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Chautauqua Centennial (Boulder, Colorado), A Hundred Years of Programs
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by Silvia Pettem
Sales Rank: 737548
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$3.00
At Amazon
on 6-19-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 126 pages
Published by: Book Lode May 1, 1998
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1891274007
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1891274008
Book Description
Covers the speakers, films, entertainment, and musicians in the Boulder, Colorado, Chautauqua auditorium from its opening in 1898 through its centennial in 1998.
Excerpted from Chautauqua Centennial (Boulder, Colorado), A Hundred Years of Programs by Silvia Pettem. Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission
Imagine a curtain call with past and present performers lined up together on the stage of the Chautauqua Auditorium. The scene starts out quietly with a pretty Iroquois Indian poetress surrounded by Professor Pamahasika's exotic birds. Then the audience is riveted as evangelist Billy Sunday jumps off the stage, shakes his fists, shouts, and damns all sinners to Hell. A relieved crowd cheers for Rekab, "the magician," as he charges down the aisle on horseback after being tied up like Houdini and keeping his audience in suspense.
Off to one side, harpist Alberto Salvi plays with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, but has to compete with Metropolitan Opera star Madame Marie Rappold's singing of Ave Maria. Bell ringers and yodelers add to the pandemonium.
Then, out from under the curtain, comes the "Birdman," whistling and chasing an imaginary peeping chicken. The Mann Sisters join in the hunt with their lariats. And as the Russian dancers begin their finale, even Mascot "the educated horse" drops the chalk out of his teeth.
There are barbershop quartets warming up with jubilee singers while William Jennings Bryan and Al Gore compare notes for their speeches.
As the lights are dimmed, the audience is fascinated by rats that turn into coachmen in the early film "Cinderella." Then, as time marches on, the crowd becomes horrified with first-hand accounts of the World War, thrills with the slapstick of the 1920s, and is amazed by the first "talkies." Finally a new generation slurps on snowcones in front of MGM musicals. Today's audience, like fascinated children who will not go home, demands the silent films again and again.
If we could go back in time we could join the Boulder crowd, or tag along with the summer residents who descended on the stage bearing flags of their home states. Who were these people and why did they come to Boulder? Why did they have all these programs?
The Chautauqua began as a national cultural and educational movement which provided classes, oratory, music, and entertainment to isolated communities. Its roots were the religious revivals, or camp meetings, of the early nineteenth century. These encampments lasted four days or longer, and were usually held in a wooded area with a good supply of water. Often, several daytime religious services were held at the same time, with large, and often emotional, tent meetings in the evenings.
Then, in 1874, two Methodist clergymen established a camp at Lake Chautauqua, New York, to provide instruction for their Sunday school teachers. Soon they added other educational subjects, lengthened their sessions, and invited all Protestant denominations. By 1901 the concept had spread, and 150 such Chautauqua Associations formed across the country.
Longtime Chautauqua secretary, the late Professor F. A. Boggess, once stated that the Chautauqua in Boulder began when a committee of leading Texas educators set out "like knights of old in the search for the Holy Grail or Ponce de Leon in his quest for the fountain of eternal youth" to find "the ideal place for an outing."
In order for these Texas teachers to start their own Chautauqua Association, they needed a location. They picked Boulder, Colorado, which they called "the loveliest little city in America." It also was cooler than at home.
On July 4, 1898, bands played, speakers spoke, and flags waved. The Auditorium (and the dining hall) were barely finished but well-built. At the end of the first season, the Auditorium's acoustics were favorably compared to the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.
In the early days, Texans and the other out-of-town guests arrived on the train and stayed in tents. Gradually the tents were replaced with cottages. Families were invited and special events were held for children. Burro rides, railroad excursions, and hikes in the mountains were popular. Ladies wore long skirts and big hats, even when rock climbing.
Adult daytime activities were divided between lyceum lectures, the academy, and the institute. In the lyceum, study groups debated moral and ethical issues which ranged from the suitability of women studying law to whether the use of bird feathers to decorate hats endangered the bird species.
In the academy, students studied languages, literature, mathematics, and the sciences. These courses continued until 1904 when the University of Colorado started its own summer school.
The institute included classes in art, music, and crafts. Daily religious services also were available.
In the evenings, between July 4 and August 31, a lively pace of orators, entertainers, and musicians performed in the Auditorium. These programs were intended for everyone. Some were of interest to children, and some were not, but families still came together. It was common for young children to fall asleep on their parents' laps.
The programs were designed not only to entertain, but to reflect Anglo-Protestant mores and self-betterment. An early publication stated that audiences would be spared both a cheap show as well as a dissertation in metaphysics.
Many of the performers traveled the Chautauqua circuit. Trains took them from town to town where they gave two or three shows at each stop. Many small towns without Chautauqua buildings set up tents, as in the days of the old camp meetings.
Boulder residents were encouraged to buy season tickets and attend the Chautauqua programs. A parking lot was provided for horses and horse-drawn vehicles. By the second season, Boulder had extended a streetcar to the grounds.
In one hundred years, the Chautauqua Auditorium has seen an array of speakers, magicians and animal shows, colorful dancers, persuasive actors, and nearly every kind of singer and musician imaginable. Some of the performers, like the ballet dancer who simultaneously recited poetry, haven't been back. Yet classical music has come back in style. Films started the first year and never stopped. There has been something for everyone.
Chautauqua Centennial, A Hundred Years of Programs presents the highlights of these programs of the first hundred years.
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