The striking of mind upon mind": the Open Forum and the Social Gospel.

Before Internet communities, earlier than study circles and national conversations, Americans came together to discuss the vital concerns and intellectual advances of their day, and the core beliefs and values in their lives. The Open Forum lecture movement has been left out of history books, but the locally developed programs brought stimulating, often controversial speakers for many years to several hundred communities. Two Indiana cities, Terre Haute and Hammond, captured this remarkable movement in the 1920s. (1)

In 1908, George W. Coleman, a Baptist lay leader in Boston and publisher of Christian Endeavor magazine, created the Open Forum. With a bequest to be used for the "betterment of mankind," he built Ford Hall in Boston to hold the Forum. Combining a commitment to the Social Gospel and democratic discussion, and with astute advertising skill, Coleman perfected the method of locally planned lectures, knowledgeable speakers, and follow-up question periods. He spread the model quickly in New England and then around the country through a network of activist ministers and civic leaders, writings in a variety of religious and secular publications, and numerous speeches. (2)

Coleman's approach differed in significant ways from earlier lecture movements. It was more intellectual and less religious in program content, more appealing in a large city with a wider range of people, and more democratic with communities developing their own programs, although a central booking bureau was available. In the religious, ethnic, and immigrant mix of central Boston, he moved beyond the small town appeal of the Lyceum. The approach was more inclusive than women's study clubs, which studied various topics, developed an amazing range of activities as community builders and agents of change, and were an important factor in the popularization of knowledge. Coleman's concept was wider than the Chautauqua movement as the Forum was grounded in a nonsectarian base, although Baptist funds initially sustained it. Finally, his methods went beyond the earlier movements through well-crafted advertising and the use of newspapers and a wide range of periodicals. (3)

Perspectives

The Forum movement may be viewed from four perspectives. First, it was one of the streams in what may be called secular perfectionism through public discussion, begun first on the ships coming to New England and continued in town meetings. While the meetings were not fully democratic in participation, and the topics were mainly on local governance, the setting provided a structure for the community to come together. Citizens were seeking to improve or perfect themselves as the new nation evolved into a more egalitarian society. De Tocqueville understood the concept when he observed that in the new nation, "the image of an ideal but always fugitive perfection presents itself to the human mind," and the democratic idea reflected "the indefinite perfectibility of man." In 1907, Walter Rauschenbusch, whose writings shaped the Open Forum, used the same image in Christianity and the Social Crisis, when he wrote that "the swiftness of evolution in our own country proves the immense latent perfectibility in human nature." (4)

Second, the Forum was part of the growing interdenominational climate in the nation. From the beginning, the hallmark was religious and ethnic diversity in local planning committees and the speakers they selected. In Boston, despite uneven social and economic integration at the time, Catholics participated in the Ford Hall Forum with a priest who sometimes served as moderator and a lay person who was on the committee to select speakers. Father (later Monsignor) John A. Ryan, the leading Catholic advocate for social justice during the period, spoke five times at Ford Hall. In Terre Haute, a Congregational pastor led a committee of the city's educational, business, and labor leaders, with the vice chairman a rabbi. The interdenominational spirit is also revealed in the series held in Hammond. In 1924, during the heyday of the Ku Klux Klan, a Jewish congregation organized the series, although a key planner, an activist woman physician, was not Jewish. Monsignor Ryan was the opening speaker while the second lecturer was from India. (5)

A third perspective on the Forum, during the postwar period, is a reflection of the shift in religious faith and practice in the nation. Compared with the high spirit of the war years, the decade was one of exhaustion. Sensing the public's bewilderment, John Dewey wrote that the "prime condition of a democratically organized public is a kind of knowledge and insight which does not yet exist." He observed that "no man and no mind was ever emancipated by being left alone [and] a thing is fully known only when it is published, shared, socially accessible." Democracy must begin at home, and "its home is the neighborly community." In a parallel search, Reinhold Niebuhr could not find religious robustness in the nation. As a pastor in Detroit and close observer of industrialism, he decried the moral failure of Christianity, writing that it was not a vital factor in contemporary life. He questioned religion's survival and became discouraged by the failure of the ministry. Indexes of denominational vitality during the decade show a prevailing downward trend, the beginning of the "religious depression." Specific to Indiana, a study of Midwestern towns found that the churches seldom concerned themselves with anything beyond preaching, while service clubs and community agencies carried forward the Social Gospel. In 1910, Coleman sensed the estrangement people felt, and he described the Forum as "a church outside the churches," made possible through the support of religion. (6)

The Social Gospel

The fourth way to view the Forum is as an implementation of the Social Gospel. Beginning in 1892, Coleman was in a group headed by Rauschenbusch that wrestled with social problems. The Brotherhood of the Kingdom, composed of Baptist ministers, theologians, and laymen, sought to apply social Christianity to the problems of everyday life. The goals of the organization were to keep in contact with common people, infuse religious spirit into social amelioration, and "jealously guard the freedom of discussion for any man who is impelled by love of the truth to utter his thoughts." These were the exact principles that Coleman would use to shape the Ford Hall Forum in 1908. A direct link between Christianity and the Social Crisis and Coleman is found in his letter to the theologian right after the book's publication in 1907:

   I have read your book. It has impressed me most deeply and I am going to
   read it again right away. I have bought forty copies for distribution among
   my friends. [A member of the clergy told me it] comes pretty near being an
   epoch-making book. I have been imparting some of the inspiration which has
   come to me through its pages to our ... workers here ... and shall put a
   copy in the hands of each of them. We have plans laid already that look
   toward a dissemination of some of the truths which you teach [emphasis
   added].

