SWAMI VIVEKANANDA AND THE ART INSTITUTE , CHICAGO ,USA.

                                          

     ( The renovated dais and the audience hall )

            ( Swami Ji sitting at the dais  1893 ) 

                                             

 ( The old auditorium where Swami Ji addressed the audience )

      ( The staircase with LED display )

                                        

        ( A preserved  letter written by Swami Ji  ) 

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA AND  THE

ART  INSTITUTE , CHICAGO  ,USA.

Swami Vivekananda's most famous discourse ‘In Response to the Welcome Address’ was delivered at the Hall of Columbus at the Art Institute ,Chicago.In 1893,  at that point in time, the present day Art Institute   building  in  Chicago was known as,' World’s Congress Auxiliary Building'  .In this building, the gathering in 1893 has been termed “the dawn of religious pluralism” by author Richard Hughes Seager. The World’s Parliament of Religions was conceived to be a vital part of the 1893 'World’s Columbian Exposition' , a world’s fair crafted to celebrate the “discovery” of the New World by Christopher Columbus and organised to rejuvenate the city of Chicago after the devastating fire of 1871.

At the 'World’s Parliament of Religions' , Chicago, 11 September 1893, Swami Ji opened his address with, 'Brothers and Sisters of America ',  the  three words that touched instant chord with his audience who rose from their seats to clap Swami Ji   .The deafening applause lasted for a out  five minutes. Those sitting in the audience had a wrong notion of India and the Indians. The cultural , civilisational and religious glory of India was unknown to them. They believed India was a country of illiterate people , snake charmers, poverty  and illiteracy . Swami Ji's speech  cleared all their misconceptions. The audience in the West  was used to the often repeated address " Ladies and Gentlemen "  while being addressed . A monk from far flung nation had come to speak to them believing them to be a part of his own family . For Swami Ji , they were no strangers ;  but his own brothers and  sisters. And Swami Ji continued, " I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: ‘As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.’ Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal."

Swami Ji  spoke several times at the Art Institute. He attended Charles  C. Bonney's reception at this institute  and also led the conference at the Scientific Session of the Parliament.Charles C. Bonney was a well-known judge in Chicago and the author of many important constitutional and economic reforms. It was Bonney’s inspiration and idea to hold the Parliament of Religions . In his welcome address, Bonney  said, “unite all Religion against all irreligion; to make the golden rule the basis for this union; and to present to the world the substantial unity of many religions in the good deeds of religious life”.  Charles C. Bonney was highly impressed by Swami Ji's speech. He  gave a huge reception in the upper floor and halls of the present  Art Institute (at that time known as the World’s Congress Auxiliary Building) in the evening of September 12 in honour of  Swami Ji. All delegates were also invited. Indeed, if not for Swami Ji ,  the Parliament might have been forgotten by history instead of being credited with launching the modern interfaith movement.

Apart from Charles C Bonney, amongst scores of Americans  who were influenced by Swami Ji's eloquence and views about future of humanity , I need to make specific mention of the  following :--

(1)

The Lyon family of Chicago ; Mrs and Mr Lyon who lived in Michigan Avenue ( presently Hilton Hotel ) with their children and grandchildren.  .About this well read  family ,Swami Ji writes this :-

"'I am moving about just now. Only when I come to Chicago again , I shall always go to see Mr. and Mrs. Lyon one of the noblest couples I have seen here."

(2)

Mrs and Mr George Hale  who lived in Chicago. The Hale family was to become more dear to Swamiji than any other he would know in the West. 'I scarcely find a family so highly pure and kind. Or why should God shower blessings on them in such abundance? Oh, how wonderfully kind they are!' he wrote to his brother disciples in 1894.He wrote to Mary Hale in 1899, "It is curious, your family, Mother Church and her clergy, both monastic and secular, have made more impression on me than any family I know of. Lord bless you ever and ever."

(3).

John Barrows was pastor of the 1st Presbyterian Church in Chicago and one of the city's most well known clergymen. As the chairman of the Parliament of Religions he was the principal organiser of the event. Swamiji met him at his house (2957 Indiana Ave) on September 10, 1893. He was highly impressed by Swami Ji's vision for humanity.

(4)

Elisha Gray (1835-1901) was a famous electrical engineer and inventor who held over seventy patents to his credit. He  became one of the ardent followers of Swami Ji.

(5)

Mrs. (Bertha Honore) Potter Palmer was a very well known socialite and outspoken feminist, she was the official hostess of the Exposition. At the Art Institute, Swamiji spoke on 'Women in Oriental Religion' at a special session organised by Mrs. Potter Palmer who was also the president of the Women's Branch of the World's Congress of the Exposition. Mrs. and Mr. Potter Palmer also gave a reception in honour of Swami Ji and  the delegates on the evening of September 14 at the Women's Building in Jackson Park.

(6)

Jane Addams reverently known in her circle as "Saint Jane" was a social reformer, peace activist, and with Ellen Gates Starr, the founder of Hull House - a social settlement whose main purpose was to provide social and educational opportunities for working class immigrants . She was highly impressed by Swami Ji,s ideas about humanity and peace.. "Miss Adams as ever is an angel," Swamiji wrote of her in a letter to Betty Leggett.

(7)

Mrs. (Florence) Milward Adams, a highly intellectual and versatile woman, was a popular lecturer on the Art of Expression and one of Swamiji's staunchest admirers in Chicago.

(8)

Emma Calvé was a celebrated French operatic soprano and was probably the most famous French female opera singer of the time. She first met Swamiji in November, 1899 when she was visiting Chicago with the Metropolitan Opera Company. Later, in her autobiography , she wrote this :-

'"It has been my good fortune and my joy to know a man who truly 'walked with God', a noble being, a saint, a philosopher and a true friend. His influence on my spiritual life was profound. He opened up new horizons before me, teaching me a broader understanding of truth. My soul will bear him eternal gratitude."

(9)

Betty  Macleod and Josephine Macleod  were born in 1852 and 1858 respectively  in Chicago to John David MacLeod and Mary Ann Lennon. Her father was an American of Scottish descent. The couple had three sons and three daughters. Two of their daughters, Betty (1852–1931) and Josephine (1858–1949), became disciples of Swami Vivekananda.

(10)

Robert Ingersoll(1833-1899), the celebrated agnostic orator  became Swami Jis admirer and friend. Ingersoll popularised th criticism of the dogmatic religions  as well as a humanistic philosophy and a scientific rationalism. He became a great admirer of Swami Ji.

(11)

Harriet Monroe( 1860-1936) , a poetess, the founder of "Poetry: A Magazine of Verse" and was the patron saint of the new American poetry of realism and imagery.   She heard Swamiji at the Parliament of Religions and recollected her impressions in her autobiography "A Poet's Life" she wrote this :-

"It was Swami Vivekananda, the magnificent, who stole the show and captured the town. His personality, dominant, magnetic; his voice, rich as a bronze bell; the controlled fervor of his feeling ; the beauty of his message to the Western world, it was human eloquence at its highest pitch."

(12)

Miss Kate Sanborn of Boston whom Swami Ji had met earlier had given her card and asked him to feel free to apply to her for help if he had any problem. When he contacted her, she wired him to come to her place in the Metcalfe village. A teacher and farmer who readily helped people, Kate introduced him to her friends during the week he spent in her farmhouse called Breezy Meadows. Thanks to her, he gave his first speech in America to a women’s club on 21st August.

(13)

Another foreign friend of Swamiji was Alberta Sturges Montagu ,an accomplished musician.In a letter to  Alberta dated 8th July, 1895, Swami Ji wrote :  ‘I am sure you are engrossed in your musical studies now. Hope you have found out all about the scales by this time. I will be so happy to take a lesson on the scales from you next time we meet . '

(14)

Prof J H Wright who was professor of Greek and (later became Dean of Undergraduate Studies). When  Swami Ji met him,  Professor Wright was at once struck by the genius  of the Indian monk and insisted that Vivekananda should represent Hinduism at the Parliament of Religions.

In the US. Swami Ji also met Transcendentalists like Franklin Benjamin Sanborn (1831-1917)and  Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911) .  Ralph Waldo Trine (1866-1958) was almost of   Swami Ji's age and used  interact with him . His most important contacts with the famous include those with philosopher and psychologist William James; Nicola Tesla, engineer and inventor, actress Sarah Bernhardt and poet Ella Wheeler Willcox .

                                              

The present day Art Institute complex  in Chicago has undergone many additions and changes over the years after 1893. The interior has been considerably modified. The Hall of Columbus is no longer there but  Fullerton Hall now occupies the place where the speaker's platform and a part of the gallery were located. These historic spaces  stand preserved and  renovated .On the steps ascending the Fullerton Hall of the Art Institute,  in 2017, an Indian artist Jitish Kallat, set up an art installation comprising LED displays, which laid out the text of Swami Ji's famous, “Sisters and Brothers of America” speech. Swami Ji's message to America was this:-

" I do not want to convert you to a new belief. I want you to keep your own belief; I want to make the Methodist a better Methodist, the Muslim a better Muslim, the Hindu a better Hindu.I do not say to the West, ‘take up our method.’ My message in life is to ask East and West not to quarrel over different ideals, but to show them that the goal is the same.”

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.