WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH
(1917-1920)
WHEN the forty-fourth session of Chautauqua opened on Thursday, June 26,
1917, it found the American republic just entering upon the Great War,
which had already raged in Europe for over two years. Training camps had
sprung up like magic all over the land, from ocean to ocean, and young
men by the hundred thousand had volunteered, with others by the million
soon cheerfully to accept drafting orders. Almost every university had
been transformed into a war college. President Vincent was at the
intensive military training school at Plattsburg, N. Y. Every morning
before breakfast two hundred men at Chautauqua were marching and
counter-marching, and learning the manual of arms with wooden guns, with
President Bestor and most of the officials of the Institution in the
lines. The young women every afternoon were receiving similar drill
under a woman officer, and some said that they presented even a more
soldier-like appearance than the men. The headquarters of several
denominations had been commandeered for Red Cross work and training. A
stranger could scarcely get into the Methodist House without being
scrutinized as a possible German spy, with a pocketful of poison or
powdered glass to sprinkle on the bandages. War was in the air as well
as in the newspapers. No matter what was the subject of a lecture it was
almost sure to be on the war before the finish. There were discussions
on the platform and on the street about the League of Nations, some with
President Wilson in favor of it, others as vigorously against it. A
symposium on "Our Country" and a conference of "Organizations Engaged in
Education for Patriotic Service" were held during the session; also a
company of students from the Carnegie Institute of Technology,
Pittsburgh, presented a brilliant pageant, "The Drawing of the Sword."
The Fourth of July address was given by the Hon. G. W. Wickersham,
former Attorney-General of the United States. Captain A. Radclyffe
Dugmore of the British Army spoke on "Our Fight for Freedom." Miss Ida
Tarbell, who had won fame by a book showing the operations of the
Standard Oil Company, and had also written a life of Abraham Lincoln, to
be found in every public library and read more widely than any other
biography of the Greatest American, gave some lectures. Her literary
life, by the way, began in the office of the _Chautauquan Magazine_.
Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker this summer became President of the Chautauqua
Woman's Club, which office Mrs. B. T. Vincent had relinquished after
many years of leadership. Both these presidents were eminently
successful in different directions and by different methods, the earlier
having built up the Club by wisdom mingled with gentleness; her
successor carried it onward by an energy that brought everybody into
willing subjection to her far-reaching plans. Almost the first result of
the new administration was the purchase of a club house fronting on the
Lake, and holding in it almost a bewildering series of teas and
receptions. While the public meetings of the Club crowded the new Hall
of Philosophy every afternoon, Mrs. Pennybacker gave a stirring address
on "What our Country Asks of its Young Women."
During the first week Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick of the Union Theological
Seminary was the Chaplain, and his addresses blended fervent patriotism
and fervent religion in about equal measure.
The second week, from July 8th to 14th, was denominated "Arts and
Letters," with lectures on these subjects by Dr. Mitchell Carroll of
Washington, Henry Turner Bailey of Boston, and others. But underneath
the artistic and the literary, the echo of the war might still be heard
in many of the lectures, and it sounded out in the Devotional Hour
addresses of that soldier in the army of the Lord, the Chaplain, Bishop
Charles D. Williams.
During the week of July 15th to 21st, the Methodist Bishop, William Burt
of Buffalo, to whose "area" (for Methodists of course could not call it
a "diocese") Chautauqua belongs, was the Chaplain. During this week we
heard lectures by Admiral Peary, the discoverer of the North Pole; by
Thomas Adams of Canada; by D. R. Garland of Ohio; by D. A. Reed of
Michigan, and by George A. Bellamy of Cleveland.
July 22d-28th was Musical Festival Week, when we had with us once more
the Russian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Modest Altschuler, who was
welcomed with sincere rejoicing by Chautauqua's multitude. Looking over
the crowded Amphitheater during those daily concerts, the only reminder
of a war in progress was that scarcely a young man was to be seen,
although every seat was occupied.
From July 29th to August 4th, the Great War was the theme on the
platform. Mr. Earl Barnes gave a series of lectures on "Historical
Backgrounds of the War," respectively in the British Empire, France,
Germany, Austro-Hungary, the Russian Empire, and the Balkan Peninsular.
Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons presented some of the "Problems of the Peace
Conference,"--though at that time nobody knew when the Conference would
be held or whether anybody would be left alive to hold it. But the
cheerful assumption was taken that Germany would be beaten, which proved
to be correct, and also that the Allies would rearrange the map of the
world, which does not now appear to be quite certain. Mr. Sanford
Griffith, just from the front, gave us an inspiring word-picture of
"Paris Reborn."
The concluding address of the symposium was given by President Bestor on
"America and the War." It was considered by the National Security League
as of sufficient value to be published in pamphlet form, and received a
wide circulation.
From August 13th to 18th, Bishop Charles B. Mitchell (Methodist
Episcopal), living at Minneapolis, held the post of Chaplain, and gave a
number of heart warming addresses on "The Transforming Power of Divine
Grace." During the week the Recognition Day exercises were held, with
all pomp and ceremonial, the address being given by President George E.
Vincent. His father was present and that afternoon, as Chancellor, gave
the diplomas to the graduates, but none of us knew that it was for the
last time, and that his face would not be seen again at Chautauqua,
although he lived nearly three years longer.
In 1917, President E. B. Bryan of Colgate University accepted the
position as Director of the Summer Schools. But to one who through the
rest of the year has a college full of students to keep in order, and
also a faculty to maintain in harmony--which one college president told
me he found the harder task,--the burden at Chautauqua of a hundred and
twenty-five teachers, two hundred courses of study, and forty-five
hundred students during nearly all his summer vacation, proved too heavy
even for Dr. Bryan's shoulders, and after three years, in 1919, he was
compelled to relinquish it into the hands of President Bestor.
This summer, also, the new traction station of the Chautauqua Lake
Railway was opened at the highway entrance to the grounds; a handsome
pillared structure with more room than Chautauqua had ever before
possessed for waiting room, ticket office, baggage, freight, and
express, a convenience appreciated by every visitor. Also, by the shore
a new bathhouse and the Jacob Bolin Gymnasium were built and opened, as
well as the Fenton Memorial Home for Methodist Deaconesses on the
Overlook addition.
In 1918, we were in the grip of the war, with our young men in camp by
the million, overseas and on their way by the hundred thousand, and
every woman "doing her bit" in the Red Cross work. Outwardly, Chautauqua
seemed as flourishing as in other years, the hotels and cottages
appeared to be full, the Amphitheater was crowded at the concerts and
popular lectures, and the main streets before and after lectures were a
continuous procession. But the gate receipts showed that the
Institution, in common with every college in the land, was lessened in
its attendance and its financial returns. Nevertheless, the program was
not allowed to decline in its extent and its interest. Indeed, one added
feature attracted attention. In the field of the Overlook a National
Service School was held in cooperation with the Woman's Naval Service. A
tented camp was maintained under the strict discipline of Mrs. George E.
Vincent, with regular guards, and training for more than two hundred
khaki-clad young women in agriculture, telegraphy, basketry, and
canteen management. I am not sure about carpentry, though I saw a
photograph of young women sawing boards and putting up a house.
The value of Chautauqua in national patriotic leadership was recognized,
not only by our own government, but by the Allies as well. Great
Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, and Greece sent official speakers,
either through their embassies or their special war missions. It was a
mark of distinguished favor that the French High Commission gave the
French Military Band to Chautauqua for a week, their longest engagement
in this country.
On the opening day, July 4th, President Bestor gave the oration on
"Mobilizing the Mind of America." For nearly a year before, and until
the Armistice in November of this year, Mr. Bestor was almost without
intermission in Washington in government service as head of the
Department of Publicity. He was Director of the Speaking Division of the
Committee on Public Information, and also Secretary of the Committee on
Patriotism of the National Security League, an organization which held
in many places training camps for patriotic speakers. Dr. Bestor was
carrying on more than double duty until the Armistice in 1918 gave him
something of a breathing spell between the sessions of Chautauqua.
