In the previous Footnote, we learned about the origins and operation of the New York Chautauqua Institution and the resulting “daughter Chautauquas” and the traveling or tent Chautauquas. In the concluding remarks of last week’s Footnote it was stated “While many people would view Chautauqua as a liberal arts focused entity, it did have a significant, but largely undocumented impact on the development and practice of agricultural and extension education.” So, let’s start learning about the influence of Chautauqua on agricultural and extension education.
Farmers’ Reading Courses
One of the enthusiastically popular aspects of Chautauqua was the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC). This was a prescribed reading program for individuals who wanted to learn more about the world around them and further their education. It was started in 1878.
Membership in the first class of CLSC reached more than 8,000 people. In 1891 Reverend Vincent reported that 180,000 members were enrolled. By 1900 some 10,000 reading circles had been started. By 1918 the total enrollment exceeded 300,000. A brief history of the CLSC can be read at https://www.chq.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/CLSC_HistoricInformation_web.pdf
It didn’t take long for the CLSC idea to be applied to and adopted in agriculture. In 1892 Pennsylvania State College established a reading course dealing with agriculture. It was called the Chautauqua Course of Home Reading in Agriculture. By 1899 the total enrollment in the agricultural correspondence courses was 3,416. True (1929, p. 277) reported that “There were students in most of the states and in some foreign countries. Their ages ranged from 15 to 75 years and averaged about 33 years.”
In reporting on the Board of Trustees 1892 decision to establish this reading course The Canton Independent-Sentinel (July 14, 1892, p. 5) reported:
It was decided to institute a Course of Home Reading in Agriculture essentially on the plan of the Chautauqua Reading Circle. By this means it is designed to bring within easy reach of every farmer in the state the best and latest printed information bearing upon his profession.
For more details see Figure 1.
One Pennsylvania newspaper, The Lancaster Intelligencer, stated (September 28, 1892, p. 2) “Evidently the farmer’s boy will not be permitted to waste his winter evenings if the professors can prevent it.”
Figure 1. The Canton (PA) Independent-Sentinel, July 14, 1892.
But Pennsylvania was not the only place where the Chautauqua reading plan was being adapted and adopted for agriculture. In 1899 the U. S. Department of Agriculture published a bulletin titled “Farmers’ Reading Courses.” The author was L. H. Bailey of Cornell University.
Figure 2. The USDA Farmers’ Reading Courses Bulletin.
In the introductory Letter of Transmittal in the bulletin it is stated (True, 1899, p. 2):
As an important phase of the general movement among our agricultural colleges to go outside of their class rooms and promote the education of our farmers along the lines of their art, the farmers’ reading courses are now attracting widespread attention, and I feel sure that a bulletin showing the scope and methods of this work will be cordially welcomed.
The word “Chautauqua” appears seven times in this USDA Bulletin.
In describing the farmer’s reading courses, the Pennsylvania model is featured first. It is stated (Bailey, 1899, p. 8), “The Pennsylvania reading course was modeled upon the Chautauqua plan. It was first known as the “Chautauqua Course of Home Reading in Agriculture.” Five courses were offered in 1898-99: (1) Crop production; (2) livestock production; (3) horticulture and floriculture; (4) dairying and (5) domestic economy.
The Michigan Farm Home Reading Circle followed the Pennsylvania model and was started in December of 1892. Among the traditional agriculture courses offered it is interesting to see a course in political science in the mix. An article in The Times of Harbor Beach, Michigan published in 1893 urges its readers to take up one of the classes during the upcoming winter months. See Figure 3.
Figure 3. The Times, Harbor Beach, Michigan. October 20, 1893.
Other state reading programs described in the USDA “Farmers’ Reading Courses” Bulletin were:
- New Hampshire College of Agriculture – 1894
- Storrs Agricultural College (Connecticut) – 1896
- Cornell University (New York) – 1896
- West Virginia College of Agriculture – 1897
- South Dakota State University – 1899
There is a brief mention of attempts to start farmer reading circles in Indiana, Rhode Island, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Since the Bulletin was published in 1899, numerous other states created farmer reading courses in the early 1900s.
Farmers’ Wives Reading Classes
The Pennsylvania listing of reading classes for farmers had one titled “Domestic Economy” and Michigan had a class on “Home Making.” It is obvious from these titles that the farm wife was to be included in the reading program.
Being a farm wife was challenging, both from a physical and mental standpoint. One problem faced by farm wives was extreme isolation. The leaders of the farmers’ reading courses recognized this problem. One of the struggles facing farm wives was described by Martha Van Rensselaer of Cornell as “soul starvation.” She stated, “I saw the great advances made in soil culture for the farmer, but soul culture of the farmer’s wife was at a dead standstill.”
To combat soul starvation Van Rensselaer started a Farmers’ Wives Reading Course. Starting in November 1902, she sent out one bulletin every winter month, from November to March, for four years to farm wives in New York. Most of the farm wife publications authored by Van Rensselaer focused on home making but there were also cultural and intellectual themes. Some 18,000 women were engaged in this reading program (Weinstock, 2009).
Other states followed the lead of New York and offered reading classes for the farm wives.
Figure 4. One of the Bulletins for the Cornell Reading Course for the Farmers’ Wives.
Figure 5. Article about the Farmers’ Wives Reading Lessons.
Springville (NY) Journal, April 10, 1902
Concluding Remarks
Long before the passage of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 establishing a nationwide Extension Service and the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 which codified the teaching of agriculture in the public schools, beginning and established farmers were learning about agriculture through farmers’ reading courses. The model for these reading courses was the Chautauqua Scientific and Literacy Reading Circles. The CLSC provided the pattern that colleges of agriculture followed for reading courses in agriculture.
In addition to the CLSC, the Chautauqua Institution also started correspondence courses. In 1879 the School of Languages was organized at Chautauqua by a young professor of Hebrew from Yale, Dr. William Rainy Harper. When the summer session was over several students who wanted to continue studying language during the winter asked Dr. Harper to outline a course of study and agree to help them with advice by mail.
This proved successful and correspondence was adopted as a method of instruction by Chautauqua. When Dr. Rainy became president of the University of Chicago in 1892 he immediately established a correspondence division based upon his Chautauqua experience. Noffsinger (1926, p. 11) concluded “From Chicago the idea spread to other institutions and today the greater part of the work of university extension divisions is by correspondence.” That was written in 1926.
Correspondence courses in agriculture were the next logical step above the voluntary reading courses in agriculture. Next week we will explore correspondence courses in agriculture. We will then be able to add that to the list of contributions from Chautauqua to the world of Agricultural and Extension Education.
| Score Card – Contributions of Chautauqua to Agricultural and Extension Education | ||
| Contribution | Year | Initial States |
| 1. Farmer’s Reading Courses | 1892 | PA, MI, NY, NH, CT, WV, SD |
| 2. Correspondence Courses in Agriculture | To Be Revealed | |
References
Bailey, L. H. (1899). Farmer’s Reading Courses. Washington, D.C. United States Department of Agriculture.
Nofffsinger, John S. (1926). Correspondence Schools, Lyceums, Chautauquas. The McMillian Company: New York.
True, Alfred Charles (1929). A History of Agricultural Education in the United States 1785-1925. United States Government Printing Office: Washington.
Weinstock, Tamar (2009). “Let us Hang Up the Dishpan and the Broom”: The Pursuit of Culture in the Farmers Wives’ Reading-Course and The Cornell Study Clubs. College of Human Ecology, Cornell University.