For a more civil society call them racists

I suspect the pleas that we return to a more civil society without so much polarization with more bi-partisanship is mainly suggested by Democrats. They really take offense at being questioned about their party's abortion platform, their patriotism, about their feeble president, their weaponization of the DOJ and their funding by dark money. They desire our silence and polite understanding. They are also virtue signalers--especially those who say they are Christians. For example. If you want to promote peace, harmony and reasonable dialog in a vacation community--let's say Lakeside, Ohio--where people come to see old friends, to fish or boat, and to take in some stimulating Chautauqua programs--why invite (and pay) a speaker who has written books "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy," "White Too Long, The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity," and "The End of White Christian America?"

Friday family photo—Lakeside

Nice article in the WSJ about Lakeside and the other Chautauqua communities. When my parents were young children, there were traveling Chautauquas that settled for about 2 weeks at camp grounds near their homes. There was one in Franklin Grove, IL, and one in Dixon, IL (with permanent buildings), and although my parents didn't know each other then, they both attended the one closest to their home. The photo with the hollyhocks is from the end of our street.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323393804578555481007477890.html?utm_source=The+Wall+Street+Journal+2013&utm_campaign=Wall+Street+Journal+2013&utm_medium=archive

The one in Dixon: “Rock River Assembly was formed in 1887 to train Sunday school teachers in an outdoor education format. The first, formed in 1874 at Chautauqua Lake in New York State, was the model for many Chautauquas throughout the United States. Classes in art, bible study, gymnastics and oratory were included in the curriculum along with games and outdoor activities.

Visitors enjoyed a large hotel, a Bible hall, a Sunday School and a bath house. Many rented tents for their stay. World renowned speakers and star performers both enlightened and entertained large audiences.”

The peak year of the traveling chautauqua was 1924 when over 10,000 little midwestern towns hosted over 40 million people who came to be educated, entertained and uplifted. (American Midwest, 2007, p. 692). In fact, this is where I first heard of the Chautauqua movement because my grandparents had helped with the local organization. I didn’t know there were permanent Chautauqua sites like Lakeside, Bay View, Boulder, and Lake Chautauqua, NY until we first visited Lakeside.

A revival of chautauqua

When my parents were children, the traveling chautauquas were winding down in popularity (were popular from the 1870s-1920s). Movies, radio and the automobile were taking their toll on this "old fashioned" form of entertainment. There was one in Dixon, Illinois, close to where my dad grew up in Pine Creek, and one in Franklin Grove, Illinois, near the farm where my mother grew up (both were in Lee County, and there may have been others). People came from miles around and set up little tent cities, and enjoyed musicals, lecturers, medical shows, and entertainers. The peak year of the traveling chautauqua was 1924 when over 10,000 little midwestern towns hosted over 40 million people who came to be educated, entertained and uplifted. (American Midwest, 2007, p. 692). In fact, this is where I first heard of the Chautauqua movement because my grandparents had helped with the local organization. I didn’t know there were permanent Chautauqua sites like Lakeside, Bay View, Boulder, and Lake Chautauqua, NY until we first visited Lakeside. There is a movement afoot to revive the local traveling shows. Port Clinton hosted Ohio's traveling Chautauqua this summer.

Here’s a link to one called “New Old Time Chautauqua” which tours in Washington. They are having an Aqua Chautauqua this summer which looks like fun.

Founded by the Methodist Church, Lakeside on Lake Erie is one of the few remaining chautauqua communities that thrive today. I think there is one near Lancaster, OH, but I'm not sure it is called a Chautauqua community. I know there are permanent cottages, and entertainment. Each summer, Lakeside provides "spiritual, cultural, intellectual and recreational programs designed to nurture the mind, body and spirit." Sometimes, our summer population grows to near 10,000, but it's more like 500 in the winter.

See Illinois Harvest, Traveling Culture The above program photo is from the Redpath Collection

4053

Lakeside 80 years ago

On my bookshelves at our summer cottage is the Lakeside on-Lake-Erie Season 1927 program. I think I bought it several years ago at a yard sale. On p. 7 there is a photo of a man doing a high dive and I think it is Frank Thompson, for whom the baby pool here is dedicated. He taught generations of little Lakesiders to swim, and built our house in the 1940s which we purchased from his widow.

"Hundreds of people are looking to Lakeside to provide for tem a happy vacation. People will not be disappointed, for Lakeside is full of promise for another splendid season. Physically, many improvements have been made which will have the hearty commendation of our patrons. The grounds have been improved; trees, flowers, and shrubbery have been planted; and a more beautiful Lakeside is on the way.

The program for the season is a good one. The Chautuqua program has been carefully built, and men and women of genius and power have been secured to appear upon our platform. Lakeside is a platform of the open mind where authoritative speakers are welcomed."

