Dear Friend: I have been watching the progress of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle inaugurated by thyself, and take some blame to myself for not sooner expressing my satisfaction in regard to its objects and working thus far. I wish it abundant success, and that its circles, like those from the agitated center of the Lake, may widen out, until our entire country shall feel their beneficent influences. I am very truly thy friend,
John G. Whittier.
After these endorsements, we may confidently affirm that a book on Chautauqua, its story, its principles, and its influence in the world, is warranted.
And now, a few words of explanation as to this particular book. The tendency in preparing such a work is to make it documentary, the recital of programs, speakers, and subjects. In order to lighten up the pages, I have sought to tell the story of small things as well as great, the witty as well as the wise words spoken, the record of by-play and repartee upon the platform, in those days when Chautauqua speakers were a fraternity. In fact, the title by which the body of workers was known among its members was "the Gang." Some of these stories are worth preserving, and I have tried to recall and retain them in these pages.
Jesse Lyman Hurlbut.
Feb. 1, 1921.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| Preface | [vii] | |
| CHAPTER | ||
| I. | —The Place | [3] |
| II. | —The Founders | [11] |
| III. | —Some Primal Principles | [27] |
| IV. | —The Beginnings | [38] |
| V. | —The Early Development | [63] |
| VI. | —The National Centennial Year | [72] |
| VII. | —A New Name and New Faces | [93] |
| VIII. | —The Chautauqua Reading Circle | [116] |
| IX. | —Chautauqua All the Year | [141] |
| X. | —The School of Languages | [160] |
| XI. | —Hotels, Headquarters, and Handshaking (1880) | [172] |
| XII. | —Democracy and Aristocracy at Chautauqua (1881) | [187] |
| XIII. | —The First Recognition Day (1882) | [196] |
| XIV. | —Some Stories of the C. L. S. C. (1883, 1884) | [209] |
| XV. | —The Chaplain's Leg and Other True Tales (1885-1888) | [224] |
| XVI. | —A New Leaf in Luke's Gospel (1889-1892) | [239] |
| XVII. | —Club Life at Chautauqua (1893-1896) | [253] |
| XVIII. | —Rounding out the Old Century (1897-1900) | [271] |
| XIX. | —Opening the New Century (1901-1904) | [283] |
| XX. | —President Roosevelt at Chautauqua (1905-1908) | [295] |
| XXI. | —The Pageant of the Past (1909-1912) | [308] |
| XXII. | —War Clouds and War Drums (1913-1916) | [321] |
| XXIII. | —War and Its Aftermath (1917-1920) | [338] |
| XXIV. | —Chautauqua's Elder Daughters | [361] |
| XXV. | —Younger Daughters of Chautauqua | [385] |
| Appendix | [395] | |
| Index | [421] | |