During the week from July 7th to 13th, Bishop Edwin H. Hughes (Methodist
Episcopal) was Chaplain, and gave addresses of a high character on
"Varieties of Religious Experience." As samples of the type of lectures
during this strenuous battle summer, this week President E. B. Bryan
spoke on "War as a Schoolmaster," Mr. E. H. Griggs began a course on
"The War and the Reconstruction of Democracy," and Dr. L. A. Weigle of
Yale lectured on "Religious Education in War Times." One evening Dr. S.
H. Clark read war lyrics in the Amphitheater.
The week from July 14th to 20th was "Women's Service Week," and among
those who spoke on the subject were Anna Howard Shaw, who had been
called by the President to be Chairman of the Women's National Council
of Defense, in command of all the activities of women in aid of the war,
Miss Helen Fraser of England, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Mrs. Ella A.
Boole, Mrs. Pennybacker, and Mrs. George Thatcher Guernsey,--women whose
voices had often been heard in behalf of woman suffrage, now as ardently
speaking in aid of work to carry on the war. This week Dr. S. P. Cadman
had been engaged as Chaplain, but he was unable to remain more than one
day and other men were suddenly drafted to take his place on successive
mornings, one of them, the writer of these pages, on fifteen minutes'
notice called to conduct the Devotional Hour, immediately after an
hour's teaching in class. This little incident, of no particular
interest to anybody but the writer, is mentioned merely to illustrate
the instant change of front which must be made frequently at Chautauqua,
when a speaker is delayed by a railroad wreck or unexpectedly called
home to conduct a funeral.
"Our Allies" was the title of the week from July 22d to 27th. Dr.
Charles W. Gilkey of Chicago preached the sermon on Sunday morning and
led in the devotions through the week. Prof. Robert Herndon Fife of the
Wesleyan University, Conn., gave a series of lectures on "The New
Europe." Not all of his forecasts have yet come to pass, for the new
Europe is only slowly emerging out of the old. Mrs. Kenneth Brown--the
name sounds American, but she is a Greek lady of rank, born Demetra
Vaka--told a harrowing tale of her own experience and observation, "In
the Heart of the German Intrigue." Dr. Mitchell Carroll of Washington
gave an account of "Greece, our Youngest Ally," with Venizelos as the
hero. Lieut. Bruno Roselli of the Italian army spoke; Miss Maud Hayes
of "England in War Time." On Friday evening, July 26th, there was a
concert in the evening of national songs of the Allies; the flags of
more than twenty nations being hung above the choir loft. On Grand Army
Day in this week Lieut. Telfair Marion Minton spoke on "The Flags of a
Thousand Years."
In the following week, July 28th to August 3d, while the Musical
Festival was in progress, the French Military Band played every day, and
concert followed concert, with Gaul's "Joan of Arc" sung one evening by
the soloists and full chorus. Dr. Leon H. Vincent gave a course of
lectures, showing "War in Literature," the stories called forth by the
Wars of Napoleon, the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and
the struggle in progress in 1918--a most interesting series. The
Chaplain of this week was the Rev. Wm. S. Jacobs, D.D., of Houston,
Texas.
Omitting a fortnight for lack of room, we must not omit "The Next Step
Forward," the topic of the week from August 18th to 24th, a discussion
of some movements to follow in the footsteps of war, such as
"Theological Reconstruction," by Shailer Mathews; "Christianity in
Foreign Lands," by Dr. J. L. Barton, Secretary of the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions; "The Sunday Evening Club" and
"Church Advertising," by W. F. McClure, and "The Art of Motion
Pictures," by Vachel Lindsay. There was also a course on "Art in Daily
Life," by our English friend, Prof. I. B. Stoughton Holborn, of Oxford.
Bishop McConnell, who conducted the Devotional Hour, August 11th-17th,
also gave the Recognition address to the graduating class of the C. L.
S. C., on "Ideals of Leadership." The skies were clouded, yet we were
able to hold the procession as usual (only once in forty-seven years has
the march been broken up by rain), but the storm fell during the
address, with such noise on the roof that the Bishop was compelled to
pause for some minutes until its rage abated. We missed on this day
especially the presence of Bishop Vincent and his son, and the diplomas
were conferred by Dr. Bestor, the new President of Chautauqua. Not long
after the closing of the Assembly, on November 11, 1918, "Armistice Day"
was ushered in by the blowing of every steam whistle upon the continent,
by all-day processions, by bands and horns, and a surrender of the
nation to the universal joy, through the news that the most terrible war
that ever desolated the world was over at last.
