Chautauqua Institution

The Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit adult education center and summer resort in Chautauqua, New York. It was founded in 1874 by Lewis Miller and John Heyl Vincent as a camp for Sunday school teachers, and has operated each summer since then.

Since that time, its program has expanded to include the arts, education, and recreation, as well as religion, in a season that runs for nine weeks each summer (from mid-June to late August). People with interests in any of those four areas can enjoy the Chautauqua experience.

A typical day's programming includes a lecture on a social, political or academic issue in the morning; a concert in the evening (often by the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, but sometimes by a prominent or formerly prominent popular performer); religious services and lectures. A remarkable range of summer school courses in music, dance, drama and general topics is also offered.

The Institution's grounds, between New York State Route 394 and Chautauqua Lake, include public buildings (such as the 6,500-seat Amphitheater), administrative offices, a library, a bookstore, hotels, inns, rooming houses, and many private cottages. There are about 400 year-round residents, but in the summer the population swells to an estimated 10,000 at any one time. The grounds are largely a pedestrian community, with parking lots located on the periphery.

Summer admission is by "gate ticket" which allows the purchaser to enjoy the grounds with their village atmosphere, including many 19th-century houses and attractive gardens; to use the library, public beaches and parks; and to attend lectures and concerts. There is an additional charge for some courses, for opera and theater tickets and for use of the golf course and tennis courts.

One of the oldest day camps in the United States is the Chautauqua Boys and Girls Club. There is also a day care centre for young children. At the other extreme, Chautauqua waives the gate fee for visitors aged 90 and over. (It has been facetiously described as "the place where little old ladies go -- and take their grandmothers.")

The Chautauqua tradition continues to be Christian, and most mainstream denominations are visibly represented through houses that offer both religious programs and lodging to their members. But there is also a strong Jewish presence. Effort are being made to introduce some diversity to the traditional Chautauqua clientele, which is almost entirely Caucasian, and drawn heavily from New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. There is concern at Chautauqua that the summer experience, once enjoyed by clergy, teachers and others of modest incomes, is pricing itself out of that market, particularly through conversion of older houses into expensive condominiums.

The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, described as America's oldest continuously operating book club, designates half a dozen books each year for reading and discussion. The authors generally come to Chautauqua to speak and to talk with readers.

The Amphitheater boasts the Massey Memorial Organ, the largest outdoor pipe organ in the United States. Another feature of the Chautauqua grounds is Palestine Park, at 125-year-old outdoor scale model of the Holy Land. The Miller Bell Tower has an eight-note carillon. The Athenaeum Hotel is said to be the largest wooden building in the eastern United States.

Chautauqua has been visited by United States Presidents from Ulysses S. Grant to Bill Clinton, and by other prominent Americans from Booker T. Washington to Karl Menninger and, in 2003, Tom Ridge. Franklin D. Roosevelt's historic "I hate war" speech was delivered from the podium in the Chautauqua Amphitheater.

External link

• Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY