About Me
What is Chautauqua?
Quite simply, Chautauqua is "a place to learn". The Chautauqua Assembly is a four-day "celebration of learning" featuring keynote speakers, performances, special events, and day sessions. The program is based on the four pillars of the Chautauqua:
Arts
Education
Religion
Recreation
Our Mission
The mission of the Florida Chautauqua Center is to:
Build an organization dedicated to the preservation of the Florida Chautauqua and to produce an annual Assembly honoring the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of the original Assemblies.
Our Goals
The goals of the Florida Chautauqua Center are to:
Provide an environment for spiritual and cultural renewal
Perpetuate a commitment to life-long learning
Emphasize contemporary topics throughout the program
Promote a public forum for informed debate
Ensure that the program content is of consistently high quality
Ensure that program content is cross-cultural, ethnically diverse, and ecumenical
Provide a year-round Chautauqua spirit and environment
Develop and nurture a Chautauqua community that exceeds the local geography.
The History of the Florida Chautauqua Center
Yesterday
The original Florida Chautauqua opened on February 10, 1885 in DeFuniak Springs, Florida after many months of planning, fundraising, and construction. The format for the first 5-day Assembly emphasized religious training and educational activities in such areas as philosophy, theology, art, music, elocution, and cookery. Concerts, impersonations, lectures, travelogues, and stereopticon slide shows also provided imaginative and educational entertainment. Visitors to the 1886 Assembly could hear lectures on Rome and Hannibal, Marius and Sulla, Julius Caesar, Cicero’s writings and Virgil. They could also attend Dr. Marcus Hatfield’s lectures on health entitled "Care of The House We Live In," and listen to other speakers on such diverse topics as astronomy, Scotland, Greece, Florence, Switzerland, and Love and Marriage. Musical entertainment that year was provided by the Rogers Goshen Band from Goshen, Indiana and supplemented by the Chautauqua Chorus performing evening concerts on the Lake.
In 1887, the Assembly was expanded from 5 days to 6 weeks, and in the ensuing years it became bigger, longer, and busier, while the little town of DeFuniak Springs grew right along with it. By 1897, the program featured numerous entertainment acts, and in 1899, the first moving pictures were shown. In 1917, Assembly attendees were astonished to see the moving picture "Civilization" on a big screen, and their interest in the new medium signaled that the end of the Chautauqua era wasn’t very far away. In addition to moving pictures, newspapers, telephones, and magazines, radio was also bringing news of the world to almost every home in America. The writing was on the wall, and in 1920, the Florida Chautauqua, then in its 36th season, would end its long and successful run in DeFuniak Springs.
Today
The people of DeFuniak Springs have never forgotten their Chautauqua heritage and are proud of the role their community played during the Chautauqua era. Recognizing the value of their heritage they successfully raised funds to restore the original Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood in 1975 and, later renovated the old movie theatre on Main Street, naming it The Florida Chautauqua Theatre. After restoration of the Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood was completed, the townsfolk hosted a festival consisting of recreational activities and a beauty pageant, but it wasn’t until the return of Ms. Diane Pickett in the early 1980s, that DeFuniak Springs finally experienced the re-birth of the original Chautauqua.
The Florida Chautauqua Assembly was officially brought back to life by Ms. Pickett on February 10, 1996, after a hiatus of more than 75 years. Much like the original Assembly, the lecture topics for the current Assembly include history, health, art, and current events, to name a few, along with entertainment from performers across the country. Special evening vespers are also held on the Lake in much the same way they were more than 100 years ago. It is Ms. Pickett’s goal to return the Florida Chautauqua to its original 9-week program, drawing attendees from throughout the entire US. Given her success thus far, it appears that her goals are both realistic and achievable.
The Chautauqua Movement
From 1885 to 1920, the Florida Chautauqua and the city of DeFuniak Springs grew and developed together, providing warmth and culture for the northerners while offering educational opportunities for Floridians. DeFuniak Springs sits in the Florida Panhandle on the shores of Lake DeFuniak, a clear, nearly round spring-fed lake about one mile in circumference. This was the place chosen for a winter Chautauqua in 1884 by a party of scouts from the Chautauqua Institution in New York.
The "Winter Assembly in the Land of Summer"
The annual 4-week February event was expanded to 9 weeks by 1906. Its season of lectures, classes, and performances was based on the model of the New York Assembly and became known as the "Winter Assembly in the Land of Summer." Its buildings included a hotel, amphitheater, college building, residences, and auditorium. A picket fence went all the way around the lake, encompassing not only the lake but also the Chautauqua Assembly and buildings located along the shores.
The Hall of Brotherhood
The only remaining original Chautauqua building is a domed auditorium whose rooms offer expansive views of the lake. In fact, Lake DeFuniak serves as a background for the entire Assembly as participants make their way from class to class, strolling around the lake or feeding the ducks. Others tour the Victorian lakefront homes that had been built for some early Chautauqua residents. The original 1885 "Winter Chautauqua" is ever present in its contemporary version, both in the picturesque lakeside setting and in the varied cultural and educational programs.
--Historical information from "The Florida Chautauqua" by Dean DeBolt, 1985
