ringers. This didn’t dampen
their enthusiasm, apparently,
and we discovered d^htfuUy
Srrtt-OdratiPtt CHomttt} t^ubltr Ulbrarif
The NEW BERN
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
'ASTERN NORTH
M T 'ASTERN NOR
>\'OLINA
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VOLUME 15
NEW BERN, N. C. 28560, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22,1972
NUMBER 28
Those of us who have lived in
New Bern for a span of 40 years
or more stUl remember Swarth-
more Chautauqua. Each
summer, in front of the Moses
Griffin building on our
Academy Green, it pitched tent
for a week and brought us good
music, high class drama, and
informative lectures.
In an era when radio and
television hadn’t come into
being for the family living
room, and outside entertainers
rarely invaded the region of the
Neuse and Trent, the
Chautauqua was a temporary
oasis of culture and amusement
for hundreds of New Bernians.
Judged by today’s standards,
the performers may have been
inferior, but we certainly didn’t
think so at the time. Most of the
music was classical, and it was
presented with impressive
dignity. Plays included such
things as Shakespeare’s
Taming of the Shrew, and Qie
iMtures were by orators of
national reputation.
Chautau^ week was a big
event in the lives of New Bern’s
small fry. There were morning
recreation sessions for
youngsters who possessed
season tidcets, and an op
portunity to appear in a play.
You got a button to wear, and
learned a song. The q>^ng
lines were “I am proud of my
town, is my town proud of me?”
All of us wanted it to be, of
course.
The visiting entertainers
were real troupers. Hie tent
leaked around the pdes, when
there was a violent thun
derstorm, and the drippings
often got all over the striM
ensemUe or the Swbs beu
' - /•
.,-v
that moist notes could be as
sweet as dry ones.
Once, vriien high winds were
blowing, part of the scenery-
suppoit^ by iron pipes^ell m
the heroine of a very serious
play. A length of pipe cracked
her squarely on the head. The
blow woidd probaUy have killed
a bull but bless her heart she
just sagged a little and kept
kq[)t ri^t on with her lines.
Swarthnunre Chautauqua, if
memory serves us correctly,
originated at Swarthmore
CoU^e in Pennsylvania. The
school was foundM in 1864 by*
Friends, and opened in 1868.
Devoted to arts, sciences, and
engineering, it is now non
sectarian. Numerous other
"chautauquas” played the
small, towns of America too.
However, neither Swarth
more Chautauqua nor any of
the other touring groups was
connected with the Chautaugua
Institution on the wooded slopes
of Lake Chautauqua, in western
New York State. The In
stitution’s sweeping success at
its own location simply gave
others the idea to take art to the
tank towns.
Men and women from all
parts of the United States still
gather at Lake Chautauqua
each summer for entertainment
and study. In a single season the
Institution has attracted more
(Continued on page 8)
Clouds adorning September's sky,
Lonely notes of a sea gull's cry.
Solitude where waves meet sand,
As autumn gently claims our land.