In addition, for a decade beginning in 1907, Coleman spearheaded the Sagamore Sociological Conference in which Rauschenbusch and other social gospelers came together for a week each summer to discuss societal problems. In 1912, the theologian was undoubtedly referring to Coleman when he wrote that "one of the most wonderful symptoms of the moral uplift is the fact that the publicity men of the country under the leadership of an unusual kind of Christian have undertaken to make advertising tell the truth." At a time of much social dislocation, the goal to connect the self-oriented Christian consciousness into one that was neighbor oriented was particularly meaningful. It is not coincidental that when the Open Forum began at Ford Hall in Boston, the core audience was called "Ford Hall Folks." (7)

Today, the tradition of Americans seeking to expand their thinking as citizens is too often overlooked. In colonial towns, the clergy supported a well-educated laity so they could follow theological discussions. The first half of the nineteenth century brought an extraordinary development in the spread of ideas and knowledge. Common people had a desire to know so they could share more fully in the life of the mind. The Lyceum and then Chautauqua respond ed by bringing lecturers to several thousand communities. The major tenet, of the Lyceum was to provide opportunities for people with expertise to share their knowledge through a public forum. As the Lyceum sought to broaden minds and make people more accepting of new ideas, the Open Forum is its clear successor. At mid-century, public speakers provided a comprehensive vision, referred to as the democratic spirit, making knowledge readily accessible to common people. By participating in a wide range of information activities, Americans showed their commitment to the idea of a knowledgeable citizenry. At the turn of the century, clubwomen began to study social issues; universities developed extension courses; and social and cultural centers, which were often part of congregations, held lively debates. The first year's brochure of the Forum in Hammond reflected this pattern by listing the location as the "Beth-El Social Center" (8)

In this intellectual, social, and religious milieu, arising from a need for a more meaningful inner and communal life, the idea of locally planned, nonsecular civic discourse resonated across the national landscape. Audiences ranged from long-time residents and Italian immigrants in Boston, to union members and Congregationalists in Terre Haute, to Jewish small-business owners in Hammond. The lectures were planned by representative committees rather than professional educators, and they were held in public halls, churches, or synagogues instead of schools. Although frequently criticized by professional adult educators at the time, they were declared invaluable as a social institution and an instrument of democracy. (9)

In Indiana, in the first decades of the twentieth century, a mainly homogeneous population avoided extremes and held strongly to past traditions. Few clergy paid attention to industrial problems, and it was nearly impossible to find a public place where African Americans were treated equally. A hardening pattern of residential segregation, a declining percentage of foreign-born residents, and an emphasis on American history and citizenship in the schools characterize the period. Not surprisingly, a large number of Hoosiers joined the Klan, with the organization strongest in areas most affected by industrial development. Not only farmers and factory workers but merchants, small-business men, and Protestant ministers also donned the white robe and hood. By 1924, the Klan had become a deeply troubling force, and the state led the country in membership. (10)

Terre Haute

When the Terre Haute Open Forum began in 1920, the city was emerging from a difficult period. After the bitter 1902 street railway strike and boycott, union actions became larger, longer, and more militant. At the same time, political corruption was rampant. An Indianapolis newspaper described a "rotten system," one that was bringing the city to the verge of anarchy. During the war, antiradicalism was as virulent as ever. As the community became obsessed with growth, the business class drew further away from the workers. (11)

A young clergyman came into this setting. While a student at Oberlin College, John W. Herring was undoubtedly influenced by Washington Gladden and Rauschenbusch during their frequent visits to the campus. When he attended Chicago Theological Seminary, the school was particularly strong in Christian sociology and social action. From this background, the new pastor came to First Congregational Church in Terre Haute. Among his predecessors was Lyman Abbott, who spoke freely from the pulpit during the Civil War, and was an early shaper of the Social Gospel. (12)

George Coleman described the Terre Haute series as a "beacon light" for all the surrounding territory. In opening the series, Coleman was greeted by 500 persons, "representative of the entire community." The local newspaper noted that "business and professional men, toilers in shops and factories, men and women from stores and offices and school rooms were in the audience and their close attention to the speaker indicated their interest in the forum and the subjects to be discussed at future sessions." Although the lectures were held on Sunday evenings, the intent was not to injure church services. The Forum was primarily for people without a Sunday evening home. The "Rules for Open Discussion" were emphatic:

1. Questions--not Speeches.

2. Principles--not Personalities.

3. A Question from each--not a Catechism by a Few.

4. A strict Taboo on anything that savours [sic] of Propaganda.

5. Honesty of speeches and honesty of questions. (13)

News accounts of the first year's programs frequently mention large audiences. An outstanding speaker in the first year was Harry F. Ward of Union Theological Seminary, a Methodist leader and strong advocate for civil liberties. In Terre Haute, he said that when a community dares not listen to the opinions of its discontented members it becomes enslaved by fear. At the end of the first year, the daily newspaper raised the question as to how public a public forum should be, suggesting that the church had been transformed into a "pulpit for soviet'sm." Four months earlier, the newspaper had praised the free and untrammeled nature of the Forum. The first-year schedule was comprehensive--city planning, social Christianity, prison reform, labor-management relations, political reform, education, marriage, the farm crisis, civil liberties, foreign affairs, equal rights, and local political issues. It was a carefully planned approach to broadening the knowledge and awareness of adults in societal concerns. (14)