The main speaker the week of July 1 (opening week) was Dr. William A. Ganfield, president of Carroll College in Waukesha, WI. He was a former Presbyterian Minister who also ran for Senate against Robert LaFollette. That week he spoke on "Is the world doomed to starve," "The next step in American progress," and "Saving the day for the U.S.A." There were daily band concerts in the park, and the Inskeep Players performed "Other People's Money," and "The Mender;" also available--Pathe news reel, a 2 piano recital, 4 reading recitals by Jeannette Kling, performances by the Vintons, father and son, orchestral preludes in the auditorium (Hoover hadn't yet been built), and various youth choirs that opening week. Each week had wonderful programming, just like today.

During the season there was not only the Chautauqua Assembly, but a conference for the Congregationalists and the Lutherans, the WCTU, School of Foreign Missions, the German Methodists, the Epworth League, a horseshoe tournament, science week, a junior tennis tournament, a music week, and a Shakespeare Day.

In 1927 you could reach Lakeside via the Steamer Chippewa from Sandusky and Cedar Point, or the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad, connecting with the New York Central at Danbury. There was an auto ferry Sandusky to Lakeside and a trolley between Toledo and Lakeside for $1.50 round trip. Everyone over age 10 had to have a ticket within Lakeside, which were $.25 a day for adults, or $5.00 for the season. Automobiles were $.10 daily, or $3.00 a season. Clergy and family got in for half price.

Well, the prices have certainly changed.

3589

America 100 years ago

Although I’ve browsed some of the pricey, recent, multi-volume histories of the United States and the World at the public library, I’ve been disappointed by the revisionism* of current authors and publishers, so I was pleased to pick up this title at the library book sale, and wish I had the other volumes. Our Times, The United States, 1900-1925, vol. 3, Pre-War America by Mark Sullivan, The Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, NY, 1931. I may try to track the other 5 volumes down, but probably won’t get them for $3.00. Chautauqua Press was "liberal" in its day, but liberal in the classic meaning of the word, not socialist as it has come to mean today, but open to new ideas. Chautauqua had a broad Christian base, but wasn't fundamentalist in outreach. Liberals of today are afraid of a little "sonshine" and have minds so open, their brains are in danger of falling out because nothing can be right or wrong (except GWB). Their publications reflect that, so it is difficult to get an intelligent synthesis of history because every culture and religion is presented as being of equal value.

Vol. 3 begins in 1890 with the developing friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft when they were both subordinates of Benjamin Harrison, Roosevelt as Civil Service Commissioner, and Taft as Solicitor-General; and moving calendar style, it ends with 1908 as alcohol prohibition is getting established (reminds me a lot of the smoking bans we see today, state by state), unemployment and breadlines caused by the panic of 1907, and women's outrageous fashion (sheath skirts considered a step toward the fig leaf, huge hats, fishnet stockings) and behavior (smoking and attendance at cheap moving picture theatres). There will be many stories in this volume I’ll enjoy researching further, such as spelling reform, hookworm humor (laziness was declared a disease), and Roosevelt's relationship with African Americans.

This volume was published in the early years of the Great Depression, yet the paper is good quality, there are excellent photographs and plates, better footnotes and indexing than I see in some modern histories, and the author is careful to note where he has copyright permission and carefully cites the sources. For some sections the author allows the events to speak for themselves, others are heavily laced with opinions. Because Chautauqua had such a strong cultural bent (still does), and Sullivan was a popular culture buff there are interesting photos contrasting the early 20th century with the late 1920s, for instance, a photo of two working women, one in 1907 and one in 1928 showing the differences in clothing and office technology on p. 479, and comparing shoe advertisements from a 1927 Scribner's Magazine with one from Theatre Magazine of 1906 on p. 434. Apparently the hunger for "big hair" in 1910 was filled by the locks European women, Chinese women and the goats of Turkestan. There's a delightful section on the historical significance of the popular songs of the pre-war era.

The dramatic change in fashion for women and the amount of flesh exposed after WWI is very apparent in this plate. As more leg is exposed, the less the waist and bust are emphasized. Skirt length dropped again almost to the ankle in 1930.

*With contemporary 21st century authors, it is difficult to determine if the Soviet Union was ever a big threat to us in any meaningful way, and hard to tell if the Christian church had any impact on American society except for amusement to be pilloried in cartoons and obscure court cases.

Dan Rather on Mark Sullivan: "Mark Sullivan was one of the most widely respected journalists of his day. One of the original muckrakers, he became America’s leading political reporter and columnist in newspapers and magazines for nearly half a century. A committed Republican, he had unrivaled access to the leaders of his party, including Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Harding, and contacts like these made him the ideal chronicler of his age."

3368 The public library as lyceum

In the 19th century, before the era of a tax supported, public library there were lyceums--public lectures, concerts and entertainment. The content of the speeches and debates were often then republished in the local papers. When I was doing research on the writing of 19th century women in agricultural publications, it was interesting to follow their activities on the lyceum circuit. Then came the Chautauqua movement--both the permanent that still exist in places like Lakeside, OH, Bay View, MI, and Chautauqua, NY, and the traveling ones which used to stop for a week or so in towns as small as Franklin Grove, IL and perform plays, operas, and provide political debates. The Chautauqua movement also published material and offered home study courses, and award certificates of completion. The largest continuing education movement in the United States was provided by the federal government through agricultural and home extension.

