The first public lecture in the present library building was given in March, 1897. It seems proper, therefore, to take some cognizance of the 25th anniversary of what has developed into an important library activity. The early lectures were exclusively on subjects relating to the fine arts, and were the expansion of numerous classes and club meetings held in the recently opened Fine Arts Department, as a means of bringing the collections of books and photographs to the attention of school teachers, architects, artists and the general public. The first illustrated lectures were given under the auspices and at the expense of the Unity Art Club and the Pallas Club. The attendance was so large at the very beginning that some of the lectures had to be repeated several times. The present Lecture Hall was used at that period as a newspaper reading room, and all kinds of makeshifts had to be resorted to in the attempt to accommodate the public lectures. The present Exhibition Room, the Barton Room and the room now occupied by the Statistical Department were used in succession. The Lecture Hall was formally opened on May 17, 1899. Advantage was taken of the gift of a copy of Chantrey's bust of Sir Walter Scott, and the unveiling of the bust was made the occasion of the opening of the hall. President Solomon Lincoln of the Board of Trustees presided, and the principal address was delivered by President Charles W. Eliot of Harvard University; other speakers were Rev. James De Normandie, Mayor Josiah Quincy, Prof. A. Lawrence Lowell, Edward Robinson, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts and Hon. Charles Francis Adams. Under the direct auspices of the Library Trustees, a course of lectures was given in the new Lecture Hall in March and April, 1900. The speakers were Messrs. Whitney, Swift, Ford and Fleischner of the library staff, Col. T. W. Higginson, Dr. William Everett, Rev. E. E. Hale and Mr. C. W. Ernst. A second course offered by the trustees, on Methods of Municipal Administration, was given in March and April, 1901, the speakers being Professors A. Lawrence Lowell, E. Emerton, Kuno Francke and F. G. Peabody of Harvard, Prof. W. T. Sedgwick, Mr. Henry Goodnough and Mr. George L. Fox. A third course, on the Aesthetic Development of Cities, was given in March, April and May, 1902. The Unity Art Club lectures continued until 1904. In that year what may be called the "Thursday evening were properly inaugurated. Regular courses were provided by the Boston Architectural Club, the Society of Printers and other organizations. courses The Field and Forest Club arranged its first course of lectures on outdoor life on Monday evenings in 1910; the course was combined with the Thursday evening course in 1915, and still continues with great success. The first lecture under the auspices of the Boston Ruskin Club was given in 1907; since 1914 the club has held bi-weekly open meetings in the Lecture Hall, with occasional lectures on general topics. The Sunday afternoon lectures were begun in 1912; since that year the Boston Drama League has provided four lectures annually on the drama and the stage, with growing popularity. The first music lecture was given by the late Louis C. Elson in 1906. At least four lectures on music, with instrumental or vocal illustrations, are now regularly included in the Sunday courses. Since 1908 the programs for the entire course have been printed in the Bulletin for October. In 1900 a stereopticon was purchased, and in 1920 a Steinway grand piano was added; it is hoped that a moving picture equipment will be installed in the near future. In all, 960 lectures have been given by 500 lecturers, of whom 400 were men and 100 women. Of this number, about 30 were architects, 32 professors and instructors in Harvard University, 12 from the Museum of Fine Arts, 5 from the Massachusetts Normal Art School, and 4 each from the public schools of Boston, Boston College, Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts College; 10 lectures were given by members of the library staff. Yale, Brown, Princeton, Wellesley, Simmons and the New England Conservatory of Music also provided one or more lecturers each. The remainder of the lecturers have been professional men and women, many of national reputation, travelers, scholars and other public-spirited citizens. Space does not permit giving even a partial list of the lecturers. The following list of speakers who gave four or more lectures will give some idea of the readiness of busy men to give their services for the public good: H. T. Bailey, 4; C. H. Bayley, 4; E. H. Baynes, 7; E. C. Black, 9; J. C. Bowker, 8; F. C. Brown, 10; C. T. Carruth 10; F. H.Chase, 6; A. S. Cooley 19; J. R. Coolidge, Jr., 7; R. A. Cram, 6; 0. Downes, 10; H. Elliott, 5; L. C. Elson, 4; T. A. Fox, 4; C. W. Furlong, 4; T. I. Gasson, 8; H. L. Gideon, 12; A. H. Gilmer, 6; F. M. Greene, 13; F. W. Hersey 31; L. Jeffers, 5; A. M. Keyes, 4; W. H. Kilham, 6; J. K. Lacock, 4; G. W. Lee, 5; L. R.Lewis 5; D. G. Lyon, 4; L. C. Newhall, 5; C. S. Olcott, 4; A. K. Peck, 4; M. E. Peck, 10; H. W. Poor 8; H. H. Powers, 13; G. Richardson, 4; R. E. Rogers, 5; A. D. Ropes, 7; L M. Rossi, 4; A. S. Schmidt, 5; M. A. S. Shannon, 14; R. C. Sturgis 4; H. Taylor 4; W. L. Underwood, 16; F. H. Wade 16; H. G. Wadlin, 7; C. H. Walker, 12; L. Whiting, 4 These bald figures give no idea of the sacrifices in time and energy and even outlay of money of the unselfish men and women who without hesitation have repeatedly responded to the appeals of the assistant librarian for advice and help; this is especially true of the days of the inception and early growth of the Fine Arts Department. Members of the Boston Architectural Club and Society of Printers will well remember the consultations and meetings held to arrange suitable lectures and exhibitions and to devise an attractive bait to draw an audience. With the exception of four or five cases of severe weather or sickness, all the lectures were given as announced in the programs THE LECTURES OF 1921-22. All lectures, except those marked with an asterisk (*), were illustrated with lantern slides. 