The Story of Chautauqua

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

On the opening day, July 4th, President Bestor gave the oration on "Mobilizing the Mind of America." For nearly a year before, and until the Armistice in November of this year, Mr. Bestor was almost without intermission in Washington in government service as head of the Department of Publicity. He was Director of the Speaking Division of the Committee on Public Information, and also Secretary of the Committee on Patriotism of the National Security League, an organization which held in many places training camps for patriotic speakers. Dr. Bestor was carrying on more than double duty until the Armistice in 1918 gave him something of a breathing spell between the sessions of Chautauqua. During the week from July 7th to 13th, Bishop Edwin H. Hughes (Methodist Episcopal) was Chaplain, and gave addresses of a high character on "Varieties of Religious Experience." As samples of the type of lectures during this strenuous battle summer, this week President E. B. Bryan spoke on "War as a Schoolmaster," Mr. E. H. Griggs began a course on "The War and the Reconstruction of Democracy," and Dr. L. A. Weigle of Yale lectured on "Religious Education in War Times." One evening Dr. S. H. Clark read war lyrics in the Amphitheater.

The week from July 14th to 20th was "Women's Service Week," and among those who spoke on the subject were Anna Howard Shaw, who had been called by the President to be Chairman of the Women's National Council of Defense, in command of all the activities of women in aid of the war, Miss Helen Fraser of England, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Mrs. Ella A. Boole, Mrs. Pennybacker, and Mrs. George Thatcher Guernsey,—women whose voices had often been heard in behalf of woman suffrage, now as ardently speaking in aid of work to carry on the war. This week Dr. S. P. Cadman had been engaged as Chaplain, but he was unable to remain more than one day and other men were suddenly drafted to take his place on successive mornings, one of them, the writer of these pages, on fifteen minutes' notice called to conduct the Devotional Hour, immediately after an hour's teaching in class. This little incident, of no particular interest to anybody but the writer, is mentioned merely to illustrate the instant change of front which must be made frequently at Chautauqua, when a speaker is delayed by a railroad wreck or unexpectedly called home to conduct a funeral.

"Our Allies" was the title of the week from July 22d to 27th. Dr. Charles W. Gilkey of Chicago preached the sermon on Sunday morning and led in the devotions through the week. Prof. Robert Herndon Fife of the Wesleyan University, Conn., gave a series of lectures on "The New Europe." Not all of his forecasts have yet come to pass, for the new Europe is only slowly emerging out of the old. Mrs. Kenneth Brown—the name sounds American, but she is a Greek lady of rank, born Demetra Vaka—told a harrowing tale of her own experience and observation, "In the Heart of the German Intrigue." Dr. Mitchell Carroll of Washington gave an account of "Greece, our Youngest Ally," with Venizelos as the hero. Lieut. Bruno Roselli of the Italian army spoke; Miss Maud Hayes of "England in War Time." On Friday evening, July 26th, there was a concert in the evening of national songs of the Allies; the flags of more than twenty nations being hung above the choir loft. On Grand Army Day in this week Lieut. Telfair Marion Minton spoke on "The Flags of a Thousand Years."

In the following week, July 28th to August 3d, while the Musical Festival was in progress, the French Military Band played every day, and concert followed concert, with Gaul's "Joan of Arc" sung one evening by the soloists and full chorus. Dr. Leon H. Vincent gave a course of lectures, showing "War in Literature," the stories called forth by the Wars of Napoleon, the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and the struggle in progress in 1918—a most interesting series. The Chaplain of this week was the Rev. Wm. S. Jacobs, D.D., of Houston, Texas.

Omitting a fortnight for lack of room, we must not omit "The Next Step Forward," the topic of the week from August 18th to 24th, a discussion of some movements to follow in the footsteps of war, such as "Theological Reconstruction," by Shailer Mathews; "Christianity in Foreign Lands," by Dr. J. L. Barton, Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; "The Sunday Evening Club" and "Church Advertising," by W. F. McClure, and "The Art of Motion Pictures," by Vachel Lindsay. There was also a course on "Art in Daily Life," by our English friend, Prof. I. B. Stoughton Holborn, of Oxford.

