The Story of Chautauqua Part 19

During the first week Dr. Harry Emerson Fosd.i.c.k of the Union Theological Seminary was the Chaplain, and his addresses blended fervent patriotism and fervent religion in about equal measure.

The second week, from July 8th to 14th, was denominated "Arts and Letters," with lectures on these subjects by Dr. Mitch.e.l.l Carroll of Washington, Henry Turner Bailey of Boston, and others. But underneath the artistic and the literary, the echo of the war might still be heard in many of the lectures, and it sounded out in the Devotional Hour addresses of that soldier in the army of the Lord, the Chaplain, Bishop Charles D. Williams.

During the week of July 15th to 21st, the Methodist Bishop, William Burt of Buffalo, to whose "area" (for Methodists of course could not call it a "diocese") Chautauqua belongs, was the Chaplain. During this week we heard lectures by Admiral Peary, the discoverer of the North Pole; by Thomas Adams of Canada; by D. R. Garland of Ohio; by D. A. Reed of Michigan, and by George A. Bellamy of Cleveland.

July 22d-28th was Musical Festival Week, when we had with us once more the Russian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Modest Altschuler, who was welcomed with sincere rejoicing by Chautauqua's mult.i.tude. Looking over the crowded Amphitheater during those daily concerts, the only reminder of a war in progress was that scarcely a young man was to be seen, although every seat was occupied.

From July 29th to August 4th, the Great War was the theme on the platform. Mr. Earl Barnes gave a series of lectures on "Historical Backgrounds of the War," respectively in the British Empire, France, Germany, Austro-Hungary, the Russian Empire, and the Balkan Peninsular.

Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons presented some of the "Problems of the Peace Conference,"--though at that time n.o.body knew when the Conference would be held or whether anybody would be left alive to hold it. But the cheerful a.s.sumption was taken that Germany would be beaten, which proved to be correct, and also that the Allies would rearrange the map of the world, which does not now appear to be quite certain. Mr. Sanford Griffith, just from the front, gave us an inspiring word-picture of "Paris Reborn."

The concluding address of the symposium was given by President Bestor on "America and the War." It was considered by the National Security League as of sufficient value to be published in pamphlet form, and received a wide circulation.

From August 13th to 18th, Bishop Charles B. Mitch.e.l.l (Methodist Episcopal), living at Minneapolis, held the post of Chaplain, and gave a number of heart warming addresses on "The Transforming Power of Divine Grace." During the week the Recognition Day exercises were held, with all pomp and ceremonial, the address being given by President George E.

Vincent. His father was present and that afternoon, as Chancellor, gave the diplomas to the graduates, but none of us knew that it was for the last time, and that his face would not be seen again at Chautauqua, although he lived nearly three years longer.

In 1917, President E. B. Bryan of Colgate University accepted the position as Director of the Summer Schools. But to one who through the rest of the year has a college full of students to keep in order, and also a faculty to maintain in harmony--which one college president told me he found the harder task,--the burden at Chautauqua of a hundred and twenty-five teachers, two hundred courses of study, and forty-five hundred students during nearly all his summer vacation, proved too heavy even for Dr. Bryan's shoulders, and after three years, in 1919, he was compelled to relinquish it into the hands of President Bestor.

This summer, also, the new traction station of the Chautauqua Lake Railway was opened at the highway entrance to the grounds; a handsome pillared structure with more room than Chautauqua had ever before possessed for waiting room, ticket office, baggage, freight, and express, a convenience appreciated by every visitor. Also, by the sh.o.r.e a new bathhouse and the Jacob Bolin Gymnasium were built and opened, as well as the Fenton Memorial Home for Methodist Deaconesses on the Overlook addition.

In 1918, we were in the grip of the war, with our young men in camp by the million, overseas and on their way by the hundred thousand, and every woman "doing her bit" in the Red Cross work. Outwardly, Chautauqua seemed as flourishing as in other years, the hotels and cottages appeared to be full, the Amphitheater was crowded at the concerts and popular lectures, and the main streets before and after lectures were a continuous procession. But the gate receipts showed that the Inst.i.tution, in common with every college in the land, was lessened in its attendance and its financial returns. Nevertheless, the program was not allowed to decline in its extent and its interest. Indeed, one added feature attracted attention. In the field of the Overlook a National Service School was held in cooperation with the Woman's Naval Service. A tented camp was maintained under the strict discipline of Mrs. George E.

