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1. America on the Platform
- University of Iowa Press
- Chapter
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Those attending the 1917 Lincoln Chautauqua in Mooresville,Indiana,forsixdaysinlateJulymust have had the European war very much on their minds.Mooresvilleisonlyabouttenmilessouthwest of Indianapolis and at that point had a population of just over 2,000.1 While the war had been raging in Europe for almost three years, the UnitedStateshadbeeninvolvedforjustoverthree months, since April 6. Little of the programming overtly addressed the war, which had begun after arrangements had been finalized, but individual speakers and the superintendent must have referred to it. Alonzo E. Wilson, Lincoln Chautauqua president, promised patrons that the “Lincoln Chautauquas will render real service in theirpropagandaof patriotismthisyearandlocal citizens are asked to catch the spirit of the times and lend their hearty support and cooperation.”2 This folksy message might have come at any moment from the Circuits, but at this particular time its meaning was unmistakable: communities and Chautauqua needed to work together to win the war. The performances were typical Chautauqua fare that emphasized self-improvement and communal development. The Craven Family Orchestra opened the six days of Chautauqua with both instrumental and vocal music. Their music offered more than just mere entertainment ; the program assured audiences, “their presencebringswithittherealspiritof truehome life which the Chautauqua aims to develop.” chapter one America on the Platform Laterintheweek,MaudeWillis,“interpreterof masterpieces,”gaveadramatic recital that promised to depict “a more constructive and happier living of life.” Eachdayincludedtwoorthreelectureswithtitleslike“ThisNewAge,”“Health Attained and Maintained,” and “Miracles of Electricity.” James R. Howerton, for example, on day four spoke on “The New Patriotism,” “the subject matter of which is as timely as is the subject itself.”3 In the context of Wilson’s characterization , it is clear that attention to domesticity and productivity was part of winning the war. Children were not expected to be interested in most of the lectures and entertainment. They participated in the “Youth’s Chautauqua.” Mostly this consisted of supervised play, with an emphasis on athletics. But the children also rehearsed a pageant to be performed for their parents and the community the last night of Chautauqua, Sunday, July 29, as the opening event of that evening. The same pageant was performed over 350 times that year by communities across the United States as one way to affirm and assert their patriotism in the face of the new war.4 “America, Yesterday and Today” was written for the Lincoln Chautauquas by Nina B. Lamkin, a professional recreation worker and author of several books on how to use performance to teach children civic and moral responsibility . Lamkin was no stranger to the Circuits, having spent most of the 1910s organizing similar pageants and children’s activities for several different Circuits.5 This pageant intended to make Americans aware of their communal past,andtheprogramurgedthemtokeepthatpastinfrontof them.“Ourpeople , and particularly our boys and girls, have very little conception of the signi ficance of the march of the pioneers across this vast continent and its settlement and growth. The community pageant of American history comes tointerprettoustrueAmericanism.”6 Whathadbeenimpliedbytheadultactivities was overtly stated through the children’s activities: Chautauqua guaranteed that it provided the best opportunity for expressing and strengthening each citizen’s commitment to her or his country.7 Suchpublicperformancesof AmericanismwerenotuniquetoChautauqua; pageants like Lamkin’s for the Lincoln Chautauquas had been an important part of the cultural life of the United States, most notably since the end of the nineteenthcentury.Buttheperformanceof Americawasnotlimitedtothepageant alone. It suffused the entire Chautauqua experience, and the Circuits themselves, as well as influential supporters, were relentless in their embrace of an identity that linked them intimately with the nation. This chapter looks specifically at how that process occurred. Circuit Chautauqua’s conflation of itself with the United States was not simply a matter of declaring itself 34 : America on the Platform [44.195.47.227] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:22 GMT) American. It was a dynamic intersection of several discourses—among them religion,reformpolitics,andcitizenship—inperformancebothonandoff the platform. “No one can understand the history of this country and the forces that have been shaping it . . . without some comprehension of the work of that splendid institution that was, and is, Chautauqua.”8 RichardT.Ely,Christiansocialistandlaborreformerwhowroteinhis 1938 memoirs the epigraph that opens this section, was a leading economist and scholar who spent most of his influential career, from 1892 on, at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He often taught in the New York Chautauqua at the express invitation of cofounder Bishop John Vincent. He was an avid supporter of Chautauqua, especially in its mission of adult...