Bishop McConnell, who conducted the Devotional Hour, August 11th-17th, also gave the Recognition address to the graduating class of the C. L. S. C., on "Ideals of Leadership." The skies were clouded, yet we were able to hold the procession as usual (only once in forty-seven years has the march been broken up by rain), but the storm fell during the address, with such noise on the roof that the Bishop was compelled to pause for some minutes until its rage abated. We missed on this day especially the presence of Bishop Vincent and his son, and the diplomas were conferred by Dr. Bestor, the new President of Chautauqua. Not long after the closing of the Assembly, on November 11, 1918, "Armistice Day" was ushered in by the blowing of every steam whistle upon the continent, by all-day processions, by bands and horns, and a surrender of the nation to the universal joy, through the news that the most terrible war that ever desolated the world was over at last.

When the forty-sixth session of Chautauqua opened in 1919, it found the land rejoicing over the conclusion of the war, happy in the return of two million men in khaki, apparently rich with high wages, booming business, and money in plenty. It was the top of a tide destined before many months to recede to normal conditions. But while the flush times lasted, Chautauqua shared in the nation-wide prosperity. This was the period of astounding financial drives. One great church commemorated the hundred years of its missionary enterprise by a centenary movement and a subscription of more than a hundred million dollars. Other churches followed with "New Era" and "Nation Wide" campaigns. It seemed to be the opportunity for Chautauqua to reap some benefits from the spirit of the time, and the trustees launched the "Comprehensive Plan" to raise half a million dollars, freeing the Institution from all debt and placing it on a safe, permanent, and prosperous basis. Here was a university of a hundred and twenty-five instructors, two hundred courses of study, and nearly five thousand students every summer, yet without a dollar of endowment;—what college in the land was doing so much with an income so small? Here was a property of three hundred and fifty acres, gradually accumulated, partly by the demands of the Institution's growth, partly from the necessity of controlling its surroundings. Debts had been incurred by enlargement of the grounds, a sewer system, a water supply, electric lighting, new buildings, new roads, and a hundred items of improvement. The overhead expenses of Chautauqua, in the form of interest that must be paid, were more than thirty thousand dollars every year. How much might be accomplished if every debt could be cleared away and the saving in interest be applied to the improvement of the property and the enlargement of opportunities? Mr. John D. Rockefeller made an offer of giving one-fifth of all that should be raised, up to the desired half-million dollars. The trustees assigned to themselves another hundred thousand of the amount, and a committee of the cottage owners pledged $150,000 from those having property on the ground. The plans were carefully laid, and during the season of 1919 every visitor at Chautauqua was called upon to make his contribution.

Of all the forty-six years of Chautauqua up to 1919, this was the most successful in its history. The attendance shown by the receipts at the two gates—one at the Pier where the steamboats landed their thousands, the other at the new station on the public highway where the trolley brought the tens of thousands—were far beyond that of any former year. The registration at the schools was sixty-two per cent. in advance of 1918, and eighteen per cent. beyond that of 1914, the best previous year. Every hotel and boarding house inside the fence was full, and pleas were made to cottagers to open their doors to incoming guests. Many who could not find lodging places on the grounds found homes in the hotels and hamlets around the Lake and came daily to the Assembly by trolley or by boat.

During the opening week, Mr. W. W. Ellsworth gave two illustrated lectures, one on "Theodore Roosevelt," the other "The Rise and Fall of Prussianism," and Prof. Thomas F. Moran of Purdue University gave an appreciation of "Mark Twain, Humorist, Reformer, and Philosopher." Miss Maud Miner gave a popular recitation of "Comedy Scenes from Shakespeare." It was noticed that in the very opening the Amphitheater was filled;—what would it become at the height of the season, the first two weeks in August?

The Devotional Hour from July 6th to 12th was held by Dr. Charles F. Wishart, in a series of studies in the book of Exodus, entitled, "A Free People in the Making," and from the story he drew frequent applications to the history of another "free people." During this week, Dr. Louis A. Weigle, Professor of Psychology at Yale University, began a course of lectures on "Character Building in the Public Schools" suggesting many thoughts—not all of them gratulatory—in those who heard them.