Chautauqua Phoenix: The Twentieth Century Rebirth of a Nineteenth Century American Institution
Open Access
Author:
Snyder, Emily
Area of Honors:
History
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Amy S Greenberg, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Michael James Milligan, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Chautauqua Chautauqua Institution John Heyl Vincent Lewis Miller Chautauqua Movement Jesse Lyman Hurlbut George E. Vincent
Abstract:
This thesis aims to explore the continued success and reinvention of one of America's most famous educational programs: the Chautauqua Institution. Founded in western New York, the Chautauqua Institution launched in 1874 at Fair Point on Chautauqua Lake as a Methodist Sunday School, but by 1878 its programs were further augmented by the popular Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, which carried Chautauqua into the homes of citizens across the nation. Some scholars view this early period, from roughly 1890 to 1930, as the “heyday” of Chautauqua Institution, but the Institution has exist and excel well into the twenty-first century. Given that Chautauqua’s national scale proved ultimately unsustainable throughout the country's Great Depression, many viewed the Chautauqua Movement as being in a state of decline. This thesis will confront such perceptions, and instead argue that Chautauqua Institution has been able to not only remain stable, but also to reinvent itself and continue its role as a forum for discussion in American society. In analyzing the growing inclusivity of religion, the allowance of recreation, the emphasis on financial management, and the annual rebirth of Chautauqua’s secular programming, this paper explores what decisions and strategies allowed the Chautauqua Institution to transition from outdated nineteenth century assembly to a vibrant and active twenty-first century community today.
