Chautauqua

Chautauqua (/ʃəˈtɔːkwə/ shə-TAW-kwə) describes an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Named after Chautauqua Lake, in Western New York where the first was held, Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. A Chautauqua Assembly brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day. Former US President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America".

Historic buildings associated with the movement include Chautauqua Amphitheater (Chautauqua, New York), Chautauqua Auditorium (Shelbyville, Illinois), Chautauqua Auditorium (Boulder, Colorado), and Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood in DeFuniak Springs, Florida.

History

The Mother Chautauqua

The first Chautauqua, the New York Chautauqua Assembly, was organized in 1874 by Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent and businessman Lewis Miller at a campsite on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in New York State. Two years earlier, Vincent, editor of the Sunday School Journal, had begun to train Sunday school teachers in an outdoor summer school format. The gatherings grew in popularity. The organization founded by Vincent and Miller later became known as the Chautauqua Institution. It was called the Mother Chautauqua, because many independent, or "daughter" Chautauquas were developed under the same fashion.

Chautauqua Institution

The Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit adult education center and summer resort located on 750 acres (3 km²) in Chautauqua, New York, 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Jamestown in the western part of New York State. The Chautauqua Institution Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was further designated a National Historic Landmark.

History

It was founded in 1874 by inventor Lewis Miller and Methodist Bishop John Heyl Vincent as a teaching camp for Sunday school teachers. The teachers would disembark at Palestine Park, and begin a course of Bible study that used the Park to teach of the geography of the Holy Land.

The Institution has operated each summer since then, gradually expanding its season length and program offerings in the arts, education, religion and recreation. It offers educational activities to the public during the season, with public events including popular entertainment, theater, symphony, ballet, opera and visual arts exhibitions.

TJ Smith Stakes

The TJ Smith Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race at Weight for Age run over a distance of 1200 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in the autumn during the ATC Championships series. Total prize money is A$2,500,000.

Race history

The inaugural race in 1997 was known as the Endeavour Stakes. In 1999 the race was renamed in honour of the trainer Thomas John Smith (1916–1998) who won 33 Racing titles in Sydney.

The race has risen in prestige due to the stakes offered. In recent years it has attracted high calibre sprinters such as Black Caviar and Takeover Target who have gone on to win overseas.

Race grade

The winners

See also

External sites

TJ Smith Stakes (ATC)

References