Vincent, with regular guards, and training for more than two hundred khaki-clad young women in agriculture, telegraphy, basketry, and canteen management. I am not sure about carpentry, though I saw a photograph of young women sawing boards and putting up a house.

The value of Chautauqua in national patriotic leadership was recognized, not only by our own government, but by the Allies as well. Great Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, and Greece sent official speakers, either through their emba.s.sies or their special war missions. It was a mark of distinguished favor that the French High Commission gave the French Military Band to Chautauqua for a week, their longest engagement in this country.

On the opening day, July 4th, President Bestor gave the oration on "Mobilizing the Mind of America." For nearly a year before, and until the Armistice in November of this year, Mr. Bestor was almost without intermission in Washington in government service as head of the Department of Publicity. He was Director of the Speaking Division of the Committee on Public Information, and also Secretary of the Committee on Patriotism of the National Security League, an organization which held in many places training camps for patriotic speakers. Dr. Bestor was carrying on more than double duty until the Armistice in 1918 gave him something of a breathing spell between the sessions of Chautauqua.

During the week from July 7th to 13th, Bishop Edwin H. Hughes (Methodist Episcopal) was Chaplain, and gave addresses of a high character on "Varieties of Religious Experience." As samples of the type of lectures during this strenuous battle summer, this week President E. B. Bryan spoke on "War as a Schoolmaster," Mr. E. H. Griggs began a course on "The War and the Reconstruction of Democracy," and Dr. L. A. Weigle of Yale lectured on "Religious Education in War Times." One evening Dr. S.

H. Clark read war lyrics in the Amphitheater.

The week from July 14th to 20th was "Women's Service Week," and among those who spoke on the subject were Anna Howard Shaw, who had been called by the President to be Chairman of the Women's National Council of Defense, in command of all the activities of women in aid of the war, Miss Helen Fraser of England, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Mrs. Ella A.

Boole, Mrs. Pennybacker, and Mrs. George Thatcher Guernsey,--women whose voices had often been heard in behalf of woman suffrage, now as ardently speaking in aid of work to carry on the war. This week Dr. S. P. Cadman had been engaged as Chaplain, but he was unable to remain more than one day and other men were suddenly drafted to take his place on successive mornings, one of them, the writer of these pages, on fifteen minutes'

notice called to conduct the Devotional Hour, immediately after an hour's teaching in cla.s.s. This little incident, of no particular interest to anybody but the writer, is mentioned merely to ill.u.s.trate the instant change of front which must be made frequently at Chautauqua, when a speaker is delayed by a railroad wreck or unexpectedly called home to conduct a funeral.

"Our Allies" was the t.i.tle of the week from July 22d to 27th. Dr.

Charles W. Gilkey of Chicago preached the sermon on Sunday morning and led in the devotions through the week. Prof. Robert Herndon Fife of the Wesleyan University, Conn., gave a series of lectures on "The New Europe." Not all of his forecasts have yet come to pa.s.s, for the new Europe is only slowly emerging out of the old. Mrs. Kenneth Brown--the name sounds American, but she is a Greek lady of rank, born Demetra Vaka--told a harrowing tale of her own experience and observation, "In the Heart of the German Intrigue." Dr. Mitch.e.l.l Carroll of Washington gave an account of "Greece, our Youngest Ally," with Venizelos as the hero. Lieut. Bruno Roselli of the Italian army spoke; Miss Maud Hayes of "England in War Time." On Friday evening, July 26th, there was a concert in the evening of national songs of the Allies; the flags of more than twenty nations being hung above the choir loft. On Grand Army Day in this week Lieut. Telfair Marion Minton spoke on "The Flags of a Thousand Years."

In the following week, July 28th to August 3d, while the Musical Festival was in progress, the French Military Band played every day, and concert followed concert, with Gaul's "Joan of Arc" sung one evening by the soloists and full chorus. Dr. Leon H. Vincent gave a course of lectures, showing "War in Literature," the stories called forth by the Wars of Napoleon, the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and the struggle in progress in 1918--a most interesting series. The Chaplain of this week was the Rev. Wm. S. Jacobs, D.D., of Houston, Texas.

