New Piasa Chautauqua Historical Society

Fellow Chautauquans,

As you are likely aware, we have encountered some delays to our flag ceremonies this season due to the condition of the flagpole.

That said, we are working to get back on track. There will be a Flag Raising ceremony immediately following church service this Sunday, June 23rd. We will be raising the flag of Jim Kreid (US Army) and hope you will attend.

Vintage tennis returns to Chautauqua this Saturday from 12:30 until 2 pm. Wear your tennis whites and come play or watch fun drills with our wooded racquets. Bring your picnic lunch. Ice cream novelties will be served.
This event is sponsored by CHS.

Sunday, June 9 – Seventeenth Annual Young Musician Series
8:00 PM, Historic Kupferle Chapel

The Chautauqua Historical Society is pleased to present the 17th Annual Young Musicians Series featuring violist Molly Prow.

Molly is an accomplished violist who is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School. She will be returning to Juilliard to pursue a masters degree in the fall.

We continue to be grateful for our long standing partnership with Vera Parkin of the Community Music School of Webster University, who makes this concert and series possible. Vera will be accompanying Molly on the piano.

For more details, please visit our Special Events page at https://www.chautauquahistory.org/activities-events/special-events/special-events-2024/

This morning's Flag Raising Ceremony has also had to be postponed. We will let you know when it is rescheduled.

This morning's Flag Raising Ceremony has been postponed. We will let you know when it is rescheduled.

Our own Tim Tomlinson will be giving a lecture in conjunction with the Historic Elsah Foundation this Thursday 4/18 at 7:00 PM. The topic is "Chautauqua: An American Icon" and you can also join virtually by following the link in their post.

Greetings everyone, I'm celebrating and sharing an anniversary... Seven years ago today I awoke from a triple bypass and I'm pleased to announce I feel well and think I'm going strong. Rose and I moved into an assisted living facility 3 months ago and we're getting adjusted to regimented life. Look for Cedarhurst at Godfrey IL.

Sunday, September 3 - Chautauqua Historical Society Annual Meeting
1:00 PM, Town Hall

Join us for this year's Annual Meeting to hear about activities and learn how you can get more involved.

We hope to see you there!

Saturday, August 12 – Jöstlein Family Band
6:30 PM, Kupferle Chapel

The incredibly talented Jöstlein Family (Thomas and Tricia with sons Klaus, and Max) will perform a concert for the Chautauqua community in the Kupferle Chapel, accompanied by pianist Vera Parkin, who has frequently accompanied musicians at Chautauqua.

Thomas has served as the Associate Principal Horn player for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra since 2010, has toured to North Korea with the NY Philharmonic, and recorded with Tony Bennett. Tricia is also an accomplished horn player, with the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis and the St Louis Symphony Orchestra among others. Klaus is a violin player with the SLSO Youth Orchestra , JazzU at the Bistro, and soloed on “Schindler’s List” with the SLUH orchestra in Rome. Max plays cello, and has performed at Powell Hall, and in Germany, Aspen and Boulder.

The concert will include a wide variety of music ranging from classical to jazz, including several art songs that Tricia and Thomas will record for a CD in September.

For links to more information about these talented musicians, please visit https://www.chautauquahistory.org/activities-events/special-events/special-events-2023/

Sunday, August 6 – Tim Tomlinson: Piasa Chautauqua: Founders & Founding Principles
7:00 PM, Chautauqua Town Hall

Tim Tomlinson, long-time CHS president, will speak about his research into the founders and founding principles of Piasa Chautauqua.

Hope you can join us for this interesting and informative event!

Sunday, July 2 – Nineteenth Annual Platform Lecture
E.J. Neafsey: Marquette and Jolliet’s Voyage to the Mississippi in 1673 – 350 Years Ago – (in their own words!)

7:00 PM, Auditorium

E.J. Neafsey will speak about the The Jolliet and Marquette Expedition of 1673-1675 on the 350th anniversary of that voyage. The story of these events will be told in the words of the Jesuit Relations, annual reports sent back to Paris by the Jesuit missionaries in New France at that time.

