In The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas , James Schultz offers a unique pictorial study of a cultural movement that started in 1904 and spread across the country. For almost thirty years, tent shows known as "chautauquas" brought popular education and entertainment to small towns in America from coast to coast. With more than one hundred photographs and other illustrations from the era, the book presents a captivating overview of the tent chautauqua movement from its inception to its demise in 1932. These traveling ...
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In The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas , James Schultz offers a unique pictorial study of a cultural movement that started in 1904 and spread across the country. For almost thirty years, tent shows known as "chautauquas" brought popular education and entertainment to small towns in America from coast to coast. With more than one hundred photographs and other illustrations from the era, the book presents a captivating overview of the tent chautauqua movement from its inception to its demise in 1932. These traveling chautauquas--which were an outgrowth of the lyceum movement--evolved in the early part of the twentieth century. Keith Vawter, owner of the Chicago branch of the Redpath Lyceum, came up with an idea that would bring to rural America the same quality of lectures and other forms of entertainment that were available through the lyceum. His concept was a circuit of traveling tents that moved from town to town. Vawter named his traveling circuits "chautauquas," modeling them after the Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York State, an intellectual community with summerlong programs of lectures, seminars, and workshops. Tent chautauquas offered a variety of cultural events by politicians, writers, and theologians, filling a void in the lives of rural residents who did not have access to the array of talent available to city dwellers. The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas contains many previously unpublished photographs that reflect the styles and customs of a bygone era, as well as photos and anecdotes about many people of prominence who toured as speakers or entertainers. These included individuals such as President Warren G. Harding, Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, journalist and historian Ida Tarbell, poet Carl Sandburg, and many others. Schultz utilizes the existing literature on chautauquas, but he contributes much new information from the files of his father and uncle, both of whom were involved in the management of the Redpath Chautauquas, as well as interviews he conducted with individuals who remember attending chautauqua performances. Celebrating a fascinating chapter of America's cultural history, The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas will appeal to students of American history and chroniclers of the entertainment industry.
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Add this copy of The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas to cart. $10.00, very good condition, Sold by Avalon Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Stockton, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by Univ of Missouri Pr.
Add this copy of The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas to cart. $15.00, like new condition, Sold by McCormick Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hartland, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by University of Missouri Press.
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Fine in Fine dust jacket. 0826214401. A fine copy in a fine dustjacket, now in protective mylar. Author's very personal inscription on dedication page.; MCN27103; 8vo 8"-9" tall; 185 pp; Signed by Author.
Add this copy of The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas to cart. $52.02, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by University of Missouri.
Add this copy of The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas to cart. $84.88, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by University of Missouri.
Add this copy of The Romance of Small-Town Chautauquas to cart. $100.68, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by University of Missouri.
