12 Facts About Chautauqua Institution

1.

Chautauqua Institution was founded in 1874 by inventor Lewis Miller and Methodist Bishop John Heyl Vincent as a teaching camp for Sunday-school teachers.

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2.

Chautauqua Institution has operated each summer since then, gradually expanding its season length and program offerings in the arts, education, religion, and music.

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3.

Every summer during its nine-week season, Chautauqua Institution provides an array of programs including fine and performing arts, lectures, worship services, and religious programs, as well as recreational activities.

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4.

Summer admission to Chautauqua Institution is by "gate ticket, " which allows entrance into the grounds, use of Smith Memorial Library, use of public beaches and parks, and attendance at lectures and concerts.

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5.

Programs offered during the week at Chautauqua Institution include devotional services and a lecture on a social, political, or academic issue in the morning, a religious or political topic in the afternoon, and a night of entertainment as the evening program.

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6.

Institution's grounds, located between New York State Route 394 and Chautauqua Lake, include public buildings, administrative offices, a library, movie theater, bookstore, hotel, condominiums, inns, rooming houses, and many private cottages available for rent during the season.

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7.

The Chautauqua Institution is mostly a pedestrian community with bikes and scooters widely used along with a 12-mph speed limit for cars when authorized to be on the grounds.

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8.

Chautauqua Declaration is an annual declaration made at the Chautauqua Institution supporting international efforts to bring human rights violators to justice.

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9.

Ideals of the Chautauqua Institution spread throughout the United States through many Independent Chautauqua assemblies.

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10.

Chautauqua Institution has been visited by political figures, celebrities, artists, musicians, scientists, and writers.

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11.

Since its founding in 1874, the Institution has been visited by four sitting United States presidents including Ulysses S Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton .

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12.

Celebrities from the performing arts who performed at Chautauqua Institution include John Philip Sousa, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Lucille Ball, and Johnny Mathis; and contemporary artists such as Rhiannon Giddens, Leann Rimes, Jimmie Johnson, Toby Keith, Harry Connick Jr.

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