In announcing plans for the second year, the speakers' committee strove to maintain an even balance of radical and conservative presentations, stating that truth will eventually come out through free discussion. The committee noted that the Forum is for the man without a Sunday evening connection, draws no sectarian or race lines, and has no axe to grind. The words of the Terre Haute planners were similar to those of Coleman soon after he began the Ford Hall Forum, as he had to reassure Boston ministers that he was not seeking their congregants. Rather, he envisioned the lecture series as a home for people without a church. After fourteen seasons of Ford Hall, and separate series sponsored by synagogues and Catholic and Protestant churches, Coleman wrote that one must have a very narrow conception of religion not to see that a Forum is filled with a "powerful religious dynamic." (15)

When the series resumed in Terre Haute in the fall, the first lecturer was Shailer Mathews, dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School and a leader in interdenominationalism. (A few years later, he would open the third season of the Hammond Forum.) During this period, the Baptist-founded school was probably the country's most powerful center of Protestant liberalism. His appearance is an example of the Forum's ability to attract national figures to smaller cities. A few years later, Rev. Herring described the principles of the movement and its implementation in Terre Haute. He wrote that the Forum came close to the "core of democracy [drawing in] men and women from every pigeon hole of life." The audience was "the most diverse group of people, of every shade of red or blue in their opinions, of every nation under the sun in their paternity." The lectures extracted men and women from their compartments and, by means of free discussion, brought them into vital relationship with one another. For Herring, the question period was the Forum's most important business--"the striking of mind upon mind, the airing of misunderstandings, challenges as to facts involved, questions that draw out and clarify the speaker's message, the pouring of every kind of a reaction from every class into the melting pot toward the end of a fairer and better considered outlook by all" [emphasis added]. (16)

The Terre Haute Open Forum was off to a strong start. In the close-minded post-war era, an ideal series had been developed--a representative planning committee, topics of both immediate and wider interest, and speakers who broadened horizons and sparked controversy. Capacity audiences attest to the public's interest, and extended newspaper coverage confirms its importance for the entire community. At a time when the city needed cohesiveness, the open platform and vigorous give-and-take question periods built bridges of understanding among people from different religious and ethnic groups, as well as labor and business. In 1924, Herring resigned his pulpit to plan conferences for the Federal Council of Churches between Christian and Jewish congregations. He wanted to work urgently for "profound understanding," to achieve nationally what he had begun in a divided Terre Haute. Unfortunately, the Forum was not continued after he left. (17)

Hammond

When Lithuanian-born Rabbi Max Bretton came to Hammond in 1923, after ordination at Hebrew Union College, he found a growing industrial community. The Chamber of Commerce had been reorganized in 1922, and its membership grew. New construction, new businesses, and the enlarging of existing industries meant greater opportunities. It was a hard-working, comfortable milieu for the small Jewish population. Many were extensively involved in the city's commercial life and civic activities and were chamber members. (18)

Unfortunately, the city had another side. Hammond, the chamber said, needs "citizenship, not partisanship; friendliness, not offishness; sympathy not criticism; intelligent support, not indifference." The community witnessed Klan activity and Rabbi Bretton spoke of a cross burning on the temple grounds. On election night in 1924, when the Klan-backed candidate for governor swept the state, including Hammond, "a cross blazed in every park." (19)

Rabbi Bretton felt there was a sturdy core of thinking, fact-seeking citizens who craved an authoritative discussion of vital problems affecting all angles of their lives. After being taught its first steps by the congregation's leaders, the Beth-El Open Forum was realigned in 1932 as the Hammond Open Forum with a representative civic committee. It included a civic-minded Catholic attorney, the staunchly conservative Methodist superintendent of schools, the Unitarian public library director, and a woman doctor and civic activist, probably not religiously affiliated, who was a leader in the series from the beginning. The deep impact of the Open Forum in Hammond is shown by its continuing for nineteen years and extensive newspaper coverage that carried the programs much further than the immediate audience. The Chamber of Commerce also recognized the value of the lectures on the social and esthetic development of citizens, looking at it as civic development rather than finance. (20)

The topic of the first speaker, Monsignor Ryan, was "Industrial Democracy," a phrase that meant equal consideration for every human being. Starting off with this topic sent a strong message on the commitment of the planning committee. Two "nights after the opening lecture, robed Klansmen marched into the new African Methodist Episcopal church, donated $100, and extended words of greeting to the congregation. Appearing in African-American churches was a frequent Klan tactic and frightened the women and children and angered the men. While the Indiana Klan generally ignored black and Jewish citizens, these robed marchers made terror palpable. (21)

The second lecturer, from India, contrasted and compared Eastern and Western ideals. Hammond at the time had only a handful of residents from Asia. With this topic, the planners brought forward the importance of understanding other beliefs. Introducing an Eastern religion to a somewhat narrow, largely homogeneous community in the 1920s was significant. It showed that nonmajority religions contained meaningful values, an important point for the Jewish congregation arranging the series. (22)

