CHAPTER XVII
CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA
(1893-1896)
When the Chautauquans gathered for the twentieth Assembly on July 1, 1893, they found some changes had taken place. The old Amphitheater, which had faithfully served its generation, but had fallen into decrepitude, no longer lifted its forest of wooden pillars over the ravine. In its place stood a new Amphitheater, more roomy and far more suitable to the needs of the new day. It was covered by a trussed roof supported by steel columns standing around the building, so that from every seat was an unobstructed view of the platform. The choir-gallery was enlarged to provide seats for five hundred. The platform was brought further into the hall, making room for an orchestra. The seats were more comfortable, and could now hold without crowding fifty-six hundred people. A few years later, the old organ gave place to a greater and better one, the gift of the Massey family of Toronto, a memorial of their father, the late Hart A. Massey, one of the early Trustees of the Assembly. Under the choir-loft and on either side of the organ, rooms were arranged for offices and classes in the Department of Music.
During the previous season, 1892, a Men's Club had been organized and had found temporary quarters. It now possessed a home on the shore of the Lake, beside Palestine Park. In its rooms were games of various sorts, cards, however, being still under the ban at Chautauqua.[2] Newspapers and periodicals, shower-baths, and an out-of-door parlor on the roof, very pleasant except on the days when the lake flies invaded it. The Men's Club building had formerly been the power house of the electrical plant, but one who had known it of old would scarcely recognize it as reconstructed, enlarged, and decorated. To make a place for the dynamo of the electric system, an encroachment had been made upon Palestine Park; a cave had been dug under Mount Lebanon, and the dynamo installed within its walls. The age of King Hiram of Tyre, who cut the cedars of Lebanon for Solomon's Temple, and the age of Edison, inventor of the electric light, were thus brought into incongruous juxtaposition. A chimney funnel on the summit of Mount Lebanon, it must be confessed, seemed out of place, and the Valley of Coele-Syria, between Lebanon and Hermon, was entirely obliterated. Bible students might shake their heads disapprovingly, but even sacred archæology must give way to the demands of civilization.
An improvement less obvious to the eye, but more essential to health, was the installation of a complete sewer system. As the sewage is not allowed to taint the water of the lake, it is carried by pipes to a disposal plant at the lower end of the ground and chemically purified. The water rendered as clear as crystal is then permitted to run into the lake, while the sludge is pressed by machinery into cakes used as fertilizer. An artesian well on high ground supplies pure water in abundance, with taps at convenient places for families. Originally the water in use came from wells. These were carefully tested by scientific experts, and most of them were condemned, but a few were found to give forth pure water and are still in use, though frequently and carefully tested. Near the Men's Club is a spring of mineral water containing sulphur and iron. It has the approval of chemists and physicians, and many drink it for its healthful effect.
One who looks over the programs of Chautauqua through successive years will notice the number of the clubs for various classes and ages. Largest of all is the Woman's Club, of which Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller was the first President, succeeded by Mrs. B. T. Vincent, and carried on under her leadership for many years. When on account of failing health Mrs. Vincent felt compelled to resign her office, her place was taken by Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker of Texas, who had been President of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs in the United States. This Club includes more than two thousand members, and its daily meeting in the Hall of Philosophy brings together a throng, often too large for the building. In 1918 the Club purchased a cottage fronting on the lake, near the Hotel Athenæum, as a headquarters, a place for social gatherings and rest rooms for women.
Besides the Women's Clubs and the Men's Club, there are at least a dozen other associations of people having tastes and interests bringing them together. We will name the most important of these without regard to their chronological order.
There is the Athletic Club for men and boys over sixteen, directing the organized sports and providing all forms of out-of-door recreation. It has a club house on the lake with bowling alleys and boat room, shower baths and lockers, and a reading room.
The Golf Club has a nine-hole course, situated on the rising ground of eighty acres opposite the traction station. The money has been contributed for a Country Club House, soon to be built at the entrance. The donors, it is understood, are Mr. Stephen J. Munger of Dallas, Texas, one of the Trustees, his wife, and Mrs. Frank B. Wilcox of St. Petersburg, Florida, in memory of her husband.
