Chautauqua Institution
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the institution in New York State. For other uses of "Chautauqua," see Chautauqua (disambiguation)Chautauqua (disambiguation)Chautauqua is an Iroquois word, meaning either "two moccasins tied together", "bag tied at the middle", "where the fish are taken out" or "jumping fish." The term may refer to:-Adult education:...
.
The Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit adult education center and summer resort located on 750 acres (3 km²) in Chautauqua, New York
Chautauqua, New York
Chautauqua is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, U.S. . The population was 4,666 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Chautauqua Lake. The traditional meaning remains 'bag tied in the middle'...
, 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Jamestown
Jamestown, New York
Jamestown is a city in Chautauqua County, New York in the United States. The population was 31,146 at the 2010 census.The City of Jamestown is adjacent to Town of Ellicott and is at the southern tip of Chautauqua Lake...
in the western part of New York State. The Chautauqua Institution Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and was further designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
History
It was founded in 1874 by inventor Lewis Miller and Methodist Bishop John Heyl VincentJohn Heyl Vincent
John Heyl Vincent was an American Methodist Episcopal bishop.He was born at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and was educated at Lewisburg Academy and at Wesleyan Institute, Newark, N. J. He entered the New Jersey Conference , and was transferred to the Rock River Conference...
as a teaching camp for Sunday school teachers. The teachers would disembark at Palestine Park
Palestine Park
Palestine Park is located on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. The park is a scale model of the Holy Land, including cities, hills, rivers, and seas in approximately correct geographical location. Palestine Park is laid out along the southwestern side of Chautauqua...
, and begin a course of Bible study that used the Park to teach of the geography of the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
.
The Institution has operated each summer since then, gradually expanding its season length and program offerings organized around the four pillars: arts, education, religion and recreation. It offers a wide range of educational activities to an average of 75,000 people, in residence on any particular day during the season, and another 145,000 during the season attend public events, including popular entertainment, theater, symphony, ballet and opera.
The Institution also includes school of Special Studies, and a residential music program of intensive study is offered to students on the verge of professional careers who audition for admittance into Chautauqua's schools of fine and performing arts.
The physical setting of the Institution defined its development as an assembly. The grounds are situated on the west shoreline of upper Chautauqua Lake
Chautauqua Lake
Chautauqua Lake is located entirely within Chautauqua County, New York, USA. The lake is approximately long and wide at its greatest width. The surface area is approximately 13,000 acres . The maximum depth is about 78 feet...
. The early tent camp assembly gave way to cottages and rooming houses, and then hotels and eventually condominiums. But much of the pastoral summer retreat on the lake survives.
In 1973 the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
recognized the institution's historic importance by adding it to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. In 1989, the Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
designated it a National Historic Landmark District, consisting of most of the Institution property between NY 394, formerly NY 17J
New York State Route 394
New York State Route 394 is a state highway located within Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties in southwestern New York, United States. Its western terminus is located on the shore of Lake Erie at an intersection with NY 5 in the Westfield hamlet of Barcelona...
, the lake and (roughly) Lowell and North avenues.
Institution programs
Summer admission to Chautauqua is by "gate ticket" which allows entrance into the grounds, use of Smith Memorial LibrarySmith Memorial Library
Smith Memorial Library is a member of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System. It is located on Bestor Plaza on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York....
, use of public beaches and parks, and attendance at lectures and concerts. There is an additional charge for some courses, for films shown at the Chautauqua Cinema
Chautauqua Cinema
The Chautauqua Cinema is an independent movie theater located in historic Higgins Memorial Hall on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York in the United States...
, for opera and theater tickets, and for use of the golf course and tennis courts.
Weekly programs
Programs offered during the week at Chatuauqua include a devotional service and a lecture on a social, political or academic issue in the morning, an afternoon lecture on a religious topic, and an evening program. This evening Amphitheater event may be a symphony concert by the Chautauqua Symphony OrchestraChautauqua Symphony Orchestra
The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra, the resident summer orchestra of the Chautauqua Institution in western New York State. Founded in 1929, the ensemble plays concerts on most Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights throughout the Institution's nine-week season. The CSO...