With a broad range of speakers, the first season captured the vision of the planners and laid the groundwork for future programs. John Haynes Holmes, an activist minister who understood socialism as political Christianity and appeared frequently at Ford Hall, spoke in the first year in Hammond. He spoke on several other occasions, and he was the opening lecturer in the final year. He had been a leading voice against the war and continued afterwards advocating strongly for liberal causes. Norman Thomas, a Presbyterian minister, vigorously opposed America's entry into the war and eventually left the ministry for the Socialist Party, to speak forthrightly about the nation's shortcomings. The first year of the Beth-El Open Forum carried forward the American faith in secular perfectibility, expressed by de Tocqueville and Rauschenbusch, and the ideals of Reform Judaism--to think freely and do justly. (23)

In 1926, Rabbi Bretton left Hammond and the pulpit, but the series continued into World War II, stopping only when the gasoline shortage made private transportation too difficult. With strong civic leadership and a wide range of speakers, the series opened new vistas, raised disturbing questions, and showed the power of democracy in the industrial city. On a personal level, the impact of the Forum is captured in deeply moving letters between the Hammond planners and W. E. B. Du Bois of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Following his 1926 talk, Du Bois wrote that he "enjoyed tremendously" the experiences of Hammond. One of the local planners, the activist woman physician, described his visit as a "spiritual entity grown inside of me like a blossom in fertile soil." (24)

For Our Time

In view of the social, intellectual and religious currents of the time, intriguing parallels emerge in the careers of Rev. Herring and Rabbi Bretton. Both began activist leadership in Indiana soon after their ordination. They reached across interdenominational lines and worked closely with civic leaders in planning the lectures. A few years after they began their Forums, they left the pulpit. Their departures suggest they may not have found in their everyday work the fulfillment that the Forum brought them, or their inner lives might have reflected what Niebuhr and Dewey were describing during the decade about the loss of faith and the need for community. (25)

When the Klan was strong in Indiana and the public was intolerant of liberal viewpoints, clergy and laity built bridges of racial, religious, and global understanding. Lecturers of national and international renown drew capacity audiences, and news accounts extended their words deeper into the public's awareness. While the minister and rabbi each served as a catalyst in bringing this public learning, their work would have been impossible without support from their congregations and wider communities. The commitment to serve on planning committees, write lecturers, arrange the visits, and report on them reflect a deep sense of civic responsibility.

For Terre Haute, the Forum became the training ground for a pastor embarking on a long career, using communication between people and the Forum method to build better communities. For Hammond, nineteen years of a thoughtfully prepared series, extensive newspaper coverage, and support by the business community confirm the recollection of a person who attended regularly that it was a "marvelous program." From Baptist roots in Boston, through a Congregational church in Terre Haute and a Jewish congregation in Hammond, the locally planned, open-minded civic discourse should not be forgotten. The final image evoked by Rev. Herring--the striking of mind upon mind--is a model for a human-centered approach to public learning, a Social Gospel for our time. (26)

               CHART OF LECTURE TOPICS IN HAMMOND, INDIANA

             Arts &      Education      Foreign      Government
           Literature                   Affairs

1924-25        2             1                           3
1925-26        2             1             1
1926-27        1             2             4             2
1927-28                      1             6             2
1928-29        3             3
1929-30        1                           2             3
1930-31                                    6             1
1931-32        1                           2             4
1932-33        1             2             3             4
1933-34        1                           4             3
1934-35        2             1             5             4
1935-36        1                           6             5
1936-37        1                           6             3
1937-38        2             1             5             1
1938-39        1             1             6             3
1939-40        2             1             4             4
1940-41                      1             5             2
1941-42                                    6             3
1942-43                                    6             2
TOTAL         21            15            77            49

           Philosophy    Psychology     Science        Social
           & Religion                                  Issues

1924-25        1             1             1             6
1925-26        3             1             2             4
1926-27        3                           2             3
1927-28        3             2                           2
1928-29        2             1                           7
1929-30        5             2             1
1930-31        3             1                           5
1931-32        1                           1             5
1932-33        1             2             1             1
1933-34                                    1             5
1934-35        1                           1             1
1935-36        1                           1             2
1936-37        1                           2             1
1937-38        2             1                           3
1938-39                                    1             4
1939-40        2                                         2
1940-41                                    1             4
1941-42        1                           1
1942-43        1             1
TOTAL         31            11            17            55

Endnotes

(1.) For an overview and bibliographic review of the Open Forum movement, see Arthur S. Meyers, "A Bridge to the Future: From the Boston Baptist Social Union to the Beth El Open Forum," American Baptist Quarterly, 14 (September 1995), 225-40; Ray Barfield, Listening to Radio, 1920-1950 (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1995), 87. Kevin Mattson, in Creating a Democratic Public; The Struggle for Urban Participatory Democracy During the Progressive Era (State College, Penn.: Pennsylvania State University, 1998), describes the political context of the period.

(2.) In November 1919, Coleman reported that he presented 131 speeches in forty-three cities in seventeen states, as he traveled 21,000 miles, and in August 1920, 74 speeches in thirty-two cities in nine states. In addition to promoting the movement in local newspapers and mainstream magazines, he targeted "niche" audiences in such publications as Paramount Screen Educator and Factory Magazine. Report of President to Annual Meeting of Open Forum National Council, Chautauqua, New York, August 21, 1920, Ford Hall Forum Papers, Boston Public Library; George W. Coleman Alpha File, Ford Hall Forum Scrapbooks, Open Forum Movement, 6 (1916-1918), American Baptist-Samuel Colgate Historical Library, American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, New York. Subsequent references to the primary Ford Hall Forum materials will be "Boston" and "Rochester."

