The 1900 America Chautauqua offers two days of entertainment and learning opportunities for visitors of all ages . The 2011 Chautauqua program will explore the events, popular entertainment, culture and famous people of the year 1900 in our 26 building Victorian era living history village. New and different programs are offered for this event every year!
Visitors are invited to participate in the time-honored tradition: The Chautauqua (Sha – taw’ – kwa) and experience the stories that made history. Meet famous Americans Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, Mark Twain and others. Thrill to demonstrations of sharp shooting and trick riding at Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World on the Midway Village Green with two shows on Saturday (12:30pm & 3:00pm) and one on Sunday (2:00pm)along with a wide variety of other popular activities, presentations and entertainments of the times.
The 1900 America Chautauqua will include live period music & theater presentations in our restored barns, hotel & church. Dr. Balthasar's Miracle Medicine Shows, Spanish-American/Philippine War soldiers encampment, demonstrations of antique high-wheel bicycles by the Illinois Wheelmen and Wisconsin Wheelmen, horse drawn wagon rides, Prairie Mill Lace Makers hands-on workshops, tours of our Victorian village with its unique heritage late 19th century flower & vegetable gardens and other hands-on history activities during the weekend will be held throughout our outdoor museum campus. This will be an event to remember with dozens of 1900 music, history, theater and entertainment programs for everyone....
The 1900 America Chautauqua event was awarded the 2007 national Leadership in History Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History for excellence in educational programming.
Food, snacks and drinks will be provided by Burritt Meat Products in the Town Hall. Be sure to visit our ice cream, fresh fruit and pickle vendors located throughout the village!
Admission cost:
One-day pass $10 adults; $5 students and children (3 to 17)
Two-day pass $16(adults); $8 (students and children)
Admission also includes visiting the Museum Center, Museum Store, the Old Dolls’ House Museum, the Millhouse on Lake Severin.
Members are always free!
What is a Chautauqua? (Sha-taw-kwa)
According to Webster's New World Dictionary, a Chautauqua is an educational and recreational assembly with a program of lectures, concerts, etc.
John Heyl Vincent, a former Rockford minister, founded the Chautauqua movement in 1874 with the help of industrialist Lewis Miller. Originally held in Chautauqua County, New York, the program featured popular speakers, music, drama, physical culture and classes to entertain and educate the mind, body and soul. Summer Chautauqua shows soon began in cities all over the country. By the year 1900, large Chautauqua shows were common summer events in large cities and small towns in 31 states. The shows were the primary way for most people to experience American popular culture first hand.
Rockford started its own Chautauqua in 1902 constructing a grand outdoor hall with seating for 5,000 people on the shores of the Rock River at Harlem Park. Chautauqua participants came from miles around and could rent tents and stay at the park enjoying programs for a week at a time. The Rockford Chautauqua Assemblies remained popular for the next two decades attracing audiences of up to 80,000 people a year until radio, movies and the Great Depression ended the live programs.
Additional details and activities will be added in the upcoming weeks prior to the event