, a dance program by the Chautauqua Ballet Company, or a program by a special guest artist. During most weeks, there is at least one opportunity to catch an opera and a play, both put on by Chautauqua's resident summer companies. Operas are performed in English at Norton Hall, a 1930s era art deco structure. There are also regularly scheduled organ recitals on the Massey Memorial Organ
Massey Memorial Organ
The Massey Memorial Organ is located on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. It is the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world, with 5,640 pipes. The organ was built in Chautauqua's 5,000-seat wooden Amphitheater and was dedicated in 1907...
, student recitals, master classes, forums, and seminars for the sophisticate.
A range of special studies courses in music, art, dance, drama and general topics are also offered. The Chautauqua Schools of Music offer extremely competitive programs on the basis of scholarship. George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
visited Chautauqua as a summer refuge to compose parts of his Concerto in F in a small wooden piano studio and give its first public performance.
The 10:45 morning lecture program is one of the most distinctive features of the program at the Institution. The program for each week is built around a unifying theme, such as world events. Chautauqua has been visited by United States Presidents from Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
to Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, and by other prominent Americans including Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
, Karl Menninger
Karl Menninger
Karl Augustus Menninger , was an American psychiatrist and a member of the famous Menninger family of psychiatrists who founded the Menninger Foundation and the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas.- Biography :...
, Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
and, in 2006, Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's historic "I hate war" speech was delivered from the podium in the Chautauqua Amphitheater (1936).
Sundays at Chautauqua feature worship services, both denominational and ecumenical. There is an afternoon Amphitheater program, such as a military band or student dance program. On Sundays, entrance to the Institution grounds is free. Worship services are coordinated by the permanent Department of Religion staff.
Special events
There is a special program on the first Tuesday in August called "Old First Night". This is the "birthday party" for the Institution, marking the opening of the first season back in 1874.Children's programs
One of the oldest day camps in the United States is the Chautauqua Boys and Girls Club, founded in 1893. The Children's School established in 1921, is a developmental preschool for youth ages 3–5, and was a pioneering program in the field of nursery school education. The program includes a social, recreational and educational activities which often incorporate other Chautauqua programs in the areas of music, drama and art.Institution facilities
The Institution's grounds, located between New York State Route 394 and Chautauqua LakeChautauqua Lake
Chautauqua Lake is located entirely within Chautauqua County, New York, USA. The lake is approximately long and wide at its greatest width. The surface area is approximately 13,000 acres . The maximum depth is about 78 feet...
, include public buildings (such as the 6,000-seat Amphitheater), administrative offices, a library, a movie theater, a bookstore, hotels, condominiums, inns, rooming houses, and many private cottages. There are about 400 year-round residents, but in the summer the population swells as many as 10,000 at any one time. The Institution is largely a pedestrian community, with bikes and scooters seen everywhere and a 12 mph speed limit for cars. There are several parking lots located on the periphery of the grounds.
Palestine Park
Palestine Park
Palestine Park is located on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. The park is a scale model of the Holy Land, including cities, hills, rivers, and seas in approximately correct geographical location. Palestine Park is laid out along the southwestern side of Chautauqua...
is a relief map of Palestine, showing the general contour of the area, including mountains, valleys, water-courses and cities.
Department of Religion
Chautauqua's Department of Religion provides a wide variety of services of worship and programs that express the Institution's Christian heritage and its interfaith commitment. It provides lectures and educational programs that probe contemporary religious and theological ideas.The Department of Religion strives to create a climate in which people who cherish various points of view and beliefs can exchange ideas, discuss their differences, and ponder the significance of their diverse experiences and insights.
Chautauqua's impact on adult education
The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC), founded in 1878 by Bishop Vincent, is America's oldest continuously operating book club. It was founded to promote self-learning and study, particularly among those unable to attend higher institutions of learning. Six to nine books are added to the reading list each year, with authors generally coming to Chautauqua to discuss their writing and to talk with readers.The ideals of the Chautauqua Institution were spread throughout the United States through a number of Independent Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
assemblies, and a series of traveling Circuit Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
assemblies, incorporating many of the program components of the Institution, including lectures, music, nondenominational preaching, and a focus on current issues. Several Independent Chautauquas
21st century Chautauquas
The Chautauqua movement flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then declined. However, some Independent Chautauquas still operate today, and these are the 21st century Chautauquas...
continue into the 21st century.