(3.) C. Hartley Grattan, In Quest of Knowledge: A Historical Perspective on Adult Education (New York: Association Press, 1955), 138-270; Harold W. Stubblefield, Towards a History of Adult Education in America: The Search for a Unifying Principle (New York: Croom Helm, 1988), 45-65; J. L. Harbow, "How Ford Hall Came to be Built," in George W. Coleman, ed., Democracy in the Making: Ford Hall and Open Forum Movement: A Symposium (Boston: Little, Brown, 1915), 12-13; Theodora Penny Martin, The Sound of Our Own Voices: Women's Study Clubs, 1860-1910, (Boston: Beacon, 1987), 1-3, 17, 31-39, 71, 86; Robin Miller Jacoby, The British and American Women's Trade Union Leagues, 1890-1925: A Case Study of Feminism and Class (Brooklyn: Carlson Publishing, 1994), xviii; Merle Curti, The Growth of American Thought, 2nd ed. (New York: Harper, 1951), 603.

(4.) Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, ed. Daniel J. Boorstin (New York: Vintage, 1990), 2:33, 34; Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis, ed. Robert D. Cross (New York: Macmillan, 1907, 1964), 422.

(5.) Paul A. Carter, The Decline and Revival of the Social Gospel: Social and Political Liberalism in American Protestant Churches, 1920-1940 (Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1971, 1956), 13-14; Walter J. Jacob, ed., The Changing World of Reform Judaism: The Pittsburgh Platform in Retrospective (Pittsburgh: Congregation Rodef Shalom, 1985), 3; Michael A. Meyer, Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 388, 269, 272, 287-88; Leonard J. Mervis, The Social Justice Movement of the American Reform Rabbis, 1890-1940 (Ph.D. diss., University of Pittsburgh, 1951), 9, 45; Jerrold Goldstein, "Reform Rabbis and the Progressive Movement" (M.A. thesis, University of Minnesota, 1967), 87-89, 4, 52-53, 56, 59; Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform, From Bryan to F.D.R. (New York: Knopf, 1955), 152-53; Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (Garden City, New York: Image Books, 1975), 2:272-73, 309; Aaron I. Abell, "Monsignor John A. Ryan: An Historical Appreciation," Review of Politics, 8 (1946), 128-34; Richard J. Purcell, "John A. Ryan, Prophet of Social Justice," Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, 35 (June 1946): 153-75; Ahlstrom, ibid., 271-72; William R. Ferris, "How the Century Began: A Conversation with H. W. Brands," Humanities, 19, no. 3 (May/June 1998): 7, 9; Steven J. Diner, A Very Different Age: Americans of the Progressive Era (New York; Hill and Wang, 1998), 6; Paula M. Kane, Separatism and Subculture: Boston Catholicism, 1900-1920 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina, 1994), 22-38. On the Terre Haute planning committee, in addition to business and educational leaders, were two union leaders and a Catholic who was editor of a pro-union publication. The Forum movement was also an experiment to bridge the gap between the church and organized labor (William A. Brown, The Church in America: A Study of the Present Condition and Future Prospects of American Protestantism [New York: Macmillan, 1922], 90). Biographical information on the Terre Haute planners is found in Terre Haute Tribune, 16 January 1921, 28; 23 October 1921, 11; 24 June 1926, 2; 23 November 1928, 1, 2; 24 November 1928,1, 2; 28 November 1928, 1, 2; 15 July 1936, 1, 2; 16 July 1936, 1; 17 July 1936, 1, 2; 28 November 1947, 6; Susan Dehler, Special Collections Archivist, Vigo County Public Library, Terre Haute, Indiana, letter to writer, September 17, 1997; Logan Esarey, History of Indiana From Its Exploration to 1922; (Dayton, Ohio: Dayton Historical Publishing Co., 1922), 3:246; The Wabash Valley Remembers, 1787-1938 (Terre Haute: Terre Haute Northwest Territory Celebration Committee, [n.d.]), unpaged; John W. Miller, Indiana Newspaper Bibliography (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1982), 461. Background on the Stieglitz family of a key planner, Hedwig Stieglitz Kuhn, is found in Leo M. Glassman, ed., Biographical Encyclopedia of American Jews, (New York: M. Jacobs and L. M. Glassman, 1935), 534; Joan Comay, Who's Who in Jewish History; After the Period of the Old Testament (New York: David McKay 1974), 398; Sue D. Lowe, Stieglitz: A Memoir/Biography (New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1983), 92; Edward Abrahams, The Lyrical Left: Randolph Bourne, Alfred Stieglitz and the Origins of Cultural Radicalism in America (Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1986), 99. Documentation on the Hammond series begins with the Lake County Times, 5 November 1924, 1; 14 November 1924, 1; 15 November 1924, 1; brochure, Beth-El Social Center Open Forum Course, First Season Program, 1924-1925, Hammond, Indiana (and programs for subsequent years through 1943), author's collection. For clarity in subsequent notes, reference to the Beth-El Open Forum brochures will be Beth-El.

