This article first appeared in the September/October 2024 edition of Home & Harvest magazine.
By Kaitlynn Anderson, Museum Curator
Today, we are familiar with traveling acts, including comedians, the circus, concerts, and exhibits. The concept of one person or a group traveling the country is not a relatively new one. One of the original traveling groups was known as a chautauqua [shuh-taa-kwah], although becoming a travel group was not its original intention. Chautauquas, similar to anything else, transformed over time as views, technology, and hobbies evolved.
Created in 1874 by Lewis Miller and John Heyl Vincent, the Chautauqua Sunday School Assembly aimed to provide out-of-school education to individuals vacationing near the Chautauqua Lake area of New York. The founders were both Methodists; however, various religions participated in the teachings. In a short amount of time, the classes geared to Sunday school teachers expanded to include physical education, art, and other academic classes. These new classes allowed for the creation of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle in 1878. This program offered individuals who were unable to afford being enrolled in college a space to gain an education. The four-year program is considered to be one of the first attempts at distance learning, which today we are accustomed to partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although providing an education was the primary focus of the program, it also aimed to keep individuals from engaging in debaucherous activities, including drinking, smoking, and gambling. Perhaps this emphasis was due to the beginning of the Progressive Movement and the influence of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. For individuals in remote areas, typically females and labor workers, reading circles were created and the cost of books was split to enable more individuals to participate. This action led to the influence of Chautauqua spreading beyond New York and across the country.
Due to the success and impact of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, the Chautauqua Movement came into full effect and daughter chautauquas were formed. Chautauquas were most popular from the 1870s to the mid 1920s. Although the movement grew, chautauquas were not available in every town. Traveling chautauquas appeared in smaller and remote towns. Tents popped up in the destination for a certain amount of time before traveling to the next town. Since these chautauquas were not a stable fixture in some towns, hired speakers and performers served as the entertainment. The concept is very similar to that of a circus, except Chautauquas provided more of an educational form of entertainment.
Idaho was no stranger to the Chautauqua Movement as literary classes began to emerge in Boise, Ketchum, and Caldwell. These classes would be held for certain periods of time until individuals completed the classes and graduated. Additionally, these classes would advocate for a chautauqua to be held in their home city. With that, the first Idaho chautauqua was held in Boise in 1910. The planning committee was elated to receive confirmation from Senator William Borah that he would provide a speech during the program. The July 4th chautauqua promised to be one of the largest events in the Northwest with several entertainment acts and educational moments.
It was not too long after chautauquas began appearing throughout Idaho that they would eventually reach Latah County. According to the oral histories of some county residents, individuals within the community were required to underwrite or sponsor the program. Individuals would be required to sell tickets for the program. However, if they did not sell enough, they often reduced the price or purchased them all. Elvon Hampton, a farmer from Genesee, recalled in his 1976 interview “...Somebody could underwrite twenty-five or fifty dollars, maybe, if they didn’t sell the tickets. And they figured they had to have that much money to put the program on. And they supported that as a community enterprise. They would run into some problems if they didn’t have too good a show, or if the people had a little tough year and all the families couldn’t buy their tickets.” During an interview with Lola Clyde, Elizabeth Wahl, and Tom Wahl in 1975, Tom Wahl asserts “But in order to get one in your town you had to have enough citizens sign up-pledge a certain amount of money or they wouldn’t come. And I guess it happened often enough that they sort of died a natural death.”
When it comes to the type of programs displayed in Moscow, the diaries of Frank Otter and Alma Lauder Keeling provide insight. In 1920, Frank Otter describes purchasing a season ticket for $1.10 and listening to the Ithacan Quartette sing and hearing lectures from Mae Guthrie Longier and W.H. Nation. A few years earlier in 1916, Alma Lauder Keeling recalls attending a lecture from Lou Beauchamp, which would “have done everybody more good than going to church this Sunday Morning.” Near the beginning of the chautauqua, she tended to visit twice a day, but then would only attend once a day later on. The oral histories and diaries showcase how the chautauquas served the needs of individuals within Latah County, as its residents were often isolated from varying cultural influences compared to large cities.
The country saw a decrease in chautauquas around the 1920s, with several factors at play. During this time, women’s suffrage was a hot topic on the minds of individuals, whether they believed in the cause or not. With white women receiving the right to vote, new opportunities arose, causing them to be utilizing their free time differently. Another prominent movement occurring at this time was the prohibition movement. This movement also allowed for individuals to utilize their free time in a different manner than they had previously. In terms of technology, cars, movies, and radios afforded ways for entertainment to take place in different forms. Cars allowed for individuals and families to travel further, thus making other towns and cities more accessible. For younger audiences, movies and vaudevilles were a fun new form of entertainment to experience with their friends or significant other. For nights inside with family, the radio was a new form of entertainment that could be experienced in the comfort of your own home. Apart from technology and social movements, involvement in World War I led to the shift from chautauquas to programs through other organizations, such as the American Red Cross, the YMCA and YWCA, and American Library Association.
Although chautauquas saw a steep decline in the 1920s, the program endures today. Chautauqua Lake in New York, where the program originated, is now home to the Chautauqua Association. The education center is roughly 750 acres and has multiple restaurants, hotels, and businesses on campus. In one summer, there are over 100,000 individuals that attend the public events, over 8,000 students who enroll in the summer school, and over 7,500 individuals on-site during any day of a nine-week session. Aside from the chautauqua epicenter in New York, states throughout the country have their own chautauqua associations, although less than twenty exist. The goal of chautauquas today is still to provide education, but at various levels. Lighthearted, but still educational, programs are geared for individuals who are visiting while on vacation, while others are serious and professional programs for individuals who are strictly there to learn. Similar to the early chautauquas, children have their own programs to attend and learn.
Chautauquas can be considered the original TEDTalk in some fashion, as they aimed to educate and entertain individuals while traveling around the country. Although the programs were public events, it makes one wonder if they catered towards certain individuals, whether they were wealthy individuals or members of certain races. The continuation of chautauquas for 150 years shows that individuals are interested in the information provided and their programs are filling a social and intellectual need.
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