The Burned-Over District

On this episode, we feature a conversation between interviewer John Merino and Maureen Rovegno, Chautauqua’s director of religion, on the little-known history of what has come to be called the “Burned-over District,” or the “on fire” religious environment and culture of the early 19th century in Western New York. As you’ll hear, Chautauqua itself is one of the movements that has roots in the “Burned-over District,” and the Institution will program a week of lectures on that era from July 22 to 25. More information is available at chq.org. The Week Five Interfaith Lecture Series is described as follows: We refer often to Chautauqua’s beginnings in 1874 and its history going forward, but little-known is the history that preceded Chautauqua’s founding. The Chautauqua Assembly reflected many movements that had had their genesis in what was called the “Burned-Over District” resulting from the “on fire” religious environment and culture of the early 19th century in Western New York. The Assembly synthesized the religious passion of the age with its own unique contributions to American culture, as did other religious and civic expressions of the region arising out of that epoch. In this week we will revisit that incendiary era, and then meet some other religious and civic entities that have also stood the test of time.