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Lyceums and Chautauquas: Tent/Circuit Chautauquas

Tent/Circuit Chautauquas

  • "Adventures of a Chautauqua Entertainer." Literary Digest 20 December 1913: 1235-1237.
    - Recounts story appearing in Collier's Weekly.
  • Albert, Allen D. "The Tents of the Conservative." Scribner's 72 (July 1922): 54-59.
    - Chautauquas as bastions of conservatism, preserving American values and morality.
  • Austin, Mary. "The Town that Doesn't Want Chautauqua." New Republic 47 (7 July 1926): 195-197.
    - Santa Fe's cultural and artisitic objections to accepting another culture of "Chautauqua-Mindedness."
  • Bliven, Bruce. "Mother, Home and Heaven." New Republic 37 (9 January 1924): 172-175.
    - Semi-critical editorial about tent Chautauquas and their operations.
  • Cameron, Kenneth Walter. The Massachusetts Lyceum During the American Renaissance: Materials for the Study of the Oral Tradition in American Letters: Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne and Other New-England Lecturers. Hartford, CT: Transcendental Books, 1969.
    Reprints of Lyceum minutes books.
  • Castle, Marian Johnson. "Chautauqua: The Intellectual Circus." Forum 87 (June 1932): 369-374.
    - First-person account of booking agend for circuit Chautauqua.
  • "Chautauqua as Usual." The Nation 12 July 1917: 33.
    - The war hasn't stopped Chautauqua.
  • "Chautauqua Progress." The Survey 24 April 1920: 146.
    - Changes in Chautauqua from education to entertainment.
  • Devine, Edward T. "Other Towns that Do Not Want Chautauqua -- and Why." New Republic 45 (1 September 1926): 46-7.
    - Letter to the editor.
  • Dickson, Harris. "Barnstorming with the Chautauqua." Collier's 57 (12 August 1916): 12-13+.
    - First-person account of a lecturer's journeys on a Chautauqua circuit.
  • "'Experiences' at Chautauqua." Review of Reviews 7 August 1914: 225-226.
    - Reviews article written in Unpopular Review recounting man's experiences at Chautauqua.
  • Flynn, John T. "This Quaker Professor Entertains Millions of People." American Magazine 102 (September 1926): 58-59+.
    - Profile of Paul M. Pearson, founder and head of the Swarthmore Chautauqua Association tent circuit.
  • Gentile, John S. Cast of One: One-Person Shows from the Chautauqua Platform to the Broadway Stage . Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois press, 1989.
    - Overview of performances.
  • Griffith, Benjamin. "The Piedmont Chautauqua: Henry Grady's Grandiose Scheme." Georgia Historical Quarterly 55 (1971): 254-258.
  • Harrison, Harry P., as told to Karl Detzer. Culture Under Canvas: The Story of Tent Chautauqua . New York: Hastings, 1958.
    - First-hand glimpse of traveling Chautauquas written by a regional circuit manager.
  • Harrison, John Thornton. "Chautauqua in Iowa." Iowa Journal of History 50 (April 1952): 97-122.
    General history of traveling Chautauquas in Iowa.
  • Hedges, R.M. Inventory, Redpath Chautauqua . Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa, 1969.
    - Library's special collection of major bureau archives.
  • Hibschman, Harry. "Chautauqua Pro and Contra." North American Review 225 (May 1928): 597-605.
    - Criticism of Chautauqua's decline due to compromise of making money by entertaining.
  • Horner, Charles. Strike the Tents: The Story of the Chautauqua . Philadelphia: Dorrance & Company, 1954.
    - First-hand account of the Chautauqua movement and tent Chautauqua circuits.
  • MacLaren, Gay. Morally We Roll Along . Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1938.
    - Tent Chautauquas: written by circuit performer.
  • Mason, Gregory. "Chautauqua: Its Technic." American Mercury 1 (March 1924): 274-280.
    - First-hand musings by a tent Chautauqua performer about local audience habits and customs.
  • Mueller, Roland. "The Chautauqua in Winfield, Kansas." Kansas Quarterly 15 (3): 13-31.
    - Comprehensive survey of tent Chautauquas including schedules, routes, etc.
  • Post, Elsy W. "When Chautauquas Hit South Branch." Etude 68 (August 1950): 14-15.
    - Reminiscences of Chautauqua in Iowa.
  • Powell, Lyman P. "The End of a Perfect Day." The Outlook 120 (18 September 1918): 103.
    - Account of a speaker's day on the Chautauqua platform.
    - Only available for those affiliated with BGSU
  • Pringle, Henry F. "Chautauqua in the Jazz Age." American Mercury 16 (January 1929): 85-93.
    - Existence of tent Chautauqua in contemporary film and C=radio.
  • Reynolds, Nydia Jones. "A Historical Study of the Oral Interpretation Activities of the Circuit Chautauqua, 1904-1932." PhD Dissertation, University of Southern California, 1960.
  • "The Secretary of State and the Chautauqua Circuit." The Outlook 105 (27 September 1913): 158-160.
    - Defends Bryans' circuit Chautauqua appearances against popular criticism.
  • Snyder, Eldon E. "The Chautauqua Movement in Popular Culture: A Sociological Analysis." Journal of American Culture 8 (Fall 1985): 79-90.
    - Brief history of general Chautauqua movement.
    - Online version of journal available if affiliated with BGSU
  • Strother, French. "The Great American Forum." The World's Work September 1912: 551-564.
    - Difference between Chautauquas and Lyceums; many pictures.
  • Talley, Truman H. "The Chautauquas -- An American Achievement." The World's Work June 1921: 172-184.
    - Rise of an "American Institution"; working operations.
  • Tarbell, Ida. "A Little Look at the People." Atlantic Monthly May 1917: 602-610.
    - Recollection of life on a 49-stop circuit.
  • Tebbel, John. "Chautauqua: A Nostalgic Salute." Saturday Review 52 (11 January 1969): 122-123.
    - Brief history of the Chautauqua movement.
  • Thompson, Carl D. "Is the Chautauqua a Free Platform?" New Republic 41 (17 December 1924): 86-88.
    - Instances of both censorship and special interests of platform speakers.
  • Tozier, R.B. "A Short Life-History of the Chautauqua." American Journal of Sociology 40 (July 1934): 69-73.
    - Short history of entire Chautauqua movement
  • "The Uplift of Chautauqua Week." Literary Digest 18 (October 1913): 684-685.
    - Importance of Chautauqua to its audiences; vacuity of Bryan's speeches.
  • Walter, Dorothy C. "Chautauqua Week in Lyndonville: A Description Written in 1915." Vermont History 38 (1970).
  • Wiggam, Albert E. "Is the Chautauqua Worthwhile?" Bookman 65 (June 1927): 399-406.
    - Five reasons why Chautauqua enriches a community.