Chautauquans of some years' standing will remember the old croquet ground, where now stands the Colonnade, and the group of solemn gray-beards who used to frequent it and knock the balls through the big arches all day. No matter what popular lecturer was speaking in the Amphitheater, the passer-by would find that same serious company. I used to pass them while going to my home and coming from it several times each day. On one occasion I stopped and struck up an acquaintance with a tall old gentleman who always wore a high hat and a long double-breasted coat. I learned that he was the President of a Bank among the mountains of Pennsylvania, and that he had come to Chautauqua suffering from nervous prostration, making him utterly unable to do business and scarcely desiring to live. He passed the croquet court, sat down, and was invited to play. He began and found himself, for the first time in many months, actually interested in doing something. He began to enjoy his meals and to sleep at night. All that summer he played croquet, never listening to a lecture, and at the end of the season went home almost well. From that time croquet became more than his recreation, almost his business. He told me that there were others like himself who found health and a new enjoyment of life in the game. When the ground was needed for the new business block, the courts were removed to the ravine on the other side of the grounds, near the gymnasium. About that time croquet was developed into a more scientific game, a sort of billiardized croquet, with walls from which a ball would rebound, and arches a quarter of an inch—or is it only an eighth of an inch?—wider than the ball. To find a name for the new game they struck off the first and last letters, so that croquet became Roque, and in due time the Roque Club arose, with a group of players who live and breathe and have their being for this game. People come from far, and I am told, to attend its tournaments at every season.
There is also a Quoit Club meeting on the ground near Higgins Hall, beside the road leading up College Hill.
The Young Woman's Club is for those over fifteen years of age, while the Girl's Club has its membership between eight and fifteen, meets in its own Club House near the roque courts, and is enthusiastically sought by those no longer little girls, yet not quite young women.
Wherever one walks around Chautauqua he is sure to see plenty of boys in blue sweaters bearing on their bosoms the monogram in big letters C. B. C, initials of the Chautauqua Boys' Club. They too have their headquarters near the athletic field and find something doing there all day long.
Sherwood Memorial Studios
Traction Station
For the little ones, there is the kindergarten at Kellogg Hall, and out of doors beside it the playground, where the tots make cities out of sand and find other pleasures. And we must not forget the Children's Paradise, the completely equipped playground in the ravine at the northwestern part of the grounds. I remember hearing Jacob A. Riis, the father of the city playgrounds, say in one of his lectures: "They tell me that the boys play ball in the streets of New York and break windows when the ball goes out of the way. Good! I hope they will break more windows until the city fixes up playgrounds for them!" Jacob Riis lived long enough to see at Chautauqua one of the finest playgrounds, and to find in it one of the happiest crowds of children on the continent. One blessing for tired mothers at Chautauqua is that their children are in safekeeping. They may be turned loose, for they can't get outside the fence, and in the clubs and playgrounds they are under the wisest and most friendly care.
There are Modern Language Clubs in French and Spanish, with conversations, recitations, and songs in these languages. "No English Spoken Here," might be written over their doors, although nearly all their members elsewhere do their talking in the American patois. There was a German Club, but it was suspended during the war, when German was an unpopular language and has not yet been reëstablished.
The Music Club holds gatherings, in the Sherwood Music Studios on College Hill.
There is a Press Club, composed of men and women who write books and articles for publication. They hold social receptions for acquaintance among wielders of the quill; perhaps it would be more accurate, though less classic, to say, "pounders of the typewriter." Several times each season they have an "Author's Night," when well-known writers, some of them famous, read their own productions.
There is a Lawyers' Club, a Masonic Club, and a Grange Club, the latter having its own building of Greek architecture; also a College Fraternity Club of the wearers of sundry pins and keys.
The Bird and Tree Club has a large and representative membership of those interested in identifying and protecting the fauna, flora, and bird life of Chautauqua and its vicinity. On the Overlook, beyond the Athletic Field, they have established a herbarium for the preservation of the different forms of trees found on the ground.
