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Headliners at the Pontiac Chautauqua
The list below represents just a portion of the 31 years of speakers and entertainers at the Pontiac Chautauqua Assemblies. Hundreds of men and women presented on the stage at Riverside Park to thousands and thousands of audience members. If you wish to learn more about the Chautauqua Movement, additional information can be found at the Pontiac Public Library.
National Political Speakers
William Jennings Bryan - Former Presidential Candidate and Reformer
Booker T. Washington - African-American Activist
Carrie Nation - National Temperance Movement Leader
Samuel Gompers - Labor Leader, Founder of the CIO
Grace Wilbur Trout - Illinois Equal Suffrage Association
Governor Robert (Bob) Love Taylor – Former Tennessee Governor, Lecturer, and Magazine Editor
Governor Robert M. LaFollette - Former Wisconsin Governor and Activist
Evangelists
Bishop John H. Vincent – Founder of the Original New York Chautauqua
Bishop William Alfred Quayle – Methodist Lecturer and Writer
Billy Sunday – Famous Evangelist Preacher
Samuel Porter Jones - Lawyer and Preacher – Reformed Drunkard
Rev. Dr. Thomas DeWitt Talmage – Preacher, author, and well-known reformer
Distinguished Speakers
Sylvester A. Long – Lecturer
Prince Ghosh, Native of India
Dr. Peter MacQueen – Adventurer and Traveler - Hero of World War I
Joseph K. Griffis – The Story of Tahan, a Native American tale
R.G. Knowles - "The humorous American traveler" with stereopticon slides and moving pictures
Hon. Elmer J. Burkett, U.S. Senator from Nebraska
Dr. George E. Vincent, President of the Chautauqua Association
Entertainers
Sidney V. Landon - Impersonator
Joseffy – Magic, Music, Mystery
Madame Schumann Heink - Opera Star
The Honolulu Students – Guitars and Ukuleles – Native Music
Colangelo Band – 13 piece band playing Latin music
The Williams’ World Famous Colored Singers – African-American, Mixed Octet
Professor Maro, The Prince of Magic
New South Jubilee Singers – All Male African-American Quartet
Oxenham’s Moving Pictures – First Motion Pictures Shown in Pontiac
Otterbien Male Quartet
The Zedeler Symphonic Sextette – Music of the Masters with commentary
The Kilties Band – Scottish Music from Canada
Miss Caryl Cook – The Peter Pan Girl
Mallory Players – Full-length Dramatic Presentations
Weber Male Quartet – Popular Songs and the Classics
Mr. Samuel James Kennedy – Painter, Cartoonist, Lecturer
The French Ladies Quartette – Songs, Dramatic Readings, and Impersonations
Mr. and Mrs. Tony Godetz – Swiss Entertainers
Grossman’s Orchestra – Ten-piece musical group
Scott’s Orchestra – Ten-piece musical group
The Schumann Quintet – Strings and Harpsichord
Edwin Brush - Magician
Local Talent
Vermilion Orchestra – Seven Member Group with Strings
Pontiac Mixed Quartet
Pontiac Military Band, formerly known as the “129th Regimental Band”
Pontiac Choral Society
Pontiac Players – Local Dramatic Society Forerunner of today’s Vermillion Players
Annual Children’s Pageant – Boys and Girls of the Chautauqua camp perform for parents and others.