(6.) Harold E. Stearns, ed., Civilization in the United States: An Inquiry by Thirty Americans (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922; reprint, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1971), v-vii; John A. Thompson, Reformers and War: American Progressive Publicists and the First World War (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University, 1987), 278; Walter Lippmann, "The Causes of Political Indifference To-day," Atlantic Monthly (February 1927), 263; John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems (New York: Holt, 1927; reprint, Denver: Alan Swallow, 1964), 166-218; Reinhold Niebuhr, "Can Christianity Survive?" Atlantic Monthly (January 1925), 84-88, and "A Religion Worth Fighting For," Survey (1 August 1927), 444-46, 480. (Niebuhr was a student director for the Open Forum with the Midwest Council for Social Discussion. Rochester, ibid., 28 May 1925, 9 (1925-[1927]). Ahlstrom, 384; Robert T. Handy, "The American Religious Depression, 1924-1935," Church History, 29 (March 1960), 13; Lewis Atherton, Main Street in the Middle Border (Bloomington: Indiana University, 1954), 257-60; George Coleman, The Churches Outside the Church (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1910), 3-5.

(7.) Walter Rauschenbusch Papers, Rochester, ibid.; Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianizing the Social Order (New York: Macmillan, 1912; reprint, 1915), 208; Dores Robinson Sharpe, Walter Rauschenbusch (New York: Macmillan, 1942), 120-22.

(8.) Dictionary of American History, rev. ed. (New York: Scribner's, 1976), "Town Meetings," 7:78-69; "Committees of Correspondence," 2:140; "Lyceum Movement," IV, 207; "Chautauqua Movement," 2:1; Leonard E Oliver, The Art of Citizenship: Public Issues Forums (Dayton: Kettering Foundation, 1983), 5-8; Mary L. Ely, Why Forums? (New York: American Association for Adult Education, 1937), 8-11; Richard D. Brown, The Strength of a People: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry in America, 1650-1870 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1996), 38, 82, 105; Curti, ibid., 39, 43, 53, 125-41, 215, 344, 351, 364, 593; Grattan, ibid., 147; Stubblefield and Kean, ibid., 87, 91-138; Malcolm S. Knowles, The Adult Education Movement in the United States (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1962; rev. ed. Huntington, N.Y.: R. E. Krieger Publishing Co., 1977), 9-18, 88; Willis D. Moreland and Erwin H. Goldenstein, Pioneers in Adult Education (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1985), 45-50; Donald M. Scott, "The Popular Lecture and the Creation of a Public in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America," Journal of American History 66 (March 1980): 806, 808; Frederick E. Schortemeier, "Indianapolis Newspaper Accounts of Ralph Waldo Emerson," Indiana Magazine of History 49 (September 1953): 307-312; Joseph F. Kett, The Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties; From Self-Improvement to Adult Education in America, 1750-1990 (Stanford: Stanford University, 1994), 173, 346; Brown, ibid., 128; Beth-El, ibid.

(9.) Nathaniel Peffer, New Schools for Older Students (New York: Macmillan, 1926), 29; "Nathaniel Peffer," Webster's Biographical Dictionary, 1st ed. (Springfield, Mass.: Merriam, 1969), 1160; "Nathaniel Peffer," Who Was Who in America, 1961-1968 (Chicago: Marquis, 1968), 4:742; Morse A. Cartwright, Ten Years of Adult Education: A Report on a Decade of Progress in the American Movement (New York: Macmillan, 1935), 139-40; "Morse Adams Cartwright," Who Was Who in America, 1974-1976 (Chicago: Marquis, 1976), 6:71; Marguerite A. Green, The National Civic Federation and the American Labor Movement, 1900-1925 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America, 1956; Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1973), 394; Sophia Fagin, Public Forums in Chicago (M.A. diss., University of Chicago, 1939), 214-18, 222-24. ("Dissertation" appears on the title page.) Peffer, ibid.

(10.) Clifton J. Phillips, Indiana in Transition: The Emergence of an Industrial Commonwealth, 1880-1920 (Indianapolis: Historical Bureau, 1968), 127, 323-442, 614; James H. Madison, Indiana Through Tradition and Change; A History of the Hoosier State and Its People, 1920-1945 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1982), 6-57; Leonard J. Moore, Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1991), 6-11, 57, 152, 184; Lake County Times, 16 June 1924, 1.

(11.) Gary L. Bailey, Losing Ground: Workers and Community in Terre Haute, Indiana, 1875-1935 (Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1989), 335-495; "Terre Haute's Jailed Government," Literary Digest, 16 January 1915, 87-88; "Fear of God in Terre Haute," ibid., 24 April 1915, 943-44; "In the Indiana Belfry," ibid., 3 July 1915, 6.

(12.) Roland Baumann, College Archivist, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, letter to writer, 19 November 1997; Donald M. Love, Henry Churchill King of Oberlin (New Haven: Yale University, 1956), 153-156; Joan Blocker, Assistant Librarian, Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, letter to writer, 30 October 1997; Harold F. Worthley, Executive Secretary and Archivist, Congregational Christian Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, letter to writer, 11 October 1997; Arthur C. McGiffert Jr., No Ivory Tower: The Story of the Chicago Theological Seminary (Chicago: Chicago Theological Seminary, 1965), 92-103; John W. Herring file, Oberlin College Archives, Oberlin, Ohio (hereafter "Oberlin"); "Lyman Abbott," Allen Johnson, ed., Dictionary of American Biography, (New York: Scribner's, 1928), 1:24.