Omitting a fortnight for lack of room, we must not omit "The Next Step Forward," the topic of the week from August 18th to 24th, a discussion of some movements to follow in the footsteps of war, such as "Theological Reconstruction," by Shailer Mathews; "Christianity in Foreign Lands," by Dr. J. L. Barton, Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; "The Sunday Evening Club" and "Church Advertising," by W. F. McClure, and "The Art of Motion Pictures," by Vachel Lindsay. There was also a course on "Art in Daily Life," by our English friend, Prof. I. B. Stoughton Holborn, of Oxford.

Bishop McConnell, who conducted the Devotional Hour, August 11th-17th, also gave the Recognition address to the graduating cla.s.s of the C. L.

S. C., on "Ideals of Leadership." The skies were clouded, yet we were able to hold the procession as usual (only once in forty-seven years has the march been broken up by rain), but the storm fell during the address, with such noise on the roof that the Bishop was compelled to pause for some minutes until its rage abated. We missed on this day especially the presence of Bishop Vincent and his son, and the diplomas were conferred by Dr. Bestor, the new President of Chautauqua. Not long after the closing of the a.s.sembly, on November 11, 1918, "Armistice Day"

was ushered in by the blowing of every steam whistle upon the continent, by all-day processions, by bands and horns, and a surrender of the nation to the universal joy, through the news that the most terrible war that ever desolated the world was over at last.

When the forty-sixth session of Chautauqua opened in 1919, it found the land rejoicing over the conclusion of the war, happy in the return of two million men in khaki, apparently rich with high wages, booming business, and money in plenty. It was the top of a tide destined before many months to recede to normal conditions. But while the flush times lasted, Chautauqua shared in the nation-wide prosperity. This was the period of astounding financial drives. One great church commemorated the hundred years of its missionary enterprise by a centenary movement and a subscription of more than a hundred million dollars. Other churches followed with "New Era" and "Nation Wide" campaigns. It seemed to be the opportunity for Chautauqua to reap some benefits from the spirit of the time, and the trustees launched the "Comprehensive Plan" to raise half a million dollars, freeing the Inst.i.tution from all debt and placing it on a safe, permanent, and prosperous basis. Here was a university of a hundred and twenty-five instructors, two hundred courses of study, and nearly five thousand students every summer, yet without a dollar of endowment;--what college in the land was doing so much with an income so small? Here was a property of three hundred and fifty acres, gradually acc.u.mulated, partly by the demands of the Inst.i.tution's growth, partly from the necessity of controlling its surroundings. Debts had been incurred by enlargement of the grounds, a sewer system, a water supply, electric lighting, new buildings, new roads, and a hundred items of improvement. The overhead expenses of Chautauqua, in the form of interest that must be paid, were more than thirty thousand dollars every year. How much might be accomplished if every debt could be cleared away and the saving in interest be applied to the improvement of the property and the enlargement of opportunities? Mr. John D. Rockefeller made an offer of giving one-fifth of all that should be raised, up to the desired half-million dollars. The trustees a.s.signed to themselves another hundred thousand of the amount, and a committee of the cottage owners pledged $150,000 from those having property on the ground. The plans were carefully laid, and during the season of 1919 every visitor at Chautauqua was called upon to make his contribution.

Of all the forty-six years of Chautauqua up to 1919, this was the most successful in its history. The attendance shown by the receipts at the two gates--one at the Pier where the steamboats landed their thousands, the other at the new station on the public highway where the trolley brought the tens of thousands--were far beyond that of any former year.

The registration at the schools was sixty-two per cent. in advance of 1918, and eighteen per cent. beyond that of 1914, the best previous year. Every hotel and boarding house inside the fence was full, and pleas were made to cottagers to open their doors to incoming guests.

Many who could not find lodging places on the grounds found homes in the hotels and hamlets around the Lake and came daily to the a.s.sembly by trolley or by boat.

