The Kate Kimball Challenge in Honor of the 150th Anniversary

 of the Founding of the CLSC which will take place in 2028

When Bishop John Vincent founded the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle in 1878, he had no staff to make his vision a reality. He returned to his home in Plainfield, New Jersey, to find it full of letters asking about the new educational opportunity. While on a walk he encountered a local high school teacher and explained his dilemma and asked if she knew anyone. The teacher recommended Kate Fisher Kimball, just a year out of high school. Vincent thought she was too young. But Kate told him, "I would like to try it; but if you find I am not equal to it, I will not be offended to have it given to some other person. Let me see if I can help you even a little." 

And so the "Mother Superior of the CLSC" was born. Kimball stayed with the CLSC until her death in 1917. Frank Chapin Bray, the editor of The Chautauquan Magazine, said of her "she stood for the soul of Chautauqua and embodied the Chautauqua spirit at its best....The details of the work of an executive secretary are not transcribable--a 39 years' schedule of multifarious drudgeries which defies analysis. She made them the means of transmitting a great idea as a dynamic force, vital to hundreds of thousands of men and women around the world, and to have done so is the mark of Miss Kimball's high service."

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the CLSC and to honor the legacy of Kate Fisher Kimball, the Alumni Association of the CLSC is sponsoring "The Kate Kimball Challenge." Those who participate will have 4 years to read 18 books from the historical list of CLSC books, one from each decade of the CLSC's existence, plus one from any decade and Chautauqua's Heart: A History of the CLSC by Mary Lee Talbot. Eighteen because Kate was 18 when she started with the CLSC.  

Reading must be books not previously submitted for basic graduation reading or the Guild of the Seven Seals levels. However, books read for this challenge may be used to advance within the established Guild levels. If you have read Chautauqua's Heart, you may count it again for the Kimball Challenge. And if you have read all of the books from a decade, you may read a book from any decade instead. We will start presenting patches in the summer of 2025.

The decades are 1878-1879, 1880-1889, 1890-1899, 1900 -1909, 1910-1919, 1920-1929, 1930-1939, 1940-1949, 1950-1959, 1960-1969, 1970 -1979, 1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2019, 2020-2024 plus one more book and Chautauqua's Heart.

The motto of the class of 1925, the Kate Kimball class, is "The spiritual is stronger than the material. Thought rules the world."  The Kate Kimball Challenge is an opportunity to expand your understanding of the world previous generations of the CLSC explored.

Thanks to the committee who created the Kate Kimball Challenge: Mary Lee Talbot, Donna Dominick, Cate Whitcomb, Samantha Busch, Kathy Hurst and Pat McDonald. And special recognition for Kathy who designed the patch. 

Pat McDonald

President

Download and print the Kate Kimball Challenge form here.  

List of Electronic Sources for Kate Kimball Books

Frequently Asked Questions: Kate Kimball Challenge