(13.) Detroit Open Forum; A Journal of News and Views, 6 December 1920, 7, Rochester, ibid.; George IV. Coleman, "The Forum Marching On," the Congregationalist and Advance, 23 December 1920, 819; Ahlstrom, ibid., 238; Terre Haute Tribune, 11 November 1920, 7; 15 November 1920, 2; The Open Forum News Service, Rochester, ibid.; The Open Forum (Boston, July 1921), 7, Rochester, ibid.

(14.) Terre Haute Tribune, 6 December 1920, 12; 22 November 1920, 9; 29 November 1920, 7; 6 December 1920, 12; 13 December 1920, 12; 20 December 1920, 12, 4; 2 January 1921, 5; 3 January 1921, 2; 9 January 1921, 15; 10 January 192], 13; 16 January 1921, 28; 17 January 1921, 2; 24 January 1921, 3; 14 February 1921, 4; 7 February 1921, 7; 30 January 1921, 3; 20 February 1921, 10; 21 February 1921, 4; 28 February 1921, 3; 13 March 1921, 7; 14 March 1921, 6; 30 January 1921, 3; 31 January 1921, 3; 5 February 1921, 10; 7 February 1921, 7; 21 March 1921, 6; 28 March 1921, 5; 4 April 1921, 5; 11 April 1921, 1, 3, 4; 20 December 20, 1920, 4; Boston, 1, (1908-09); brochure, Second Sagamore Sociological Conference, 1908, 42, Rochester, 261.8/Sa 18, Boston, ibid.; Jacob R. Marcus, To Count a People: American Jewish Population Data, 1585-1984 (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1988), 68; Ahlstrom, ibid., 238; Donald B. Meyer, The Protestant Search for Political Realism, 1919-1941 (Berkeley: University of California, 1961), 13; Carter, ibid., 126; "Harry Frederick Ward," Who Was Who in America, 1961-1968 (Chicago: Marquis, 1968), 4:982; "Shangtung," Webster' s New Geographical Dictionary (Springfield, Mass.: Merriam, 1972), 1100; "Maud Wood Park," Who Was Who in America, 1951-60 (Chicago: Marquis, 1963), 3:664; Anne Firor Scott, Natural Allies: Women's Associations in American History (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1993), 173.

(15.) Terre Haute Tribune, 23 October 1921, 11; "The Church Outside," Rochester, ibid., 1 (1908-09); George W. Coleman, "The Contribution of the Open Forum to Democracy in Religion," The Journal of Religion (January 1922), 2:4-5.

(16.) John C. Herring, "The Open Forum," Adult Bible Class Monthly (November 1922), 15:321-25; Boston, ibid., 8 (1921-29); Terre Haute Tribune, 14 November 1921, 6; 12 December 1921, 6; 30 January 1922, 3; 20 February 1922, 5; 27 February 1922, 9; 3 October 1924, 10; "Shailer Mathews," Edward T. James, ed., Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 3, 1941-1945 (New York: Scribner's, 1973, 514-16; Miles H. Krumbine, ed. The Process of Religion: Essays in Honor of Dean Shailer Mathews (New York: Macmillan, 1933; reprint, Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1972), 3-12; Ahlstrom, ibid., 238-39; Shailer Mathews, Jesus on Social Institutions (New York: Macmillan, 1928), 130-34; "Jeannette Pickering Rankin" in Barbara Sicherman and Carol H. Green, ed., Notable American Women: The Modern Period, A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1980), 566-68; on letterhead, Roger Baldwin, Director, American Civil Liberties Union, New York, New York, to V. R. M'Millan, Commander, Fort Harrison Post No. 40, American Legion, Terre Haute, 17 January 1925, Eugene V. Debs Papers, Cunningham Memorial Library, Indiana State University, Terre Haute; Oberlin, ibid.; The First Birthday of the Midwest Council for Social Discussion, Rochester, ibid.; Harold F. Brigham, "Nashville Educational Council," Journal of Adult Education, 2 (June 1930), 324-25; Harold F. Worthley, Executive Secretary and Archivist, Congregational Christian Historical Society, Boston, Mass., letter to writer, 16 September 1997; John W. Herring, Social Planning and Adult Education (New York: Macmillan, 1933), v-xi, 15-25; John W. Herring and Leo T. Osmon, Forums and a Community Forum Program (New York: New York University, 1936), New York State Emergency Adult Education Program, Series 2, No. 3, 7-16.

(17.) Deborah Bretton Granoff, Kansas City, Missouri, telephone interview by writer, 13 May 1991; Kevin Proffitt, Archivist, American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio, letter to writer, 10 May 1991; Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1935 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 1935), 22-23; Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920, vol. 3, Population 1920 Comparison and Characteristics (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1922), 304; Marcus, ibid., 65; interviews by writer, Alexander Morris, Hammond, Indiana, 8 February 1991; Samuel Levin, Hammond, Indiana, 9 February 1991; Sylvia Friedman, Munster, Indiana, 3 April 1991; Ida and Arthur Friedman, Munster, Indiana, 9 April 1991; Hammond Times, 17 June 1951, 12b, 14 May 1923, 1; Pep-In-Calumet (Hammond Chamber of Commerce), 14 May 1923, 1; February 1924, 4; 2 July 1923, 1 (N.B. It was both a weekly and monthly publication.); Smith's Directory of Hammond and West Hammond, Indiana, 1921-1922 (Dorchester, Mass.: Edgar Smith), 23; Pep-In-Calumet, 7 December 1925, 3; 12 May 1930, 4; 27 October 1924, 1-6; 20 May 1926, 1-3; Lance Trusty, Hammond: A Centennial Portrait, 2nd ed. (Norfolk, Va.: Donning Co., 1984, 1990), 26, 45.