Although towns had libraries as our population moved westward, they were private, usually maintained and paid for by the local women's clubs, which also offered their members educational events, debates, and social gatherings. Some cities had benevolent book collecting patrons who made their learning available to the general public, but they weren't "public libraries" as we know them. When my parents were children they lived on farms in two different counties, both close to Dixon, IL. People who lived outside Dixon could pay a fee and use the library. It is still that way in many townships today that don't have libraries. One of the wealthiest communities in Arizona has no library--they pay a fee to use the one in the next suburb because it is much cheaper that way and doesn't bring outsiders into their gated communities. It is pay-to-play because you aren't within the taxing district.

The public library I used as a child was established about 1931--my mother's library card was #14 because she was a college student in that town at the time. I worked there when I was in high school, and hung out there with my friends in elementary school because there was no place else to go.

My knowledge of the time line is fuzzy here (I didn't have a course in library history), but in the 20th century public libraries decided to revisit the lyceum concept so popular in the 19th century. (Some also provide day care for after school children and circulate garden tools and paintings and sculpture for your home--a bit far afield even for the lyceum concept.) Today's public librarians see themselves as educators and social workers on a mission to improve the lives of their patrons instead of "just" adjuncts to the educational system. I think this is wasteful overlap. Here's what I posted at a library discussion today:

"Those of you who work in public libraries think I don't understand the educational mission of the public library. Actually, I do. I just don't agree with it. Calling me uninformed or anti-library won't change my mind. I'm a big user and fan of my local public library, but I also depend on Ohiolink because much of my taste and research go beyond what is available, such as my pick-up yesterday from Ashland University, I don't have enough faith to be an atheist by Norman L. Geisler. It really belongs in our PL, but I'm so tired of fighting with them over their selection policies I just drive over to OSU and pick up my religious and political titles there. You wonder why you lose readers to Amazon or Barnes and Noble? My library's web site doesn't even have a slot to plug in a suggestion for purchase. But I digress.

Instead of teaching library patrons how to cook, quilt, dance, play guitar and scrapbook, I am a strong believer in libraries offering bibliographic instruction and user education both by genre, topic and format, be it digital or paper. I think libraries should teach about preservation, copyright, business sources and investment tools, how to find complex sources locally and statewide, tracking down local history sources, and assist the community businesses, churches, foundations and schools in developing their own archives. I think the meeting rooms in the building should be available to community groups who may or may not be using library materials.

I think there should be more staff (friendly and outgoing) on the floor to help patrons maneuver the increasingly complex on-line catalog and purchased packages from suppliers who know digitizing but diddly about how people learn and remember. Waiting for patrons to come to a desk of scowling or chatting staff just doesn't cut it in my book. I think library staff should be encouraged to go out into the community and give presentations, I think they should write book reviews for the local papers, and organize reading groups. I think they should ask the public if they are doing their job and what parts of the collection are not meeting community standards.

As I've said many times, if libraries don't do their job, who will?"

Stories from Lakeside

At the end of the week we’ll be heading for our summer home at Lakeside on Lake Erie, a Chautauqua community. We’ll be reversing the days of summer that we had all those years when we were both employed, which was work four days, take a day of vacation and spend three at the Lake. Now we’ll play three weeks, come home to attend to details for a few days, and go back to more play. It's a tough life being a DINK living in a NORC.

Lakeside Summer 2004

Memorial Day Week-end, 2004
All about Mayflies
Thoughts on July 4
Week-end entertainment
Friends of the Hotel Sale
The week’s entertainment, mid-July
Art Show Opening
Pleasant surprises
First Donut of the season
Complementary colors
Entertainment just steps away
The Last Day of July
Client Appreciation Party
Week Eight at Lakeside, 2004
Colors of SummerCottage Decor
Week Nine at Lakeside, 2004
Packing to go home

And for 2005

Week One, 2005
A Lakeside Wedding
Mind and Memory class
Blueberries are brain food
Perfect Day at Lakeside
Lutheran Chautauqua
The Secret is Out
Another perfect summer day
Lake Erie Cruise
Thirty years ago at Lakeside
First time visitors
Our Town
Apple Pie Sailing Weather
Peace Week
The Big E
Sailing the Front Porch
Resurrection Lilies
Baby in the hotel dining room
Lakeside art class
Kelley's Island
What I haven't seen this summer
Photo Album at the Antique Sale

Summer 2006
Suspenders
Yard Saling
Lighthouse-opoly
Walk along Lake Erie
Remodeling at Lakeside
Our Lakeside cottages over the years
My office nook at Lakeside
Wooden Boat Show
First week's programming
Chinese Acrobats
July 4, 2006 at Lakeside
Lakeside archives
Tram Tour
Kids' Sail
Week 8 at Lakeside
Lakeside dock scenes
Purple Martins at Lakeside
Antique Show, pt. 2

Summer 2007
Tony Campolo preaches at Lakeside
First time visitors
Lakeside is open
Fourth week visitors
Third week programs and activities and
class on geology of the Great Lakes and
art show opening
Flowers of Lakeside