During the opening week, Mr. W. W. Ellsworth gave two ill.u.s.trated lectures, one on "Theodore Roosevelt," the other "The Rise and Fall of Prussianism," and Prof. Thomas F. Moran of Purdue University gave an appreciation of "Mark Twain, Humorist, Reformer, and Philosopher." Miss Maud Miner gave a popular recitation of "Comedy Scenes from Shakespeare." It was noticed that in the very opening the Amphitheater was filled;--what would it become at the height of the season, the first two weeks in August?

The Devotional Hour from July 6th to 12th was held by Dr. Charles F.

Wishart, in a series of studies in the book of Exodus, ent.i.tled, "A Free People in the Making," and from the story he drew frequent applications to the history of another "free people." During this week, Dr. Louis A.

Weigle, Professor of Psychology at Yale University, began a course of lectures on "Character Building in the Public Schools" suggesting many thoughts--not all of them gratulatory--in those who heard them.

On Sunday morning, July 13th, the great congregation heard Dr. Wm. P.

Merrill, of the Brick Church, New York, deliver a sermon on the topic as announced, "The League of Nations," of which he declared himself unreservedly in favor. On this question there were two parties throughout the nation strongly opposed to each other and fiercely debating it, and when a fortnight later the chaplain, Bishop Williams, who was never known to sit on the fence, also came out vigorously for the League, Mr. Bestor began to look around for some speaker on the other side, for it has been a principle at Chautauqua to give both sides a fair showing, even when the Chautauqua const.i.tuency as a whole might be opposed to a speaker. A speaker against the League was found in Mr.

John Ferguson, but he evidently represented the sentiments of the minority. Among the speakers of the second week were several on "The Aftermath of the Great War," among them Dr. Katharine B. Davis, Major-General Bailey, who had been Commander of the Eighty-First Division of the A. E. F., and Attorney-General A. Mitch.e.l.l Palmer. Prof.

S. C. Schmucker also gave a course of lectures on "The Races of Man."

Musical Festival Week was from July 28th to August 2nd. The New York Symphony Orchestra of sixty instruments was with us in concerts daily, led in the absence of its conductor, Mr. Walter Damrosch (who was abroad) by Rene Pollain of France. During this and the following week Earl Barnes gave a course of lectures on "The New Nations of the World."

We listened to a discussion of "Zionism," in a lecture on "Jewish Aims in Palestine" by Charles A. Cowen, of the Zionist organization, to which Mr. Earl Barnes gave a cool, dispa.s.sionate answer, showing the difficulty, amounting almost to an impossibility, of establishing a Jewish State in the land looked upon as holy, not only by Jews, but by Mohammedans and Christians of all the great churches. Another speaker in this symposium was Mme. Mabel S. Grouetch, the wife of the Serbian minister at Washington, who afterward became the Czecho-Slovak representative to j.a.pan.

Old First Night on August 5th was devoted to the Comprehensive Plan of lifting Chautauqua out of debt. The elements seemed against the aim for rain kept some away,--though the Amphitheater was full--and its thunder on the roof made some speeches inaudible. But it could not dampen the ardor of the people. Practically every organization, club, or cla.s.s at Chautauqua, besides many individuals, made pledges. Besides the chorus, there was a children's choir in the gallery, and one gentleman offered to give a dollar for every child in it, whereupon scouts were sent out, boys and girls were gotten out of bed and brought to the gallery, so that his pledge cost that gentleman considerably over $300.00. Before the close of the a.s.sembly $375,000 had been subscribed, inclusive of Mr.

Rockefeller's quota.

Americanization week was from August 11th to 16th, with timely addresses by Prof. Herbert Adolphin Miller, Prof. Thomas Moran, and a delightful lecture by Mrs. Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale, on "Reconstruction in England and America." As a practical ill.u.s.tration of Americanization, there was a wonderful pageant by the children of a public school in Pittsburgh, practically all of foreign lineage. The Recognition address on August 20th was by Bishop Charles F. Brent, who after heroic work in the Philippines had been translated to the Episcopal diocese of Western New York. His subject was "The Opportunities of the Mind."

We must not forget that some lectures were given at this session by Dr.

