THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN

In the late spring, but during the early meteorological summer of 1911, the leading advocates and entrepreneurs of Dublin produced a summer festival to replace the annual Chautauqua Festival.  The events were housed in the old Chautauqua auditorium, which stood just to the east of the present day Farmers Market.

At the top of the bill, the promoters convinced one the most popular politicians in America to speak along with other educational, musical and exciting events.

Just as the sun was about to go down on a warm day on June 12, 1911, William Jennings Bryan took to the stage.  Although no report of his address to more than an overflow crowd of more than 1500 people remains, it is most likely the Bryan continued his support of the common man, which made him popular in the extremely dominant Democratic party in the South. 





William Jennings Bryan  (1860-1925) was an American orator and politician from Nebraska.  In 1896, he became the dominant force in the Democratic party in the United States, running three times as the party's nominee for President.  Bryan, a perennial political speaker on the State Fair and Chautauqua network, served in Congress and as Secretary of Stte under President Woodrow Wilson.  Known as the great commoner, Bryan is characterized as William Harrison Brady, in Inherit the Wind, a play and then a movie about the Scopes trial over the teaching of evolution in schools

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