ith us. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. pt& cities tour has featured communities throughout the country with the help of our local cableg0g partners. here's a look at one of those cities.s2ja÷ we are always asked what exactly is a chak?k4u9ñ a chautauqua is a retreat generally indzyañ aku(t&háhp &hc% for enrichment enlightenment entertainment and coming together. and it started in far westernu1.9?÷&gñ new york on lake chautauqua. a movement grew out of that

place and that time and really tkc5%uá across the country, coming to boulder in 1898.ñd interestingly, the texas board of higher education came to colorado, looking for ank1n(q o establish a summer mountain retreat for teacher training, movementqez sweeping the country at the time. they found a very willing participant in the city of boulder and boulder94"-ç residents who already had established the university colorado here and loved the idea of bringing more intellectual stimulation and entertainment to the community. so interesting public/private partnership of the y this group from texas and a3!d4 railroad that would transport at the time texans between texas and boulder, colorado. it also was very much from the very beginning intended tofxñ serve the local community. that was part of the quid pro

quo. programming for the locals and the economic benefit for the4>ddx community of having visitors. at the time, summer only, now year round. i believe the reason this location was8 zx so desirable1)ju the incredibleviews of what wes6g call the flat irons, really one of the front faces of the rocky mountains.['tìáhp &hc% two adjacent ranches wereard acquired. and the ranch to the west of what is now the chautauqua really is a, it's a city ofhmr boulder crown jewel trail head that really serves our entire region. people from all over colorado and all over the world come not only tox at the adjacent open space. the purpose of the chautauquas in the movement across the country was to bring education to the masses, to bringáqy speakers of the day, discussions of current events. and entertainment and enlightenment of various!d:;t kinds

to small towns across the country that didn't have the opportunity. this is before television before radio. went to opportunities like that. thez@( opportunities came to them. the people who were intended to be the audience of the chautauqua were really what we for some people, it was an education experience. for some, it was a supplementç their education. the programs at most of the chautauquas were very similar. i'll speak to the ones i know about here at the colorado chautauqua. combination of speakers of the day. it's hard for us to imagine, but thousands of people would gather to hear an orator, a famous person of the day like william jennings bryant. also a variety of both what we might consider high brow and low brow entertainment opera, classical0 what would be considered the vaudeville of that day. the colorado chautauqua hasn't

changed all that much over the years. the biggest change is that our climate and our buildings allow us to operate year round. this was initially a tent community, with the first two buildings being the dining hall and thekx auditorium with people3frh @r(t&háhp &hc% staying in tents. but the buildings are substantially in tact and they are still used for the most part, for their original the dining hall is still the +pl6zf1 o place to dine. the auditorium is still where we have the majority of our ;&@x[ bt programs. the= é lodges and cottages are winterized. that's a big change, so that they arep41(w available year round, but the actual use is the same. we just welcome folks 12 months a year now. this colorado chautauqua is more than just about boulder's85au history. it has well, it iso p physically, very much the same as it was in its earliest days.

relevant. it's not just about the past. and a lot of people don't even know the stories of the past. it still feels relevant to them today. it feels meaningful today. it feels special. the c-span cities tour takes book tv and american history tv on the road, traveling to u.s. cities to learn about their history and literary life. this weekend we partnered with time-warner cable for a visit to austin, texas. we are in the private suite of lyndon and lady bird johnson. this is the private quarters of the president and first lady. when i say private, i do mean that. this is not part of a tour that is offered to the public. this is this has never been opened to the public. and you're seeing it because of c-span's special! as they did in lyndon johnson's day, but it's not open to our visitors on a daily basis.

and the remarkable thing about this space is that it's really a living, breathing artifact. it hasn't changed at all since presidentáa january of ) and there's a document inyk among 2qhñothers the then archivist of the united states and lady bird johnson telling my predecessors myself and my successors that nothing in thisr%4k room can change. >> so we're here at the 100 block of congress avenue in austin.2]ka to my left just down the block is the river. the8v colorado river. and this is an important historic site in the city's history, because this is where waterloo ausó@[

staying when he and the rest of the men got wind of this big buffalo herd in the vicinity. they jumped on theirobo horses, and the avenue was a muddy ravine that led north to where the capital now ail sits, and the nen galloped on their horses and rode into theh5 of buffalo firing and shouting.