We must group together, begging pardon of the members, many other organizations, such as the W. C. T. U. All Americans know, some of them to their cost, what those four letters stand for; the Y. W. C. A., which has opened a Hospitality House of Welcome and Rest on Pratt Avenue; the Daughters of the American Revolution, coming from every part of the land for gatherings at Chautauqua; the Order of the Eastern Star, whose secrets none but the initiated know; the College Men's Club, the College Women's Club, the Ministers' Club, and there used to be, perhaps is still, an Octogenarians' Club, whose members must swear to eighty years of life. The King's Daughters and King's Sons meet weekly at the Pier Buildings, and the Chautauqua Education Council, made up of Superintendents, principals and teachers, holds two regular sessions each week. If there are any more clubs, and their titles are sent to the author of this book, they will appear in the new edition, after the first hundred thousand copies are disposed of.
But we are forgetting the title of this chapter and must name some of those who helped to make Chautauqua successful during the quadrennium between '92 and '96. In 1893 Henry Drummond repeated at Chautauqua his Lowell lectures in Boston on "The Ascent of Man." There were still some old-fashioned "kiver to kiver" believers in the verbal inspiration of the Bible who were alarmed to find an eminent Christian leader accept so fully the conclusions of science; but the overwhelming sentiment of Chautauqua was of rejoicing at his harmonizing the most evangelical religion with the most advanced scholarship. Jane Addams gave some lectures on modern problems of family and social life; Edward Eggleston, long before a leader of the Sunday School Army, by turns preacher, story-writer (his Hoosier School-Master marked an epoch in American literature, say the critics) and historian, was with us once more after many years of absence. He said in an introduction, "I am glad to be again among Sunday School workers, real crazy people, for I believe that nobody can be a first-class Sunday School man unless he has a little crack in his head on that subject." Frank G. Carpenter, who had traveled in almost every land of earth, told us stories of his experiences and observations; Kate Douglas Wiggin read charmingly some of her own stories; Mr. John Temple Graves spoke in his fine rounded periods on some topics of the time; Hon. Roswell G. Horr of Michigan instructed while he entertained us. Dr. A. J. Palmer, who had thrilled the old soldiers with his "Company D," now gave another lecture to them on "Comrades." Besides these we heard on the platform Dr. Philip S. Moxom, Professor George H. Palmer of Harvard, and his wife, Alice Freeman Palmer; President Harper, Dr. Von Hoist; Dr. Conwell, and Dr. Joseph Cook, returning to the platform with restored vigor after some years of nervous breakdown. Miss Willard was with us again, and with her Lady Henry Somerset of England, the head of the W. C. T. U. in that land.
In 1894 the Department of Elocution took a new title, "The School of Expression," and enlarged its sphere under Professor S. H. Clark of the University of Chicago, and Mrs. Emily M. Bishop. The program of the years shows the school of Political Science to be remarkably strong, with such teachers as Dr. Herman Von Holst, Herbert B. Adams of Johns Hopkins, and another Dr. Adams of Yale. Professor Graham Taylor of Chicago spoke on social questions, capital and labor. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, already rising to fame, was again on the platform. General James A. Beaver, ex-governor of Pennsylvania; Professor Richard G. Moulton; Hon. Carroll D. Wright, United States Commissioner of Labor; Mr. Anthony Comstock, and Dr. E. E. Hale, Chautauqua's strong friend, were some of the speakers. Dr. Hale, always original in his methods, said that he had only thirty minutes to speak on "Poverty and Pauperism." He began by saying, "I will stand on one side of this desk and speak fifteen minutes on poverty." He showed in seven points that every one of us belonged to the class named "poverty" and each one should help the others. Then he walked over to the other side and gave seven points on "pauperism," for which there were reasons but no excuses. Poverty was a blessing; most of the world's greatest benefactors have been poor men; but pauperism is an unmitigated evil and should be stamped out of existence. General O. O. Howard, U. S. A., was again on the platform in 1894, also President William H. Crawford of Allegheny College, whose lecture on "Savonarola" made a deep impression. There was great interest to see and hear Miss Helen Keller, the wonderful girl, blind, deaf, and dumb, who had learned to speak without hearing a voice, and had been graduated from Radcliffe College of Harvard University with the highest honor. Another of the lecturers was Mr. Jahu DeWitt Miller, whose private talk was as good as his public lectures, which is high praise. The Recognition Day address this year was by Dr. E. E. Hale, on "The Education of a Prince," the prince being the poorest child living in America. It is worth remembering that a photograph of the procession on that day shows at the head of the flower-girl division—which now included boys, although the girls were still in the majority—two mites of children, one Paul Vincent Harper, son of President Harper, the other Isabel Vincent, the daughter of Professor George E. Vincent. Those same children are now Mr. and Mrs. Paul Vincent Harper of Chicago, still walking together.
