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Learn everything you need to know

about Chautauqua

Chautauqua, NY, is a small town located in Chautauqua County in Northwest NY. Chautauqua, which means “tied in the middle” is located near Chautauqua Lake. The word Chautauqua also stands for an adult education movement in the United States that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

photo credit: grilled cheese

Chautauqua is most well known for Chautauqua Lake and the Chautauqua Institution, a learning and cultural center. As the area grew in population Chautauqua County was formed and named after the largest lake in the area.

History of Chautauqua

The first Chautauqua was called the New York Chautauqua Assembly. John Heyl Vincent, a Methodist minister and editor of the Sunday School Journal, organized it in 1874. His friend Lewis Miller, a businessman, also helped plan the concept of “Chautauqua” also know as adult learning centers. Their campsite was located at Chautauqua Lake in New York State. This location was chosen for its isolation, beauty and for the lake.

Two years earlier, Vincent had begun to train Sunday school teachers in an outdoor summer school format. He felt that the informal outdoor atmosphere would create harmony and be ideal for religion and learning. The organization founded by Vincent and Miller later became known as the Chautauqua Institution and is still active today.

Adult learning assemblies expanded rapidly in the late 1800’s and were popular throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The assemblies brought traveling entertainment, learning and culture for the whole community.

With the introduction of radio, competition for lining up the best performers and lecturers, movies, and the introduction of television and modern day information, Chautauqua’s began to close. Today there are only a few of the educational programs left, with the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua NY being the largest and offering the most diverse program format.

photo credit: sugarcoma

Chautauqua Institution

The Chautauqua Institution is a gated community that is open for a 9-week season offering a full program of lectures, religion and wide variety of activities. During the season automobiles are not permitted on grounds except for deliveries. Add to this, the small winding streets, small gardens and Victorian style homes and you have a unique village setting.

Off season the community is very small but the Smith Memorial library, lodging accommodations including the Athenaeum Hotel and several small shops stay open. And behind the scenes planning for the following Chautauqua season is in full gear.

Chautauqua County encompasses 1065 square, has 6 lakes and approximately 50 miles of Lake Erie shoreline. Jamestown and Dunkirk are the two major cities with another twenty-seven towns and fifteen villages nestled in woodlands and along lakes. Chautauqua Gorge, Lucy-Desi Museum and Roger Tory Peterson Nature Center are only a few places to visit while touring Chautauqua.

In the summer months the lakes, rivers and forests are a popular draw for people. In the winter months skiing and other outdoor activities bring visitors to the area.

There is always an activity or place to visit in Chautauqua, NY.

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Week 4 at Chautauqua begins July 19 with theme topic “Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons: The Right to Have and to Hold.”

Nuclear power and weapons is a topic you listen to almost an a daily basis. It shapes our government and world policies. The decisions made today will influence our world for many years to come.

The following your tube will give you a better idea of the morning lecture topics and speakers. The president of the Chautauqua Institute, Tom Becker, gives a brief rundown of the planned program.

Week 4 At Chautauqua Institution

Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons: The Right to Have and to Hold

Monday: Sam Nunn “The Race Cooperation and Catasrophe”

Tuesday: Graham Allison, “Nuclear Terrorism: Who Could Imagine?”

Wednesday: Jim Rogers

Thursday: Molly Williamson “Getting Beyond the Politics of Petroleum”

Friday: Joseph Cirincione

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Week 3 at the Chautauqua Institution runs July 11-17, 2010.

The theme for the week is “From Asia to the Middle East: Energy, Capital, and Conflict.”

The following you tube, presented by Tom Becker who is the President of the Chautauqua Institution will give you an idea of what the theme will offer in the way of lectures.

Chautauqua Institution is located on the shore of Chautauqua lake and minutes from Lake Erie.

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This image was taken during the Studebaker Weekender at The Chautauqua Institution. The weekender has been a regular event for the last 11 years and takes place off season during the month of September. The event is sponsored by the Kinzua Region Studebaker Drivers Club.

At the time this photo was taken the Chautauqua Belle was being refurbished. It is now offering sight seeing tours of the lake and is often seen docked at the Chautauqua Institution.

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The morning lecture theme for Week Two, July 5 – 9, at the Chautauqua Institution is “The Ethics of Leadership.”

Each year Chautauqua has a week devoted to the topic of applied ethics. This weeks topic applies to ethics in leadership. Speakers for the 10:45 am lecture are:

Monday – David Brooks
Tuesday – David Boren
Wednesday – Cheryl Dorsey
Thursday – David Weston
Friday – Joseph Riley

The following you tube gives more information on the daily morning lectures.

The lectures are set up to encourage public discussion and debate during the day and week. As you head to a workshop, art show or afternoon lecture you will hear people debating the morning lecture on porches or Bestor Plaza.

The Religious Department or Women’s Club also presents other lectures in the afternoon or weekends.

The following list is the remaining themes for the 2010 Chautauqua Institution program:

Week 3 – July 11-17, 2010
From Asia to the Middle East: Energy, Capital, and Conflict

Week 4 – July 18-24, 2010
Nuclear Power & Nuclear Weapons: The Right to Have & to Hold

Week 5 – July 25-31, 2010
Picture This: Photography

Week 6 – August 1-7, 2010
Excellence in Public Education

Week 7 – August 8-14, 2010
Sacred Spaces

Week 8 – August 15-21, 2010
Powering the Future

Week 9 – August 22-28, 2010
The Supreme Court

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Fireworks over Chautauqua Lake have been a tradition for many families for years.

The following you tube has captured the fireworks that took place in Mayville, which is county seat of Chautauqua County. This was from 2009.

In the video you can see a small section of red on the left hand side of the image. This is part of the traditional” lighting of the flares.” Flares are lit around the entire beachfront of the lake. No small task, but its taken place for many years. The eerie red light from the flares adds a beauty and mystery to the night.

My only experience of fireworks on Chautauqua Lake were at the Chautauqua Institution. I could barely see the fireworks from mayville but the red light of the flares along the lake and the sounds of music floating down to the lake shore were an image that I will remember for a long time.

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