When the forty-sixth session of Chautauqua opened in 1919, it found the
land rejoicing over the conclusion of the war, happy in the return of
two million men in khaki, apparently rich with high wages, booming
business, and money in plenty. It was the top of a tide destined before
many months to recede to normal conditions. But while the flush times
lasted, Chautauqua shared in the nation-wide prosperity. This was the
period of astounding financial drives. One great church commemorated the
hundred years of its missionary enterprise by a centenary movement and a
subscription of more than a hundred million dollars. Other churches
followed with "New Era" and "Nation Wide" campaigns. It seemed to be the
opportunity for Chautauqua to reap some benefits from the spirit of the
time, and the trustees launched the "Comprehensive Plan" to raise half a
million dollars, freeing the Institution from all debt and placing it on
a safe, permanent, and prosperous basis. Here was a university of a
hundred and twenty-five instructors, two hundred courses of study, and
nearly five thousand students every summer, yet without a dollar of
endowment;--what college in the land was doing so much with an income so
small? Here was a property of three hundred and fifty acres, gradually
accumulated, partly by the demands of the Institution's growth, partly
from the necessity of controlling its surroundings. Debts had been
incurred by enlargement of the grounds, a sewer system, a water supply,
electric lighting, new buildings, new roads, and a hundred items of
improvement. The overhead expenses of Chautauqua, in the form of
interest that must be paid, were more than thirty thousand dollars every
year. How much might be accomplished if every debt could be cleared away
and the saving in interest be applied to the improvement of the property
and the enlargement of opportunities? Mr. John D. Rockefeller made an
offer of giving one-fifth of all that should be raised, up to the
desired half-million dollars. The trustees assigned to themselves
another hundred thousand of the amount, and a committee of the cottage
owners pledged $150,000 from those having property on the ground. The
plans were carefully laid, and during the season of 1919 every visitor
at Chautauqua was called upon to make his contribution.
Of all the forty-six years of Chautauqua up to 1919, this was the most
successful in its history. The attendance shown by the receipts at the
two gates--one at the Pier where the steamboats landed their thousands,
the other at the new station on the public highway where the trolley
brought the tens of thousands--were far beyond that of any former year.
The registration at the schools was sixty-two per cent. in advance of
1918, and eighteen per cent. beyond that of 1914, the best previous
year. Every hotel and boarding house inside the fence was full, and
pleas were made to cottagers to open their doors to incoming guests.
Many who could not find lodging places on the grounds found homes in the
hotels and hamlets around the Lake and came daily to the Assembly by
trolley or by boat.
During the opening week, Mr. W. W. Ellsworth gave two illustrated
lectures, one on "Theodore Roosevelt," the other "The Rise and Fall of
Prussianism," and Prof. Thomas F. Moran of Purdue University gave an
appreciation of "Mark Twain, Humorist, Reformer, and Philosopher." Miss
Maud Miner gave a popular recitation of "Comedy Scenes from
Shakespeare." It was noticed that in the very opening the Amphitheater
was filled;--what would it become at the height of the season, the first
two weeks in August?
The Devotional Hour from July 6th to 12th was held by Dr. Charles F.
Wishart, in a series of studies in the book of Exodus, entitled, "A Free
People in the Making," and from the story he drew frequent applications
to the history of another "free people." During this week, Dr. Louis A.
Weigle, Professor of Psychology at Yale University, began a course of
lectures on "Character Building in the Public Schools" suggesting many
thoughts--not all of them gratulatory--in those who heard them.
On Sunday morning, July 13th, the great congregation heard Dr. Wm. P.
Merrill, of the Brick Church, New York, deliver a sermon on the topic as
announced, "The League of Nations," of which he declared himself
unreservedly in favor. On this question there were two parties
throughout the nation strongly opposed to each other and fiercely
debating it, and when a fortnight later the chaplain, Bishop Williams,
who was never known to sit on the fence, also came out vigorously for
the League, Mr. Bestor began to look around for some speaker on the
other side, for it has been a principle at Chautauqua to give both sides
a fair showing, even when the Chautauqua constituency as a whole might
be opposed to a speaker. A speaker against the League was found in Mr.
