August 27, 2011
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Electricity — we didn’t know how much we’d miss you till you were gone! Chautauquans found out how much when the Institution’s electric transformer blew a fuse — so to speak — at 2:50 p.m. July 21.
Some said, “How romantic — just like Chautauqua when it began.”
Others said, “Aren’t we brave, persevering and cheerful during these 15 hours of discomfort?”
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August 27, 2011
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Although Chautauqua offered the same draw 50 years ago that it did today — education, religion, arts and recreation — many Chautauquans in 1956 found themselves making the trek to Mayville, N.Y., to see an unusual attraction — a circus elephant.
The elephant’s name was Lena, and for more than six months, she provided entertainment to Mayville and Jamestown residents and Chautauquans alike.
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August 26, 2011
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It has become something of a tradition, the Oliver Archives’ presentation of “Five More Giants of Chautauqua” at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ. To be asked to select a giant, a person has to “get it,” said Jon Schmitz, Institution historian and archivist, referring to the panel of people who chose figures of Chautauqua history to honor.
Of course, there are many, many significant figures who have contributed to the founding, success and longevity of Chautauqua Institution — figures such as Arthur Bestor, Sam Hazlett, Ida Tarbell, Dan Bratton and more. This year, there will be five giants more.
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August 23, 2011
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The names Antietam, Shiloh and Chickamauga bring to mind famous and fiercely contested Civil War battles. Perhaps not so evocative but still significant are the names Grimké, McDuffie, Calhoun and Webster, names of people who in years preceding the Civil War conducted a battle of words regarding the viability and ethics of holding slaves.
Jon Schmitz, Chautauqua archivist and historian, will bring the war of words to life at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ in collaboration with a number of Chautauquans in a presentation titled “War of Words: The Slavery Debate.”
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August 20, 2011
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One hundred years ago this month, the Miller Bell Tower was dedicated in memory of Lewis Miller, one of Chautauqua Institution’s founders. On Sunday, the Chautauqua County community will join the Institution in celebrating the tower’s centennial with a party in Miller Park.
Antique fire trucks will be on display along South Lake Drive, and, beginning at 11 a.m., Athenaeum Hotel staff begins serving boxed lunches under the cover of the tent. Although the lunches must be purchased, 5,000 free cupcakes will be available for those in attendance.
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August 18, 2011
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The diverse offerings of a Chautauqua summer, with their various epistemological assumptions, befuddle people. Jon Schmitz, Chautauqua archivist and historian, will help to sort out any confusion in a lecture at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ.
Schmitz has titled his talk “Creation and Recreation: Science and the Sabbath at Chautauqua.”
The Pillars: Arts, Recreation, Education, Religion. … Or is that Religion, Education, Recreation, Arts?
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August 16, 2011
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He is a man, they say, either to love or to hate: Elbert Green Hubbard. The utopian. The craftsman. The visionary. The charlatan. The introduction to the PBS documentary on the Arts and Crafts Movement champion said that Hubbard was a 19th-century hippie.
Paul Lamont, the director and writer of that documentary — “Elbert Hubbard: An American Original” — might clarify that point if you ask, and he will be here to do that at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ.
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August 12, 2011
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Full text of the famous Aug. 14, 1936, Amphitheater address
As many of you who are here tonight know, I formed the excellent habit of coming to Chautauqua more than 20 years ago. After my inauguration in 1933, I promised Mr. Bestor that during the next four years, I would come to Chautauqua again…
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August 12, 2011
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An article in the July 3, 1961, issue of The Chautauquan Daily reported, “Grim silence and scarred walls shrouded the Colonnade for weeks after the tragic fire of Jan. 22 which left a pile of debris, seared beams, death and destruction in its wake.”
It was the second time that the Colonnade had burned.
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August 9, 2011
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It might be Ronald Reagan demanding the Soviets “Tear down this wall.” Or Martin Luther King Jr. proclaiming, “I have a dream.” Or Franklin Delano Roosevelt saying, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” In these cases, as in many more, Robert Bullock, of the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, admires the power of words.
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Greenhouse to take audience on her journey out of Christian Science
Gergen: Millennials should learn from the World War II generation
Hoffman fights for women’s rights inside secular Judaism, at Western Wall
President Roosevelt: ‘I Have Seen War. I Hate War.’
Dybul: Eliminate preventable diseases for ‘a more perfect world’
Fish: Value of arts, humanities found in pleasure we take in them
No power? No problem.
Through his photography, Reza ‘shakes the hearts of people’
Writers’ Center workshops help Chautauquan get published
BTG seeks historical input for 100th anniversary in 2013
138th assembly draws to close with Becker’s Sunday address
Hillcrest Concert Band brings worldly program to Amp
Holbert to preach on season’s final Sunday
Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. Over the course of nine weeks, more than 170,000 visitors will participate in programs, classes and community events for all ages—all within the beautiful setting of a historic lakeside village. Learn more →
