The Story of Chautauqua

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

HOTELS, HEADQUARTERS, AND HAND-SHAKING
(1880)

The seventh session of the Assembly opened in 1880 with another addition to the Chautauqua territory. Fifty acres along the Lake shore had been acquired, and the Assembly-ground was now three times as large as that of the old Fair Point Camp Meeting.

This season saw also the foundation laid for a large hotel. It is worthy of record that the Hotel Athenæum was built not by the Assembly Board, but by a stock company of people friendly to the movement and willing to risk considerable capital in its establishment. More than one promising Assembly had already been wrecked and many more were destined to bankruptcy by building large hotels before they were assured of guests to fill them. It must be kept in mind that everywhere the Chautauqua constituency was not, and is not now, the wealthy class who frequent summer hotels and are willing to pay high prices for their entertainment. A Chautauqua Assembly, whether in the east or the west, is mainly composed of people possessing only moderate means, but eager for intellectual culture. Whenever a Chautauqua has been established in connection with the conventional summer hotel, either it has become bankrupt from lack of patronage, or the hotel has swallowed up the Assembly. The Hotel Athenæum at Chautauqua was not the property of the Assembly, and might have failed—as many, perhaps most, of the summer hotels at watering-places have failed once or more than once in their history—without endangering the Assembly itself. The men who built the Athenæum, led by Lewis Miller and his business partners, risked their money, and might have lost it, for there were seasons when it paid no dividends to the stockholders, and other seasons when the profits were small. Yet this hotel drew by degrees an increasing number of visitors who were able and willing to enjoy its advantages over those of the earlier cottage boarding houses, and it led to better accommodations and a more liberal table in the cottages, until now the Hotel Athenæum is only one of a number of really good houses of entertainment at Chautauqua. It is given prominence in our story because it was first in its field. By the way, the name "Hotel Athenæum" was given by Dr. Vincent, who liked to impart a classical tone to buildings in an educational institution.

The building was begun in 1880 and opened in the following year, though even then not fully completed. It occupied the site of a three-story edifice bearing the high-sounding name "Palace Hotel," a structure of tent-cloth over a wooden frame, divided by muslin partitions, and three stories in height. When rooms for the ever-increasing multitudes at Chautauqua were few, the Palace Hotel was a blessing to many visitors. Some distinguished men slept in those tented rooms, and inasmuch as a sheet partition is not entirely sound-proof, their snores at night could be heard almost as far as their speeches by day. Some there were in the early eighties who shook their heads as the walls of the new hotel rose, and dreaded the tide of worldliness which would follow; but the Hotel Athenæum has become a genuine helper to the Chautauqua spirit, for its great parlor has opened its doors to many receptions, and the witty after-dinner speeches at banquets in its dining-hall would fill more than one volume.

Another building which deserves mention is the Congregational House, opened in 1880; the first church headquarters established at Chautauqua. We have seen how the denominations were recognized from the earliest years, and meeting places provided for their prayer meetings and conferences. The need was felt by a number of the larger churches of a place where their members could find a welcome on arrival, could form an acquaintance with fellow-members, could meet each other in social gatherings and prayer meetings, and could promote the fraternal spirit. The example of the Congregationalists was soon followed. The Presbyterian headquarters, aided by a liberal donation of Mr. Elliott F. Shepard of New York, was the earliest brick building on the ground, solid and substantial, befitting the church which it represented. After a few years its size was doubled to make a Mission House, where missionaries of that church, home and foreign, could enjoy a vacation at Chautauqua. The Methodist House is one of the largest, for its chapel is the home of the Community Church at Chautauqua through the entire year, the church home of the resident population of every denomination. The Disciples of Christ, or Christian Church, purchased a large boarding-house, built before it a pillared porch, giving it a noble frontage and furnishing rooms for guests in the upper stories. The United Presbyterians built a chapel, serving also as a social room. The Protestant Episcopalians also erected a chapel consecrated to worship, but later established also a Church Home. The Unitarians purchased and improved a property fronting on St. Paul's Grove. The Baptists built a large headquarters on Clark Avenue, the street extending from the Amphitheater to the Hall of Philosophy, and the Lutherans obtained a large building near it. In all these Denominational Houses there is an absence of clannish feeling. No church uses its headquarters as a propaganda of its peculiar views; and in the receptions fellow Christians of every branch are always welcome. When some eminent man comes to Chautauqua, his church holds a reception in his honor, and everybody who would like to take his hand flocks to the meeting at his church headquarters. Speaking of receptions, I must tell of one wherein I was supposed to take a leading part, but found myself left in the rear. Dr. Vincent announced that at four o'clock, in the Hall of Philosophy, a reception would be given to Dr. Edward Everett Hale. He said to me:

Now, Dr. Hurlbut, I place this reception in your hands to manage. Dr. Hale comes from Boston and is accustomed to the formalities of the best society. Be sure to have this reception held in the proper manner. Let the Doctor stand in front of the platform, have ushers ready to introduce the people, and let there be no indiscriminate handshaking.

I promised to see that everything should be done decently and in order, and a few minutes before the hour appointed, walked over to the Hall. I was amazed to see a crowd of people, all pressing toward the center, where the tall form of Dr. Hale loomed above the throng, shaking hands apparently in every direction. I rushed upon the scene and vainly endeavored to bring about some semblance of order. The reception was a tumultuous, almost a rough-and-tumble, affair, everybody reaching out for the guest in his own way. It came about in this manner, as I learned.

Everybody at Chautauqua knows that the bell invariably rings five minutes before the hour, giving notice that the exercises may begin promptly on the stroke of the clock. But Dr. Hale did not know this, and when the five-minute bell rang, he rose and said:

"The time for the meeting has come, but nobody seems to be in charge. Let us begin the reception ourselves without waiting."

He stood up, and began shaking hands right and left, without waiting for introduction, and when the four o'clock bell sounded, the reception was in full sweep, everybody crowding around at once and grasping his hand. Before the first throng had satisfied its desires, another stream poured in and the general tumult continued until the five o'clock hour compelled an adjournment, the Hall being required for another meeting.