John Ferguson, but he evidently represented the sentiments of the
minority. Among the speakers of the second week were several on "The
Aftermath of the Great War," among them Dr. Katharine B. Davis,
Major-General Bailey, who had been Commander of the Eighty-First
Division of the A. E. F., and Attorney-General A. Mitchell Palmer. Prof.
S. C. Schmucker also gave a course of lectures on "The Races of Man."
Musical Festival Week was from July 28th to August 2nd. The New York
Symphony Orchestra of sixty instruments was with us in concerts daily,
led in the absence of its conductor, Mr. Walter Damrosch (who was
abroad) by Rene Pollain of France. During this and the following week
Earl Barnes gave a course of lectures on "The New Nations of the World."
We listened to a discussion of "Zionism," in a lecture on "Jewish Aims
in Palestine" by Charles A. Cowen, of the Zionist organization, to which
Mr. Earl Barnes gave a cool, dispassionate answer, showing the
difficulty, amounting almost to an impossibility, of establishing a
Jewish State in the land looked upon as holy, not only by Jews, but by
Mohammedans and Christians of all the great churches. Another speaker in
this symposium was Mme. Mabel S. Grouetch, the wife of the Serbian
minister at Washington, who afterward became the Czecho-Slovak
representative to Japan.
Old First Night on August 5th was devoted to the Comprehensive Plan of
lifting Chautauqua out of debt. The elements seemed against the aim for
rain kept some away,--though the Amphitheater was full--and its thunder
on the roof made some speeches inaudible. But it could not dampen the
ardor of the people. Practically every organization, club, or class at
Chautauqua, besides many individuals, made pledges. Besides the chorus,
there was a children's choir in the gallery, and one gentleman offered
to give a dollar for every child in it, whereupon scouts were sent out,
boys and girls were gotten out of bed and brought to the gallery, so
that his pledge cost that gentleman considerably over $300.00. Before
the close of the Assembly $375,000 had been subscribed, inclusive of Mr.
Rockefeller's quota.
Americanization week was from August 11th to 16th, with timely addresses
by Prof. Herbert Adolphin Miller, Prof. Thomas Moran, and a delightful
lecture by Mrs. Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale, on "Reconstruction in
England and America." As a practical illustration of Americanization,
there was a wonderful pageant by the children of a public school in
Pittsburgh, practically all of foreign lineage. The Recognition address
on August 20th was by Bishop Charles F. Brent, who after heroic work in
the Philippines had been translated to the Episcopal diocese of Western
New York. His subject was "The Opportunities of the Mind."
We must not forget that some lectures were given at this session by Dr.
Charles A. Eastman, whose name does not suggest, as his complexion does,
that he is a full-blooded Sioux Indian. He is a successful physician and
a graduate of Dartmouth College,--which, by the way, was established in
1750 as a school for Indians, with no thought of Anglo-Saxon students.
This year also Dr. E. B. Bryan was unable to remain as Director of the
Summer Schools, and his work was added to the many tasks of President
Bestor.
We come finally to the Assembly of 1920, the forty-seventh session, and
at present the last upon our list, unless we undertake a prophetic look
into the future. We met in sadness, for our great Founder John Heyl
Vincent, who had lived to the age of eighty-eight years, died on Sunday,
May 9th, at his home in Chicago. He had outlived his fellow-Founder,
Lewis Miller, by twenty-one years. The two names stand together in the
annals of Chautauqua and in the thoughts of all Chautauquans, for
Chautauqua could not have been founded by either one without the other,
and on Old First Night, for both together the lilies of the white
handkerchiefs are silently and solemnly lifted, and as silently and
solemnly lowered. A memorial service was held for our beloved Bishop and
Chancellor on Sunday afternoon, August 1st, at the Vesper Hour, in the
Hall of Philosophy as the appropriate place, and the writer of this
story, as the oldest of living Chautauqua workers, was permitted to
offer the tribute in his honor. In the evening another service was held
in the Amphitheater, at which Dr. John H. Finley, Superintendent of
Education for New York State, and Bishop Herbert Welch of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, home for a few months from his field in Korea and
Japan, gave addresses. During the past year Chautauqua had sustained
another loss in the death of Mr. Alfred Hallam, who for nearly twenty
years had been the untiring and wholly devoted leader of the Musical
Department. It was felt that a musical service was his most appropriate
memorial, and the oratorio "Hora Novissima," by Horatio Parker, was sung
by the choir and soloists on Sunday evening, August 8th. During the
session news came that Dr. Bethuel T. Vincent of Denver, long conductor
of the Children's class and Intermediate class in the early years of the
Assembly, had followed his brother the Bishop, into the silent land. He
was remembered in an address by the writer at a memorial service. His
wife, Mrs. Ella Vincent, for many years president of the Woman's Club,
in a few months also joined the company of the church triumphant.
