Vigo County Historical Society

Chautauquas embraced concept of popular lectures and open forum discussions

"Chautauqua: An assembly for educational purposes, combining lectures, entertainment, etc. often held outdoors, modeled after summer schools established at Chautauqua, N.Y." Webster’s Dictionary

The idea of the chautauqua was created by John Heyl Vincent and Lewis Miller in 1874 as a Sunday school assembly and took place lakeside in Chautauqua, N.Y.

Originally based on theology education, the concept rapidly grew to include psychology and the humanities.

Embracing the concept of popular lectures and open forum discussions, the chautauqua expanded to include symphony concerts and diverse musical entertainment, social clubs, athletic activities and children’s programs.

A recent donation to the Vigo County Historical Society provides a good example of the influence the idea of continuing family education outside the formal school environment had on several generations of Americans.

The "Chautauquas Industrial Art Desk" was meant to provide the young child with the opportunity to learn in an interesting and entertaining manner.

An inscription reads: "A plan to promote the culture of work and play among children in the home" and bears patent dates of 1885 and 1895. It was manufactured by Lewis E. Myers and Co. in Valparaiso.

The desk features a lakeside picture of the compound at Chautauqua, N.Y., on the first panel of the scroll, which rolls forward to reveal all sorts of exercises in art work, sums, penmanship and nature study.

The donor recalls that the desk belonged to her grandmother, Hildegard Hoschstatter Frey. Both the donor and her sister have fond memories of playing with the desk as young children.

The museum collection also includes two brochures for chautauquas conducted in 1905 and 1923 in Terre Haute. It has been 125 years since the first chautauqua took place in New York and the concept still continues throughout the United States as people gather to stimulate mind and body and to "enjoy fellowship and acquaintance with kindred minds.