The Chautauqua moment : Protestants, progressives, and the culture of modern liberalism / Andrew C. Rieser.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rieser, Andrew Chamberlin.

Series:

Religion and American culture (New York, N.Y.)

Religion and American culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chautauquas--United States--History.

Chautauquas.

Protestant churches--Education--United States--History.

Protestant churches.

Middle class--Education--United States--History.

Middle class.

Middle class--Education.

History.

Protestant churches--Education.

United States.

Physical Description:

xiii, 399 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2003]

Summary:

More than a college or a summer resort or a religious assembly, the Chautauqua movement was a composite of all of these, and for five decades after it began in 1874, Chautauqua dominated adult education and reached millions with its summer assemblies, reading clubs, and traveling circuits. This critical study weaves the threads of Chautauqua into a single story and places it at the vital center of "fin de siecle" cultural and political history.

Contents:

Introduction: Chautauqua's Liberal Creed 1

1. An American Forum: Methodist Camp Meetings and the Rise of Social Christianity 15

Camp Meetings and Terra Spiritualis 20

Never on Sunday 25

From Far Points to Fair Point 32

2. The Never-ending Vacation: Boosters, Tourists, and the Fantasyscape of Chautauqua 47

Sizing the Independent Assembly Movement 51

Nature Worship and Stealth Cosmopolitanism 54

Better Than a Mill: The Booster's Chautauqua 57

Railroads Redux 66

Magic Lands 70

The Never-ending Vacation: Chautauqua Suburbs 79

3. Canopy of Culture: Democracy under the Big Tent of Prosperity 86

Lewis Miller: Communitarian Philanthropist 89

John Heyl Vincent: Chautauqua Patriarch 94

The Lyceum and Mechanics' Institutes 100

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle 104

Jasper Douthit: Chautauqua's Political Turn 108

Joseph Maximilian Hark: Moravian for Middlebrow Culture 115

Catholics Respond 120

4. The Liberalism of Whiteness: Webs of Region, Race, and Nationalism in the Chautauqua Movement 128

From Anglo-Saxonism to White Americanism 130

Chautauqua and the Midwest 136

An Invitation to the White South 139

Racial Patriotism and the Spanish-American War 145

Progressivism and the Black Presence at Chautauqua 147

Lessons in Orientalism 151

5. From Parlor to Politics: Chautauqua and the Institutionalization of Middle-Class Womanhood 161

Who Belonged to the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle? 165

Men in the Minority 169

The Fraternity of Intellect 174

Integrating the CLSC 177

From Temperance to Suffrage 180

Chautauqua Novels 185

Women as Managers: Kate Kimball's Bureaucracy 189

"Women's Clatter" in the Public Sphere 196

6. Useful Knowledge and Its Critics: The Messiness of Popular Education in the 1890s 207

Chautauqua and the University Extension Movement 209

Revolt of the Intellectuals 214

"I Like Something Doing": Masculinities at Chautauqua 218

Delsarte and the Natural Expression Movement 228

Business, Correspondence, and Normal Schools 234

7. Success through Failure: Chautauqua in the Progressive Era 240

The Ambiguous Career of City Beautiful 243

Libraries, Parks, and Lecture Series 251

The Trouble with the Assemblies 254

The Theater of Politics in the Progressive Era 259

Departure of the Fundamentalists 264

Circuit Chautauquas and the Corporate Reorganization of Culture 269

From Liberal Creed to Secular Liberalism: Shelbyville, Illinois 274

The Great War and the Agony of the Circuits 277

Conclusion: Failure Through Success? 286.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [373]-386) and index.

ISBN:

0231126425

OCLC:

51868042