In 1895, the season extended through fifty-nine days, from June 29th to August 26th. Two new buildings, besides many new cottages, were now upon the ground. One was the Baptist headquarters on Clark Street, the other Higgins Hall on College Hill, built by the gift of Governor Higgins of New York State. In the Schools during this season strong emphasis was laid on the Department of English, with such instructors as Professor C. T. Winchester of Wesleyan, Professor A. S. Cook of Yale, Professor Sherman of the University of Nebraska, and Professor Lewis of the University of Chicago. The last named gentleman bore a striking resemblance to the portraits of Shakespeare; so that as he walked around (habitually without a hat on his head) everybody was struck with the likeness. I was told that when he sat down at Shakespeare's traditional school-desk in Stratford, a crowd gathered before the windows and the word was passed around "Shakespeare has come to life again!"
Other speakers in 1895 were Professor Richard G. Moulton, Dr. Josiah Strong, President G. Stanley Hall, Professor Francis G. Peabody of Harvard, Major J. B. Pond, Dr. John Henry Barrows, Dr. Edward Everett Hale, President Harper, Prof. John Fiske, Principal Fairbairn, and the distinguished General of the Confederate Army, John B. Gordon, Senator from Georgia. His lecture on "The Last Days of the Confederacy," was one of the great occasions of the season, and it was noteworthy that many veterans of the G. A. R. were among the loudest in their applause when their foe of thirty years before came upon the platform. Another event of the summer was the visit of Governor William McKinley of Ohio, a year before his nomination and election to the Presidency. During this season also we were entertained with readings by Professor S. H. Clark, Mr. Will M. Carleton, and Miss Ida Benfey.
In the year 1895 another movement was begun at Chautauqua, which like the W. C. T. U. has swept over the entire continent and wrought mightily for the public welfare. At a Kindergarten Mothers' Meeting during the session, Mrs. Theodore W. Birney of Georgia, gave an address urging a National Congress of Mothers, and her appeal awakened a prompt response. Many of those who had listened to her carried her message to their own home-towns; Mrs. Birney at women's clubs and gatherings gave her plea over and over; and when the General Federation of Women's clubs held its convention in her native State of Georgia she presented the proposition to the members. From that convention in 1896, a call was issued for a National Congress of Mothers, to be held in the National Capital. Mrs. Birney gave a year of tireless and wise preparation for the meeting, which began on February 17, 1897. She was called to be President of the National Congress, with Miss Mary Louisa Butler as Organizing Secretary. The work was aided by the wide-reaching influence and liberal gifts of Mrs. Phebe A. Hearst, who has been rightly called the Lady Bountiful of the movement. Out of this National Congress grew the holding of State-congresses in every part of the country and the organization of local branches in almost every city. The Congress of Mothers now has its central office in Washington, D. C. It is divided into twenty-five departments of work—such as Americanization, Child Hygiene, Child Labor, Education, Mothers' Circles, Thrift, and many others, each having its chairman and plan of effective work. Out of a meeting at Chautauqua, in 1895, has grown a nation-wide movement in aid of mothers and teachers.
Arts and Crafts Building
Miller 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 the life 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 the Handbook of Information published 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."