifty annual scholarships was established by setting apart the offering of that evening for this purpose, and the fund has since been increased from year to year.
In 1911, the Miller Bell Tower at the Pointbeside the Pier was dedicated. For years the chime of Meneely bells had stood in the belfry of the old building on the Pier. But the piles beneath it were becoming decayed and the bells by their weight and their movement racked the old edifice. Their removal was necessary and the Tower was built adjoining the wharf. A fine clock presented by the Seth Thomas Clock Company, and the chimes, were placed in the summit of the Tower which received the name "Lewis Miller Bell Tower." These bells ring five minutes before the lecture hours, and at certain times, morning, noon, and night, the chimes play familiar music. After the night bell, which may be either at 10 or 10.30, silence is supposed to reign throughout the grounds. One of the original peal of four bells, afterward enlarged to form the chime of ten bells, is named the Bryant bell, and is rung precisely at twelve o'clock noon on the first day of October as a signal for beginning the readings of the Chautauqua Circle. The name is in honor of William Cullen Bryant, in recognition of his interest in the C. L. S. C.
During the season of 1911 a number of illustrated lectures were given by Prof. R. W. Moore on "The Rhine"; by C. L. Harrington on "Aerial Navigation,"—a lecture fully up to date at thattime, surprising to many who heard it and looked at the pictures. But that was before the great war, and the same lecture would be hopelessly behind the times in 1921. Mr. Henry Turner Bailey showed us "A Dozen Masterpieces of Painting," and Mr. Jacob A. Riis, "The Making of an American," Dr. Henry R. Rose exhibited "The Oberammergau Passion Play," and Dr. H. H. Powers, "Venice." Both President George E. Vincent and Director Arthur E. Bestor gave lectures; also Edmund Vance Cooke and Mr. Earl Barnes, Mr. Leland Powers impersonated stories and plays as nobody else could. Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip gave three lectures on "Banking," which proved far more interesting than most of us had anticipated. Dr. H. H. Powers told in a series of lectures the stories of five great cities, Athens, Rome, Florence, Paris, and London. Dr. Gunsaulus gave a series of lectures on "Some of the Great Plays of Shakespeare"; Prof. S. C. Schmucker, a series mingling science with history on "American Students of Nature,—Audubon, Agassiz, Gray and Thoreau." Dean George Hodges in the Department of Religion lectured in a course on "Christian Social Betterment."
Among the chaplains of 1911 are the names of Bishop E. E. Hoss of the Methodist EpiscopalChurch, South, Dr. John T. Stone of Chicago, Dr. Shailer Mathews, also of Chicago, Dr. C. F. Aked, then a pastor in San Francisco, and Rev. Silvester Horne of England. The baccalaureate sermon before the C. L. S. C. was this year given by the Chancellor, Bishop Vincent.
For twenty-two years William H. Sherwood was head of the piano department in the schools and untiring in his labors. He died in 1910, and in 1912 the Sherwood Memorial Studio on College Hill was opened and dedicated to his memory. A hospital, long needed, was this year established, named "The Lodge." The Department of Religious Work was reorganized, made more prominent, and placed under the charge of Dean Shailer Mathews as "Director of Religious Work." The headquarters of this department were established in the Hall of Christ.
The Independence Day address was given by Director Bestor on "The Old World and the New," the social, political, municipal, religious conception on the two sides of the Atlantic. Two stories from his lectures are worthy of being repeated. One was Theodore Roosevelt's retort when accused of wanting to become a king. "A king! what is a king? Why, a kind of perpetual Vice-President." The other was a conversation that Mr. Bestor hadwith an Englishman whom he met in Berlin. He asked "What would you do in England if the royal line should develop a William II. or a Roosevelt?" The Englishman answered, "Impossible! A man with any real political initiative is not to be thought of in the English kingship!"
For the first time, partisan political addresses were given on the Chautauqua platform. This was the year, it will be remembered, when Mr. Taft had been renominated by the regular Republican Convention, Mr. Roosevelt by the bolting Progressives, and Woodrow Wilson by the Democrats. It was decided to allow each of the parties to be represented. Attorney-General Wickersham spoke in behalf of the Republicans. Mr. Eugene W. Chafin, the candidate of the Prohibition Party, addressed a crowded Amphitheater, and seemed to give everybody great enjoyment from the constant laughter and applause. He said after the election that if everybody who applauded and cheered his speeches had voted for him, he would have been President!
But the great audience assembled, packing the Amphitheater to its utmost corner, with a great ring of people standing around it, to hear William Jennings Bryan. On account of an afternoon lecture in Ohio, he sent word that he could notarrive until 8.45 in the evening, and it was nine when at last he stood on the platform. But he held the crowd in rapt attention to the end of his plea in behalf of the Democratic Party and its candidate, who was indebted to Mr. Bryan more than to any other worker for his nomination and, as the result showed, for his election. I am not certain who spoke in behalf of Mr. Roosevelt, but think that it was Mr. William H. Prendergast, Comptroller of New York City.
Among the lecturers of 1912 we heard the Baroness Von Suttner, who had taken the Nobel Peace Prize by her bookLay Down Your Arms. She gave a strong plea for arbitration between nations, to take the place of war. There was also a lecture by David Starr Jordan, President of Leland Stanford University, on "The Case Against War," showing conclusively that the day of wars was past and that the financial interrelations of nations would make a great war impossible. How little we dreamed of the war-cloud within two years to drench the whole world in blood! There was, indeed, one warning voice at this Assembly, that of Mr. H. H. Powers, in his clear-sighted lecture on "International Problems in Europe." He did not predict war, but he showed from what causes a great war might arise. There was a debate onWoman Suffrage. Mrs. Ida Husted Harper gave several lectures in its behalf, and Miss Alice Hill Chittenden on "The Case Against Suffrage." Professor Scott Nearing gave a course of lectures on social questions, showing powerfully the evils of the time, and setting forth his view of the remedy,—a socialistic reorganization of the State and of society in general. Some conservative people who heard Scott Nearing lecture, regarded him as a firebrand, in danger of burning up the national temple, but those who met him in social life were compelled to yield to the charm of his personal attractiveness. Dr. Leon H. Vincent gave a course of lectures on "Contemporary English Novelists." He began in the Hall of Philosophy, but was compelled to move into the Amphitheater. Mr. Charles D. Coburn of the Coburn Players gave a careful, critical address, summing up fairly the good and evil, on "The Drama and the Present Day Theater."
The Daily Devotional Service in the Amphitheater, and the addresses on "The Awakened Church," in the Hall of Christ, one at nine o'clock, the other at ten, drew large congregations. It could not be said that Chautauqua was losing interest in religion, Canon H. J. Cody of Toronto gave a series of talks on "Bible Portraitsof Persons we Know: 1, The Average Man; 2, The Man in the Street; 3, The Man who Misapplies the Past; 4, The Man who is Dying of Things"; Prof. Francis S. Peabody of Harvard a series on "Christian Life in the Modern World." Bishop McDowell (Methodist) conducted the Hour for a week to the great spiritual uplift of the large audience. Dr. Shailer Mathews gave an interesting series on "The Conversations of Jesus," Dr. James A. Francis a course on "Evangelism."
Realizing how many worthy names I have omitted, I close regretfully the record of Chautauqua in 1912.