Another voice often heard at Chautauqua was stilled this summer, that of
Mrs. Frank Beard, always bright and sunny in her spirit, who fell asleep
in the cottage where she was abiding, soon after the opening of the
Assembly, fulfilling the wish expressed to a friend a year before that
she might die at Chautauqua.
The most notable feature on the program this summer was the presence at
Chautauqua for nearly six weeks, from July 26th to August 31st, of the
New York Symphony Orchestra, with daily concerts, conducted by Rene
Pollain and William Willeke,--a bold venture of the management but
evidently successful.
This was the tercentenary of the landing of the Pilgrims, and the event
was recognized by several addresses, one in particular by Mr. Charles
Zeublin, on "1620 and 1920." Prof. Weigle gave a lecture on "Education
of Children in Early New England"; Dr. Alfred E. Garvie spoke on "The
Message of the _Mayflower_ for To-day." Principal Alexander J. Grieve of
the University of Edinburgh gave lectures on the "Leaders of the
Pilgrims,--John Robinson and others."
Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, after an experience of years in Asia Minor
and in France, gave a series of valuable lectures on "After the War,"
and Mrs. Gibbons narrated the thrilling story of herself in Turkey,
during the massacres of 1908. Dr. Lynn Harold Hough was chaplain from
July 4th to July 10th, and in the morning talks spoke on the spiritual
experiences of St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Wesley, then
summed them up in a conception of "The Christian Society." Prof. Richard
Burton lectured in a course on "Modern Literary Tendencies,"--the essay,
the novel, the drama, and other forms of literature. One of the great
acquisitions this year was Prof. T. R. Glover of Cambridge, England,
with a course of lectures on "The Jesus of History," the results of the
deepest study of the New Testament and also of the contemporary Roman
world. Dr. H. Gordon Hayes, just leaving Yale for the Ohio State
University, discussed most ably "Factors in Labor Unrest." On Roosevelt
Day, July 21st, Mrs. Douglas Robinson, his sister, gave "Recollections
of Theodore Roosevelt." In the week from July 26th-31st, the subject was
"Problems of the Present Day Civilization," discussed by Dr. E. H.
Griggs, Rabbi Louis Wolsey of Cleveland, and Dr. Cornelius Woelfkin of
New York. "Woman and the New Era" was the theme of the week August
2d-7th, a discussion participated in by Mrs. Thomas G. Winter, President
of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs; by Mrs. George Bass, who was
the woman, for the first time in history to preside for a day at the
Democratic National Convention which renominated Woodrow Wilson; and by
Miss Mary Garrett Hay, the President of the Affiliated Women's
Republican Clubs. August 22d-29th was the week of the Ministers and
Church Workers' Institute, with addresses by Bishop McDowell
(Methodist), Ozora S. Davis, Shailer Mathews, Mrs. Helen Barrett
Montgomery, and Chancellor S. B. McCormick, of Pittsburgh.
This was a great year. Subscriptions to the Comprehensive Plan brought
the amount up to $450,000, including Mr. Rockefeller's contribution, to
be increased if other gifts warranted it. The Summer Schools were
twenty-five per cent. in income and nearly twenty per cent. in numbers
over 1919, the highest mark of past years. Provision was made for
improving and enlarging the golf links, and for building a new club
house on the grounds of the golf course.