State

Chautauqua Shows, Real and Otherwise Таг HooIk remember them as a com¬ bination of revival and county fair. «1# THAI! STEM. JR. "Chautauqua." once as irrepressi¬ ble in Eastern Carolina as morning glories, has about the same relevance for moderns as Gatling gun or livery stable. Chautauqua existed for many years before it became a road show, and the article was omnipresent, and its local appearance was a book¬ marker. a mile-post. If two men were trying to settle an argument . one would say. "No sir. it happened a week after the Chautauqua was here." The road show, the Chautauqua, originated on the shores of Lake Chautauqua. New York, in the tiny village (population 300) of Chautau¬ qua. For many years it was used as a place for camp-meetings, and right after the Civil War some sporadic- training was offered for Sunday school teachers. A delightful place to relax, it began by serv ing a purpose similar to that now served at Lake Junaluska. Montreat, and Black Mountain. In essence it was similar to the old Lyceum movement. In 1873 two ministers. John Vincent and Lewis Miller, insisted that secular education be added to the curriculum. And in 1874 an Education Institute was estab¬ lished at Chautauqua, somewhat along the lines that William Raikcs. the En¬ glishman. had conceived the Sunday school. Summer cottages were built around the lake, and an 18 hole golf course was laid out when golf was gen¬ erally construed to be a plaything for the idle rich. Drama and Bird Watching Eor a brief period most of the sum¬ mer guests were Sunday school teachers and active laymen. But de¬ mand was so great that the once- famous Athenaeum and around forty smaller hotels were built along the shoreline of Lake Chautauqua. A large amphitheater, somewhat like the one on Roanoke Island, was dug on a hill¬ side. It was roofed, but both sides were THE STATE. AUGUST 1979 open. Non-religious plays were put on. but the management tried to stage plays with some underlying moral im¬ pact. such as William Vaugh Moody's The Great Divide or The Faith Dealer. All the plays acted out were of Broad¬ way caliber, sans some of the titilla- tions seen on Broadway. Shops and stores sprang up everywhere, and the commercial development of Chau¬ tauqua is comparable to that ex¬ perienced at Manteo after the installa¬ tion of The Lost Colony. The Athenaeum contained a large pipe organ, and the building, which seated six thousand, was used for di¬ verse musicalcs. including hymn singing. As enrollment mounted Nor¬ ton Hall, built to accommodate one thousand spectators, and Memorial Hall, much larger, were reserved for symphonies and for opera. A theater for silent films went up. and several smaller buildings were built in which musicians and learners received in¬ struction in voice and in various in¬ struments. Two dramatic companies were or¬ ganized to tour the nation, and Chautauqua organized what must have been the nation’s first official Bird Watcher's Association. Religious training continued, and at one point twelve differen' denominations main¬ tained schools to instruct their Sunday school teachers, laymen, and minis¬ ters. The First Summer School After Vincent (who became a Methodist bishop) and Miller added secular education. Chautauqua launched what is believed to be the country's original, bona fide summer school. The classes, under the aegis of New York University, supervised one hundred separate courses. There were divisions (they'd be called schools or departments today) in English, his¬ tory. the dramatic arts, foreign lan¬ guage, business administration, mathematics, and library science. In addition to training in voice and in¬ strumentality. the School of Music taught conducting, orchestrating, and what would be called art administra¬ tion now. Many of the original students were public school teachers who lacked de¬ grees because most states did not re¬ quire a baccalaureate degree to teach, especially in the lower grades. Other teachers were working for special credits, and a separate summer school was maintained for college and high school students. Many educational historians cite Chautauqua as the na¬ tion's first full-blown summer school, and it is impossible to estimate the number of teachers who obtained bac¬ calaureate degrees there. Additionally. Chautauqua was among the first to install extension courses. A monthly magazine. The Round Table, was circulated nation¬ ally directly in conjunction with the extension work. Vincent, one of the two founders, believed ignorance is sinful, and his message was that everyone in America could acquire an education if desire was sufficiently potent. He declared. "A college is possible in everyday life if one chooses to use it: a college may be in a home, factory, office, or farm, and it is available to the rich and to the poor alike. There is a curriculum which runs through life and it trains men and women everywhere to read, to think. 17