A "Chautauqua Study Group" composed of representatives from sponsoring towns and Chautauqua scholars met on December 11, 2006 to begin the redesign of our Chautauqua program along less-complex, more sustainable lines. We seek suggestions from the public during the winter of 2007 to help assess which of two proposed themes will emerge as the strongest focus for the 2008 Chautauqua tour.

The Chautauqua Study Group hopes the new Chautauqua program will have the following features:

• Present 4 historical figures rather than 5, and emphasize well-known people to anchor the program.
• Schedule the main programs Thursday through Sunday rather than Tuesday through Saturday, and give local sponsors an option to schedule one or more afternoon programs on the weekend, rather than scheduling entirely in the evening.
• Negotiate with local sponsors whether they want to involve the community in a tent-raising or would prefer to have this done by a tent company.
• Allow local sponsors a great deal of flexibility in engaging the Chautauqua scholars for auxiliary programming during their "residency" in the town.
• Address the need for consistently interesting "warm-up acts" in partnership with local sponsors.
• Relieve deadline pressures by sharing responsibilities for publicity. MHC will produce the uniform printed program for the main programs, and local sponsors will publicize auxiliary programming.
• Assign theme and title development to the Chautauqua Study Group, which will become a standing "ad hoc" advisory committee to the Missouri Humanities Council.
• Finalize program planning and town recruitment so that any participating town has a full year of lead time. This amounts to an endorsement of the existing practice of asking potential host towns to submit applications in early May, for confirmation by the MHC board in early June.

Two Themes are in Contention for 2008

1. "Route 66"

Theme description: (none yet) We invite interested parties to draft some ideas that would explain this theme to the public. Roads don't speak, so we need to have a great idea of how "Route 66" expresses important ideas about American history. There are, at present, only snatches of ideas connected with this theme. For example, "African American Travel." Until facilities became desegregated in the 1960s, African Americans experienced Route 66 in vastly different ways from white Americans. Bring this aspect of the subject out on the Chautauqua stage would require presentation of a historical figure speaking first-person about the experiences. An African American scholar might, for example, recreate the character of his late parent or grandparent to evoke the strategic planning necessary for a journey on this route.

Historical Figures: John Steinbeck, Will Rogers, Calvin Coolidge, Angie Debo. We need a lot more ideas, and we need a rationale for including each person. Naturally, we need to arrive at a diverse cast.

2. "That's Entertainment"

Theme description: (none yet) We invite interested parties to draft some ideas that would explain this theme. The focus is the United States, fame is a consideration, and until we narrow the scope, it extends from the 18th century into the remembered past.

Historical Figures: Josephine Baker, P.T. Barnum, Walt Disney, Aimee Semple McPherson, Dorothy Parker, Mark Twain, Will Rogers, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Froman, Scott Joplin, Blind Boone, Langston Hughes, Laura Ingalls Wilder. We need more ideas, with a rationale for including each person.

How to Submit Ideas

Send your suggestions or ideas to Michael Bouman by e-mail, please, (michael "at" mohumanities.org).

updated 12/14/2006