The Lyceum and Public Culture in the Nineteenth-Century United States (Rhetoric & Public Affairs)

Angela Ray provides a refreshing new look at the lyceum lecture system as it developed in the United States from the 1820s to the 1880s. She argues that the lyceum contributed to the creation of an American "public" at a time when the country experienced a rapid change in land area, increasing immigration, and a revolution in transportation, communication technology, and social roles. The history of the lyceum in the nineteenth century illustrates a process of expansion, diffusion, and eventual commercialization. In the late 1820s, a politically and economically dominant culture―the white Protestant northeastern middle class―institutionalized the practice of public debating and public lecturing for education and moral uplift. In the 1820s and 1830s, the lyceum was characterized by organized groups in cities and towns, particularly in the Northeast and the Old Northwest (now the Midwest). These groups were established to promote debate, to create a setting for study, and to provide a forum for members’ lecturing. By the 1840s and 1850s, however, most lyceums concentrated on the sponsorship of public lectures, presented for institutional profit as well as public instruction and entertainment. Eventually, lyceum lectures became a commercial enterprise and desirable platform for celebrities who wished to expand their incomes from lecturing. Frontmatter List of Illustrations (page viii) Acknowledgments (page ix) Introduction (page 1) Chapter 1. From Mutual Education to Celebrity Entertainment (page 13) 2. Modeling an Ideal in Josiah Holbrook's Family Lyceum, 1832-1833 (page 49) 3. Judging Popular Lectures in Milwaukee, 1854-1857 (page 77) 4. Frederick Douglass as Lyceum Lecturer, 1850s-1870s (page 113) 5. Anna Dickinson's "Whited Sepulchres," 1869-1870 (page 143) 6. "A Living Shuttle" (page 173) Appendix 1. Lyceum Timeline (page 191) 2. Josiah Holbrook's Plan for Mutual-Education Societies, 1826 (page 193) 3. The New York Tribune's List of Lyceum Lecturers, 1859-1860 (page 197) 4. Lectures Sponsored by the Young Men's Association of the City of Milwaukee, December 1854-March 1857 (page 203) 5. "The Races," by Frederick Douglass (page 207) 6. "Whited Sepulchres," by Anna Dickinson (page 221) 7. "Mormonism," by Anna Dickinson (page 239) 8. Selections from Anna Dickinson's Letters Home, Summer 1869 (page 251) Notes (page 257) Bibliography (page 327) Index (page 351) This book offers a narrative history of the lyceum in the United States from 1826 to about 1880. It focuses particularly on the development of the lecture circuits of the mid-nineteenth century, and it highlights the ways that social reformers adapted their reformist messages for a commercial medium and a popular audience. In addition to a historical summary, the book offers four in-depth case studies of different moments in lyceum history: the publication of Josiah Holbrook's Boston-based periodical *Family Lyceum* in the 1830s; the sponsorship of public lecture courses by a young men's lyceum in Milwaukee in the mid-1850s; the development of Anna Dickinson's major lecture of 1869-70, "Whited Sepulchres"; and the lyceum lecturing of Frederick Douglass, particularly after the Civil War. In appendixes, the book also provides two lecture texts by Dickinson and Douglass that have never before been published. This book can be described as cultural history, history of communication, and rhetorical analysis. Angela Ray provides a refreshing new look at the lyceum lecture system as it developed in the United States from the 1820s to the 1880s. She argues that the lyceum contributed to the creation of an American "public" at a time when the country experienced a rapid change in land area, increasing immigration, and revolutions in transportation, communication technology, and social roles.

Angela Ray provides a new look at the lyceum lecture system as it developed in the United States from the 1820s to the 1880s. She argues that the lyceum contributed to the creation of an American public at a time when the country experienced a rapid change in land area, increasing immigration, and revolutions in transportation, communication technology, and social roles.

From Mutual Education To Celebrity Entertainment -- Modeling An Ideal In Josiah Holbrook's Family Lyceum, 1832-1833 -- Judging Popular Lectures In Milwaukee, 1854-1857 -- Frederick Douglass As Lyceum Lecturer, 1850s-1870s -- Anna Dickinson's Whited Sepulchres, 1869-1870 -- A Living Shuttle. Angela G. Ray. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 327-349) And Index. Angela Ray looks at the lyceum lecture system as it developed in the US from the 1820s to the 1880s. She argues that the lyceum contributed to the creation of an American "public" at a time when the country experienced a change in land area, increasing immigration, and a revolution in transportation, communication technology, and social roles.