Chautauqua, A Fantasy Land

Roger Williamson

Once upon a time there was a fantasy land. It was a land of dreams. In 1874, John Heyl Vincent, a Methodist minister, and Lewis Miller, an inventor from Akron, Ohio, created what is known today as the Chautauqua Institution. Its purpose was to train Sunday school teachers. Lewis Miller was the father-in-law of another famous inventor, Thomas Edison.

In 1883, Chautauqua became a university. It remained a university for twelve years. It gave up its universityship after other universities started offering summer courses. Today, more than eight thousand students in visual arts, theater, writing, and music study at Chautauqua.

The institutional grounds consist of 750 acres nestled on the banks of Lake Chautauqua. Most of the common grounds are owned by the Chautauqua Foundation, a nonprofit organization. The Athenaeum, a 157 room wooden hotel built in 1881, is operated by the Institution. The Miller Bell Tower, located lakeside, chimes or plays hymns every quarter hour. Near the bell tower is Palestine Park, a model of the Holy Lands. As you walk the Institution’s grounds, you will see many Victorian cottages with filigreed trim and gardens of multicolored flowers. Most of the homes are privately owned. Some have been in the same family for generations.

During the summer season, many musical programs and other cultural events are presented daily. The Chautauquan is the Institution’s daily newspaper. The Institution also has its own symphony orchestra, ballet company, opera company, and conservatory theater. It also provides day camps for boys and girls.

About 1,500 employees staff the Institution during its summer season, and about 110 employees work year-round. The Institution has its own police department, and the Chautauqua volunteer fire department is housed on the Institution grounds.

Although created for religious purposes, Chautauqua’s major influence has been secular. In 1878, the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle was formed. The club members were required to read books from a list with the aid of a study guide. More than eighty-four hundred people enrolled the first year. Over time, the CLSC has sponsored ten thousand reading circles throughout the country. The CLSC is one of the oldest continuous book clubs in the nation.
In its heyday in the nineteenth century, Chautauqua was one of the most important cultural institutions of its time. It had an incalculable effect on the dissemination of education and culture in the United States, particularly for women, who had little access at the time to higher education.

In 1933, the fantasy land of Chautauqua fell upon hard times. Following the Great Depression, it went into receivership. In time, it overcame this problem only to be faced with another possibility of closure in the 1970s. This time it was from the lack of attendance. Today, attendance has climbed once more, with approximately 150,000 visitors each season.

Since Chautauqua is a fantasy land, step into the Chautauqua time machine and travel back in time. Set the time dial for 1929. You are walking by the Chautauqua Women’s Club. You look up. Sitting on a porch you see Mrs. Thomas Edison, Mrs. Henry Ford, Mrs. Grace Hitchcock, Mrs. Robert Miller, Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, and Mrs. Anne Studebaker.

Now set the dial for 1925. You are walking past one of the many practice shacks. You hear someone playing notes on a piano. You look in. It’s George Gershwin composing his Concerto in F.

Spin your time dial to “sitting presidents.” Oh, you didn’t recognize Ulysses S. Grant, the first sitting president to visit Chautauqua? Look! There goes Theodore Roosevelt. Next you are seated in the five-thousand-seat amphitheater listening to Franklin D. Roosevelt make his “I Hate War” speech. And there goes the last sitting president to visit Chautauqua—President Clinton. (This is where he prepared for his debate with Robert Dole.)

Now spin your dial back to the present. Oops, it stopped too soon. But wait! There is Sharon Creech, winner of the John Newbery Medal for her book Walk Two Moons. Something isn’t coming in clearly. Adjust the time dial back just a fraction. There, that’s perfect. Sharon Creech is talking to Dayton Hyde, a faculty member of the Highlights Foundation Writers’ Workshop. I bet she is giving him some pointers on writing. Let’s listen in. What? Sharon Creech is a conferee? Yes, it’s true. Sharon Creech was a conferee before she won the Newbery.

Now let’s leave our fantasy time machine and return to the present. On the Chautauqua grounds is a post office, bookstore, library, drugstore, and many shops for those things you forgot to bring. Computers are available to rent. They are located in the post office building. Need cash? ATMs are available. At the end of the day, head to Bestor Plaza. The ice-cream parlor is waiting for you.

Today, Chautauqua is still a fantasy land, and it is still a land of dreams.

Roger Williamson has held a number of jobs in education, including school counselor, elementary classroom teacher, principal, and associate professor of elementary education. His story "The Pond Is Dry" was published in Highlights for Children. He also has two books published, Cherry Red and The Village Mouse.

Roger attended the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua from 1995 through 1999 and has been a valued member of the workshop staff every year since 2000.