His talk will include a description of 17th century North America, brief introductions of Marquette and Jolliet, a detailed description of their 1673 voyage, and explorations of Jolliet’s trip to the Governor of New France in Montreal in 1674 and Marquette’s final trip to the Illinois village of Kaskaskia (Starved Rock). “In their own words” refers to the fact that Neafsey will quote extensively from Marquette’s journals and other Jesuit Relations documents and from a letter by Jolliet.

We look forward to learning more about this important expedition that passed by the site of our Chautauqua three and a half centuries ago.

For more details, please visit our Special Events page at https://www.chautauquahistory.org/activities-events/special-events/special-events-2023/

We've updated the website with our 2023 Season plans so far!

Special Events can be found here - https://www.chautauquahistory.org/activities-events/special-events/special-events-2023/

Other Activities, including Flag Raising Ceremonies, can be found here - https://www.chautauquahistory.org/activities-events/activities/

We can't wait to see you around the valley!

Special Events 2023 Special Events Our programs are sponsored by Chautauqua Historical Society in collaboration with the New Piasa Chautauqua Program Committee. All dates, times and locations are subject to change. Check the weekly Channels for updates. Events for Our 2023 Season June 11 - The 16th Annual

Sunday, June 11 – The 16th Annual Young Musicians Series
7:00 PM, Historic Kupferle Chapel

The Chautauqua Historical Society is pleased to present the 16th Annual Young Musicians Series featuring violinist Hava Polinsky.

Hava is an accomplished violin player who will receive her Masters in the spring of 2023 from The Juilliard School.

Read more about her accomplished career in her bio at the National Arts Diversity Integration Association web site (https://www.nadiaconnects.org/rehearsal-in-progress) and get a preview of her incredible talent on her YouTube Page (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvcdT6V_xoY).

We are extremely fortunate to have her play at Chautauqua this summer.

We continue to be grateful for our longstanding partnership with Vera Parkin of the Community Music School of Webster University, who makes this concert and series possible.

Chautauqua's own Tim Tomlinson will be presenting in Elsah this Thursday:

The West Point of the Air: Choosing a Site for the Air Force Academy

Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Farley Music Hall, 37 Mill Street, Elsah, Illinois
Attend in person or via Zoom

The lecture, The West Point of the Air: Choosing a Site for the Air Force Academy, will describe the events of early 1954 when a federally appointed Selection Committee reviewed site nominations, one of which was an area that included Principia College, the Village of Elsah, and the New Piasa Chautauqua community.

The speaker, Tim Tomlinson, President emeritus of the Chautauqua Historical Society and Historic Elsah Foundation, notes “I’m fascinated by the decision making process in this important national matter. And, I continue to wonder why this naturally appealing area along the Great River Road was not the final selection for the West Point of the Air.”

This is the first lecture for 2023 in the Hosmer-Williams Lecture Series, a major contribution of the foundation to the understanding of local history. The series is underwritten, in part, by Liberty Bank of Alton, Illinois, by anonymous donors, and by the membership of Historic Elsah Foundation.

The presentation is free and open to the public, free parking is ample and available. The presentation will be virtual and in person. Please register in advance for the virtual presentation.

More info and registration can be found at

The West Point of the Air: Choosing a Site for the Air Force Academy – Historic Elsah Foundation The West Point of the Air: Choosing a Site for the Air Force Academy Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.Farley Music Hall, 37 Mill Street, Elsah, Illinois The lecture, The West Point of the Air: Choosing a Site for the Air Force Academy, will describe the events of early 1954 when a federally appo...

Chautauqua Historical Society will be holding its Annual Meeting on Saturday, September 3, 1:00 PM CT at Town Hall.

Hope you can join us!

Check out this history of the Chautauqua Institution and the Chautauqua Movement from the Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/08/13/chautauqua-history/

What is Chautauqua? The site of the Rushdie attack has a long history. A brief history of the Chautauqua Institution, site of the Salman Rushdie attack.

