Mt. Gretna Chautauqua Preserves a 150-Year Legacy While Offering Fresh Summer Programming in 2025
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Asia Tabb
Aired; July 1st, 2025.
Listen to the podcast for the full conversation.
Mount Gretna may be a small Pennsylvania town, but it’s home to something historically unique: the only remaining Chautauqua in the state. For more than 130 years, the Mount Gretna Chautauqua has championed the same four foundational pillars—arts and culture, education, religion, and recreation—that began with the movement’s founding in 1874.
“The Chautauqua movement started in the state of New York by Lake Chautauqua,” said Sue Hostetter, board chair of the Mt. Gretna Area Historical Society and Summer Program Committee. “It was founded by two Sunday school teachers, John Howell Vincent and Lewis Miller. They wanted to educate their teachers not just in scripture but in history, philosophy, music, arts, and recreation.”
That vision sparked a nationwide movement that reached Mount Gretna in 1892, thanks to the vision and land donations of local railroad magnate Robert Coleman. “Mount Gretna was particularly beautiful—wooded and well-watered,” Hostetter explained. “So Coleman made it a stop along his railroad and created a park with a carousel and concession stands. It was an ideal location for a Chautauqua.”
Today, that legacy lives on with a robust 2025 summer series that fully embraces the original four pillars of the Chautauqua tradition.
Most summer events take place at the historic Hall of Philosophy, built in 1910 and still without heating or air conditioning. From May through October, it becomes a hub for intellectual and artistic enrichment.
“We have Tuesday morning book reviews with professors from Lebanon Valley College, and a dedicated following for many of our lectures,” said Hostetter.