Charles A. Eastman, whose name does not suggest, as his complexion does, that he is a full-blooded Sioux Indian. He is a successful physician and a graduate of Dartmouth College,--which, by the way, was established in 1750 as a school for Indians, with no thought of Anglo-Saxon students.

This year also Dr. E. B. Bryan was unable to remain as Director of the Summer Schools, and his work was added to the many tasks of President Bestor.

We come finally to the a.s.sembly of 1920, the forty-seventh session, and at present the last upon our list, unless we undertake a prophetic look into the future. We met in sadness, for our great Founder John Heyl Vincent, who had lived to the age of eighty-eight years, died on Sunday, May 9th, at his home in Chicago. He had outlived his fellow-Founder, Lewis Miller, by twenty-one years. The two names stand together in the annals of Chautauqua and in the thoughts of all Chautauquans, for Chautauqua could not have been founded by either one without the other, and on Old First Night, for both together the lilies of the white handkerchiefs are silently and solemnly lifted, and as silently and solemnly lowered. A memorial service was held for our beloved Bishop and Chancellor on Sunday afternoon, August 1st, at the Vesper Hour, in the Hall of Philosophy as the appropriate place, and the writer of this story, as the oldest of living Chautauqua workers, was permitted to offer the tribute in his honor. In the evening another service was held in the Amphitheater, at which Dr. John H. Finley, Superintendent of Education for New York State, and Bishop Herbert Welch of the Methodist Episcopal Church, home for a few months from his field in Korea and j.a.pan, gave addresses. During the past year Chautauqua had sustained another loss in the death of Mr. Alfred Hallam, who for nearly twenty years had been the untiring and wholly devoted leader of the Musical Department. It was felt that a musical service was his most appropriate memorial, and the oratorio "Hora Novissima," by Horatio Parker, was sung by the choir and soloists on Sunday evening, August 8th. During the session news came that Dr. Bethuel T. Vincent of Denver, long conductor of the Children's cla.s.s and Intermediate cla.s.s in the early years of the a.s.sembly, had followed his brother the Bishop, into the silent land. He was remembered in an address by the writer at a memorial service. His wife, Mrs. Ella Vincent, for many years president of the Woman's Club, in a few months also joined the company of the church triumphant.

Another voice often heard at Chautauqua was stilled this summer, that of Mrs. Frank Beard, always bright and sunny in her spirit, who fell asleep in the cottage where she was abiding, soon after the opening of the a.s.sembly, fulfilling the wish expressed to a friend a year before that she might die at Chautauqua.

The most notable feature on the program this summer was the presence at Chautauqua for nearly six weeks, from July 26th to August 31st, of the New York Symphony Orchestra, with daily concerts, conducted by Rene Pollain and William Willeke,--a bold venture of the management but evidently successful.

This was the tercentenary of the landing of the Pilgrims, and the event was recognized by several addresses, one in particular by Mr. Charles Zeublin, on "1620 and 1920." Prof. Weigle gave a lecture on "Education of Children in Early New England"; Dr. Alfred E. Garvie spoke on "The Message of the _Mayflower_ for To-day." Princ.i.p.al Alexander J. Grieve of the University of Edinburgh gave lectures on the "Leaders of the Pilgrims,--John Robinson and others."

Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, after an experience of years in Asia Minor and in France, gave a series of valuable lectures on "After the War,"

and Mrs. Gibbons narrated the thrilling story of herself in Turkey, during the ma.s.sacres of 1908. Dr. Lynn Harold Hough was chaplain from July 4th to July 10th, and in the morning talks spoke on the spiritual experiences of St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Wesley, then summed them up in a conception of "The Christian Society." Prof. Richard Burton lectured in a course on "Modern Literary Tendencies,"--the essay, the novel, the drama, and other forms of literature. One of the great acquisitions this year was Prof. T. R. Glover of Cambridge, England, with a course of lectures on "The Jesus of History," the results of the deepest study of the New Testament and also of the contemporary Roman world. Dr. H. Gordon Hayes, just leaving Yale for the Ohio State University, discussed most ably "Factors in Labor Unrest." On Roosevelt Day, July 21st, Mrs. Douglas Robinson, his sister, gave "Recollections of Theodore Roosevelt." In the week from July 26th-31st, the subject was "Problems of the Present Day Civilization," discussed by Dr. E. H.