(18.) Pep-In-Calumet, ibid., 29 December 1924,1; Smith's Directory, ibid., 14, 32; ibid., Smith's Directory, 1923-1924, 43; interviews by writer, Morris, S. Friedman, I. and A. Friedman, Granoff, ibid.; Lake County Times, 5 November 1924, 1; 20 October 1924, 1; Pep-In-Calumet, ibid., 27 October 1924, 1; 24 January 1924, 1.

(19.) Arthur S. Meyers, "`A Cross Blazed in Every Park in Hammond'; The Vision and Courage of the Beth-El Open Forum," Indiana Jewish History, 28 (June 1992), 57-96; Arthur S. Meyers, "W. E. B. Du Bois and the Open Forum; Human Relations in a `Difficult Industrial District,'" manuscript, passim; Polk's Hammond [Indiana]City Directory (Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1931), 214, 289, 441,448; Polk's Hammond (Chicago: R. L. Polk & Co., 1935), 171; Trusty, ibid., 26, 45, 71, 152, 180, 197; letters to writer, Suzanne Long, Calumet Room Librarian, Hammond Public Library, 18 and 30 November 1998; typed manuscript, "History of Temple Beth-El of Hammond," September 1971, Temple Beth-El Archives, Hammond, Indiana; brochure, The Adult Education Council of Chicago, October 1931, Newberry Library, Chicago.

(20.) Hedwig S. Kuhn, "Time Again for Open Forum," Hammond Business [Hammond, Indiana, Chamber of Commerce] (September 1937), 1; Janet Weiss Pence, letter to writer, 3 April 1991, Mill Valley, California; Pep-In-Calumet, ibid. (March 1925), 18-21; Beth-El, ibid. Pence is the daughter of Arthur Weiss, the moderator of the Hammond series through the years. 21. Beth-El, 1924-25 ibid.; Abell, ibid.; Purcell, ibid.; Madison, ibid., 44, 52-55, 74-75; Lake County Times, 16 June 1924, 1; 14 November 1924, 1; 15 November 1924, 1; Moore, ibid., 6-11.

(22.) Beth-El, ibid.; "Syud Hossain," New York Times Obituaries Index, 1858-1968 (New York: New York Times, 1970), 483; Fourteenth Census, ibid.

(23.) Lake County Times, 3 December 1924, 3; Beth-El, ibid.; "William J. Durant," in Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, ed., Twentieth-century Authors; A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature (New York: H. W. Wilson, 1942), 408; "Charles A. Beard," in John A. Garraty and Edward T. James, ed., Dictionary of American Biography, Suppl. 4 (New York: Scribner's, 1974), 61-64; "Norman R. Thomas," in John A. Garraty, ed., Encyclopedia of American Biography (New York: Harper & Row, 1974), 1086-87; "John H. Holmes," in Garraty, ibid., Supplement 7 (New York: Scribner's, 1981), 355-57; Beth-El, ibid., passim; Caroline F. Ware, ed., The Cultural Approach to History (New York: Columbia University, 1940; Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1964), passim.

(24.) Granoff interview, ibid.; Lake County Times, 20 October 1924, 1; Ulrick B. Steuer, "History of Congregation Beth-El," Dedication of Temple Beth-El, Hammond, Indiana, 1955, unpaged, Temple Beth-El Archives, Hammond, Indiana; Hammond Times, 31 January 1960, C-2; Emory S. Bogardus, Democracy by Discussion (Washington, D.C.: American Council on Public Affairs, 1942), 7-10; Lake County Times, undated article, World War II period, Hammond Public Library, Hammond, Indiana; Janet Weiss Pence, letter to writer, 7 May 1991, Mill Valley, California; Hammond Times, 28-30 December 1938; Hammond Business, ibid. (February 1942; January 1944); Hammond Times, 18 June 1973, 1, 8; scrapbooks, Hammond League of Women Voters, Hammond Public Library, ibid.; Millie Pilot, Hammond, Indiana, telephone interview by writer, 10 October 1995; The Papers of W. E. B. Du Bois (New York, 1981; Amherst, Mass.), reels 16-19.

(25.) Ford Hall Forum Bulletin, November 1924, 1, Boston, (1921-24), ibid.; Meyers, "W. E. B. Du Bois" ibid., passim; Worthley, ibid.; Carolyn Gurman, interview by Max Einstandig, 23 September 1997, Terre Haute, Indiana; Morris M. Feuerlicht, "A Hoosier Rabbinate," Indiana Jewish History (Fort Wayne, 1974), 4:48; Debs, ibid., 447, 450; Granoff interview, ibid.

(26.) Rosalyn Friedman, interview by writer, 30 May 1992, Calumet City, Illinois. Attached (on page 36) is a chart of lecture topics in Hammond:

Arthur S. Meyers is director of Russell Library, the public library in Middletown, Connecticut.