American Historical Ephemera & Photography

6 "Redpath" pennants with red/white paint on cotton and 4 "Chautauqua" pennants with green/white paint on cotton, all approximately 38 x 16 1/2 in. (heavy wear, crackling to paint, partial losses and tears). Pennants connected via thin roping sewn into pennant along top at widest point (roping frayed and no longer continuous through all pennants).   Similar banners were used as part of Redpath Chautauqua events, sometimes strung throughout a public gathering space or within the circuit tents themselves. 

The Redpath Chautauqua was a commercial lecture bureau and booking agency for Chautauqua and lyceums throughout the United States. Modeled after the adult educational programs which originated with the Chautauqua Movement of Lake Chautauqua, New York, in the 1870s, the Redpath Chautauqua operated circuit or tent-style events which traversed rural America during the early twentieth century and through the Great Depression. Billed as an educational opportunity, Redpath's circuit Chautauqua combined educational events with talent and entertainment. The circuit was recognized as a family-friendly opportunity for obtaining culture as well as for the acquisition of knowledge, and provided individuals in underserved rural communities with opportunities and experiences that may have otherwise been inaccessible to them.   

Together, 10 pennants.