Found this great schedule for Children's Day 1953 in our archives. Love the traditions that keep carrying on to today!

SUNDAY, JULY 10 – CORN, CLAY, AND CAHOKIAN COMMUNITIES
Alleen Betzenhauser, PhD, of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey
7:00 PM, Town Hall

Dr. Betzenhauser will share recent research in the American Bottom region of Illinois stemming from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey’s excavations at the East St. Louis site from 2008–2012 for the Illinois Department of Transportation. She will highlight new insights about corn processing and potting practices, and how they relate to community identity during the early Mississippian period (ca. AD 1050–1200) in and near Cahokia Mounds.

FRIDAY, JULY 8 - CHAUTAUQUA NIGHT AT THE DINKY EXHIBIT
7:00 PM, Edward Amburg Museum and Visitor’s Center, 950 East Main Street, Grafton, IL 62037

Please join the Chautauqua Historical Society for a special evening at the new Dinky Exhibit in Grafton. We especially encourage Chautauquans with memories of riding the Dinky to attend and share their stories.

In the 1920s, prior to the existence of the River Road, the Illinois Central Railroad Company utilized a railbus that operated between Alton and Grafton with stops in Elsah and Chautauqua. The original engine was a city bus configured with wheels for railroad tracks. Locals dubbed it the “Dinky”.

Grafton has created a full-scale replica of the final version of the Dinky No. 206, which rode the rails from 1939 to 1953.

The original was donated to the National Museum of Transport in St. Louis in 1953, where it remains. (No. 206 was the third and last one built.)

The Chautauqua Historical Society is pleased to present...

SUNDAY, JUNE 26 – EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL PLATFORM LECTURE
Stephen L. Kling, Jr.: The American Revolutionary War in St. Louis
7:00 PM, Auditorium

Stephen L. Kling, Jr., local attorney, author of several books on the American Revolutionary War in the West and co-curator of the recently opened American Revolutionary War in the West museum exhibit, will speak about Revolutionary War battles that took place in St. Louis and the surrounding area.

His 2017 book, The Battle of St. Louis was made into a historical documentary released late last year and won the St. Louis Filmmaker’s award and a Mid-America Emmy.

As a direct descendant of Joseph Robidoux, a member of the local St. Louis militia at the time of the St. Louis attack who later became a prominent fur trader and merchant, Kling speaks with both academic and personal interest in the history of the region.

The presentation will include some short videos on the museum exhibit and the documentary, and will cover some topics of local interest during the war.

His books and DVDs of the documentary will be available for purchase.

Please join us....

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 7:00 PM, HISTORIC KUPFERLE CHAPEL
THE 15TH ANNUAL YOUNG MUSICIANS SERIES

The Chautauqua Historical Society is pleased to present the 15th Annual Young Musicians Series featuring the Peccate Quartet.

The Peccate Quartet is a competition group of the Preparatory Program of the Community Music School of Webster University. Jointly sponsored by the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis (CMSSL), the Peccate Quartet is comprised of:

Micaela Chyu, violin
Nathan Bronstein, violin
Delia Zacks, viola
Natalie Van Winkle, cello

All members are also seasoned participants in the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra.

The Peccate Quartet participated in the Midwest Young Artists National Chamber Music Competition earlier this year, and appeared in pre-concert Preludes for CMSSL, and a special concert series of their own. The individual members are excellent soloists as well, and winners of numerous St. Louis regional concerto competitions.

For their June 12th Chautauqua debut, the Peccate Quartet will perform great works of the string quartet repertoire, some duos and solos, and end with a big band medley under the stars. Featured works will be the effervescent “Sunrise” Quartet of Haydn, Schubert’s Quartetsatz, Shostakovich’s mesmerizing 8th quartet, and the energetic Dvorak “American” Allegro.

The Peccate Quartet will be assisted by Vera Parkin, Community School of Music.

We hope to see you there!