Griggs, Rabbi Louis Wolsey of Cleveland, and Dr. Cornelius Woelfkin of New York. "Woman and the New Era" was the theme of the week August 2d-7th, a discussion partic.i.p.ated in by Mrs. Thomas G. Winter, President of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs; by Mrs. George Ba.s.s, who was the woman, for the first time in history to preside for a day at the Democratic National Convention which renominated Woodrow Wilson; and by Miss Mary Garrett Hay, the President of the Affiliated Women's Republican Clubs. August 22d-29th was the week of the Ministers and Church Workers' Inst.i.tute, with addresses by Bishop McDowell (Methodist), Ozora S. Davis, Shailer Mathews, Mrs. Helen Barrett Montgomery, and Chancellor S. B. McCormick, of Pittsburgh.

This was a great year. Subscriptions to the Comprehensive Plan brought the amount up to $450,000, including Mr. Rockefeller's contribution, to be increased if other gifts warranted it. The Summer Schools were twenty-five per cent. in income and nearly twenty per cent. in numbers over 1919, the highest mark of past years. Provision was made for improving and enlarging the golf links, and for building a new club house on the grounds of the golf course.

CHAPTER XXIV

CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS

CHAUTAUQUA, planted upon the sh.o.r.e of its Lake, grew up a fruitful vine, and within two years shoots cut from its abundant branches began to take root in other soils. Or, to change the figure, the seeds of Chautauqua were borne by the winds to many places, some of them far away, and these grew up, in the course of little more than a generation, a hundred, even a thousand fold. Many of these daughter-Chautauquas were organized by men--in some instances by women--who had caught the spirit of the mother-a.s.sembly; others by those who had heard of the new movement and saw its possibilities; some, it must be confessed, by people who sought to save a decayed and debt-burdened camp meeting, and a few with lots to lease at a summer resort. From one cause or another, immediately after the first a.s.sembly had won success, Dr. Vincent began to receive pressing invitations to organize similar inst.i.tutions in many places. As he was already fulfilling the duties both of an editor and a secretary for the rapidly growing Sunday School cause, he could accept but few of these many calls. But a number of younger men trained by a year or two of experience in teaching at Chautauqua were around him and to these he directed most of the enquirers. At least three a.s.semblies arose in 1876, two years after the founding of Chautauqua. Of these I possess some knowledge and will therefore name them, but without doubt there were others which soon pa.s.sed away and left scarcely a memory.

So far as I have been able to ascertain, the first gathering to follow in the footsteps of Chautauqua was the Sunday School Parliament on Wellesley Island, one of those romantic Thousand Islands in the St.

Lawrence River, where it emerges from Lake Ontario. This island stands on the boundary line between the United States and Canada, but the home of the Parliament was on the Canadian side of the line. The name "Chautauqua" has now become generic and almost any gathering in the interests of the Sunday School, or of general literature with a sprinkling of entertainment, is apt to be named "a Chautauqua." But in those early days the word Chautauqua was not known as the general term of an inst.i.tution of the a.s.sembly type, and the new gatherings were named "Congress" or "Encampment" or "Inst.i.tute," and for this gathering the t.i.tle "Sunday School Parliament" was taken, as smacking somewhat of English origin. Its organizer and conductor was the Rev. Wilbur F.

Crafts, at that time a Methodist minister, afterwards a Congregationalist, and still at present working as the head of the International Reform Bureau in Washington, D. C. He was aided in the plan and direction by Mrs. Crafts, for both of them were then prominent leaders in Sunday School work. It was my good fortune to be present and conduct the Normal Cla.s.s during a part of the time. As compared with Chautauqua, the Parliament was small, but its spirit was true to the Chautauqua ideal and it was maintained faithfully for ten or twelve years. The place had been established as a camp-meeting ground, but it shared the fate of many camp meetings in gradually growing into a summer resort for people in general. As cottages and cottagers increased the Chautauqua interest declined, and finally the attempt to maintain cla.s.ses and meetings after the Chautauqua pattern was abandoned, and the island took its place among the summer colonies in that wonderful group.