1921. October 9. * Dante. Charles H. Grandgent. October 13. October 16. Italian Art in the time of Dante. George H. Edgell. * A general historical Review of the Art of Music. F. Stuart Mason. With musical illustrations. 1921. October 20. Dante through Catholic Eyes. Rev. Mark J. McNeal, S. J. November 3. New England: Its Lakes, Rivers, Mountains and Seacoast. November 6. Literary Landmarks at Home and Abroad. Charles S. Olcott. November 10. Our National Forests and the Timber Supply. Philip W. Ayres. (Field and Forest Club Course.) November 13. * Folk Music of the Creoles. Maud Cuney Hare. With vocal illustrations by William H. Richardson, baritone. November 17. Florentine Engraving. FitzRoy Carrington. November 20. * Modern American Dramatists: Edward Sheldon and "Romance." Robert E. Rogers. (Drama League Course.) November 27. Author's Reading of Poems. With introductory talk on Modern Poetry. Jeanne Robert Foster. December 1. Jeanne d'Arc.- Maid of France and Saint. Rev. William M. Stinson, S. J. * December 4. Expression of Truth in Science and Poetry. Alfred C. Lane. December 8. Some Italian Mountains of Special Interest. Karl P. Harrington. (Field and Forest Club Course.) December 11. Modern American Dramatists: Clyde Fitch. Albert H. Gilmer. (Drama League Course.) December 15. European Collecting Experiences. Paul J. Sachs. December 18. * Patriotic Songs of America. John P. Marshall. With musical illustrations. December 22. The Roman Catacombs. Rev. John W. H. Corbett. French. 1922. American Furniture of the Georgian Period. Allen January 1. Lecture Recital. Edward A. Thompson. January 5. Early Indians: Explorations in the North Woods of Maine. Warren K. Moorehead. January 8. Adventures in a Land of Sunshine. W. Lyman Underwood. January 12. Cave-Hunting. Charles Peabody. (Field and Forest Club Course.) January 15. * Some Aspects of Richard Wagner's Art. Hamilton Crawford Macdougall. With musical illustrations. January 19. *The Great Cycle of Painting. Eben F. Comins. With illustrations on the blackboard. January 22. Wild Brother; the Strangest of True Stories from the North Woods. W. Lyman Underwood. January 26. Turkey and the Near East. Dr. George L. Richards. January 29. *The Influence of the Stage on the Drama. John Tucker Murray. (Drama League Course.) February 2. The Boston of 1822: The Political Background of the Change from Town to City. Samuel Fliot Morison. February 5. * Charles Dickens in the Twentieth Century. E. Charlton Black. (Dickens Fellowship.) February 9. Scenery of our Western Mountains. Leroy Jeffers. (Field and Forest Club Course.) February 12. * Abraham Lincoln. Hon. Michael J. Murray. February 16. The Arnold Arboretum. Loring Underwood. Illustrated with "direct color" autochrome slides. * February 19. The Pros and Cons of Community Music. Leo R. Lewis. With musical illustrations by the Tufts College Musical Club. 1922. February 23. Devon: The Land of Sea Kings. Frank Cheney Hersey. March 5. Wild Life in and near Boston. March 12. Spreading the News in '75. Manley Bacon Townsend. Herbert V. Neal. (Field and Horace G. Wadlin. March 16. Recent American Architecture. J. Randolph Coolidge, Jr. March 19. * Modern French Music. Edward B. Hill. Assisted by Mme. Suza Doane, pianist. March 23. Michelangelo: Sculptor, Painter, Poet. Charles Theodore Carruth. March 26. * Modern American Dramatists: Augustus Thomas. Frank Cheney Hersey. (Drama League Course.) March 30. Boston Becomes a City: 1822. Its social, literary and artistic development. Martha A. S. Shannon. April 2. * Relationship of Poetry and Music. Mrs. Beatric K. Stodola. Illustrated by musical readings and piano solos by Edwin Stodola. April 6. The Romance of Time-Telling from the Days of the Cave Man. Samuel Bernard. April 9. * The Music of Birds. Arthur Edward Wilson. With whistling imitations. July. August. Abbott Thayer Memorial. Edward C. Streeter Collection of Early Medical Texts. Pilgrim Tercentenary Exhibition (resumed). Pilgrim Tercentenary Exhibition. September. Dante Sexcentenary Exhibition. October. Switzerland. New England Scenery. November. Maréchal Foch and Other French Generals of the Great War. Howard Leigh's War Lithographs. December. 1922. January. February. April. Original Autographs, Letters and Sketches, contributed by world-famous personages for the book of the "Fatherless Children of France." Jeanne d'Arc. Alpine and Other Mountain Scenery. Boston Y. M. C. U. Camera Club Exhibition "Pictorial Curtis's American Indians. Design for Proposed War Memorial for Boston. The Great Cycle of Painting. Turkey. Music Exhibit for Meeting of Massachusetts Library Club. Travel Posters. Junior Red Cross Poster Competition. Recent Tendencies in American Architecture. Michelangelo. Edward Everett Hale Centenary. General U. S. Grant Centenary. Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Poster Competition. |