Chautauqua
Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...
adult education movement flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then declined. However, some Independent Chautauquas still operate today, and these are the 21st century Chautauquas. They are divided into two categories, ''Continuously Operating Chautauquas'' and ''Revival Chautauquas''.
Continuously Operating Chautauquas
All references agree that at least these five Chautauquas have continued operations, without missing a year, from the heyday of the Chautauqua Movement (1920s or earlier) into the 21st Century:
*
Chautauqua Institution
The Chautauqua Institution ( ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on in Chautauqua, New York, northwest of Jamestown in the Western Southern Tier of New York State. Established in 1874, the ...
(the original ''Chautauqua'' in
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
Lakeside, Ohio
Lakeside is a private community and census-designated place in Danbury Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, on the shores of Lake Erie. It was formed in 1873 by members of the Methodist Church and remains a church-affiliated vacation re ...
*
Monteagle Sunday School Assembly
The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly (MSSA) is an interdenominational religious organization based in Monteagle, Tennessee. It was chartered by the state of Tennessee on October 31, 1882, with the purpose of
''the advancement of science, literary ...
in
Monteagle, Tennessee
Monteagle is a town in Franklin, Grundy, and Marion counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Cumberland Plateau region of the southeastern part of the state. The population was 1,238 at the 2000 census – 804 of the town's 1,238 resi ...
*
Colorado Chautauqua
The Colorado Chautauqua, located in Boulder, Colorado, United States, and started in 1898, is the only Chautauqua west of the Mississippi River still continuing in unbroken operation since the heyday of the Chautauqua Movement in the 1920s. It i ...
in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...
Chautauqua, Illinois
Chautauqua is a populated place in Jersey County, Illinois. Also known as the New Piasa Chautauqua Historic District which is a private semi-gated summer resort that started as a 19th-century tent settlement. The name Piasa is taken from a nearby ...
In addition, several other entities self-report that their activities constitute Continuously Operating Chautauquas:
Bay View Association in
Bay View, Michigan
The Bay View Association of the United Methodist Church, known as Bay View, is an example of two uniquely American community forms: the Methodist camp meeting and the independent Chautauqua. Designed for the first purpose in 1876 as the county's o ...
Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts
Oak Bluffs is a town located on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,341 at the 2020 United States Census. It is one of the island's principal points of arrival for summer tourists ...
Miamisburg, Ohio
Miamisburg ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio. The population was 20,181 at the time of the 2010 census. A suburb of Dayton. It is part of the Dayton metropolitan area. Miamisburg is known for its large industry (mainly for its nuclear ...
*
Fountain Park Chautauqua
Since 1895, Fountain Park has hosted an annual Chatauqua to promote religious, social and educational activities. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on .
At one time there were an estimated 85 Chautauquas in Indiana alone. ...
Ocean Park, Maine
Ocean Park is a village in the town of Old Orchard Beach in York County, Maine, United States. A historic family style summer community affiliated with the Free Will Baptists, the community is located in southern Old Orchard Beach on Saco Bay. Oc ...
Some other organizations have honored the Chautauqua tradition by starting (or restarting) similar operations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Examples include the following:
Muskoka Chautauqua in Windermere, Ontario (1916-1932, 1997-present)
* Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua near Bayfield, WI Bayfield, WI Chautauqua-by-the-Sea at Ocean Park,
Old Orchard Beach, Maine
Old Orchard Beach is a resort town and census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,960 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the larges ...
* The annual Chautauqua Festival held in
Wytheville, Virginia
Wytheville is a town in, and the county seat of, Wythe County, in southwestern Virginia, United States. It is named after George Wythe, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and mentor to Thomas Jefferson. Wytheville's populat ...
Andrews, North Carolina
Andrews is a town in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census.
History
Cherokee era
Indigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years before European encounter. By the late 16th or ...
DeFuniak Springs, Florida
DeFuniak Springs is a city in Walton County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,968 as of the 2020 Census. The county seat of Walton County, the city also serves as a hub for many residents in surrounding communities. In 2019, MSN's ''I ...
since 1996
* The New Piasa Chautauqua in
Chautauqua, Illinois
Chautauqua is a populated place in Jersey County, Illinois. Also known as the New Piasa Chautauqua Historic District which is a private semi-gated summer resort that started as a 19th-century tent settlement. The name Piasa is taken from a nearby ...
Waxahachie, Texas
Waxahachie ( ) is the seat of government of Ellis County, Texas, United States. Its population was 41,140 in 2020.
Etymology
Some sources state that the name means "cow" or "buffalo" in an unspecified Native American language. One possible ...
Chautauqua Institution
The Chautauqua Institution ( ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on in Chautauqua, New York, northwest of Jamestown in the Western Southern Tier of New York State. Established in 1874, the ...
* Galey, Mary (1981): ''The Grand Assembly: The Story of Life at the Colorado Chautauqua''. Boulder, Colorado: First Flatiron Press, {{ISBN, 0-9606706-0-2.
* Pettem, Silvia (1998): ''Chautauqua Centennial, a Hundred Years of Programs'' http://www.silviapettem.com/books.html