Mechanics Institute Saturday Evening Lectures programs

The first program from 1906 tells of a five lecture series given by Rev. Clarence A. Barbour, D.D., a pastor of the Lake Ave. Baptist Church in Rochester, NY. The lectures on Art and Travel, held in February and March, formed a course which would be sponsored by Mechanics Institute (MI) and held in the Assembly Hall. Rev. Barbour was a worldwide traveler himself, photographing and drawing the sights he covered in his lectures, such as Holland, Paris, Switzerland, Germany and Yellowstone Park. Reverend Barbour also lectured in 1907.

In 1910-1911, illustrated travel-talks were given by Julian Mortimer Cochrane. He was considered an accomplished writer, traveler and artist. His series of lectures focused on Japan and Manchuria, where he spent time during the Russo-Japanese war as a war correspondent.

By 1912, the series of five lectures were given by experienced travelers and lecturers from the Rochester area. Each of these lectures were illustrated with more than 150 stereopticon views.

In 1914, the series was called the Mid-winter Lecture Course and was now organized by MI professor of Science J. Ernest Woodland. For the first time the lecturers were from other parts of the country, and included a sixth lecture. Still , most of the lectures were based on travel, except for the final lecture given by MI Professor J. Ernest Woodland who spoke about "Twentieth Century Science."

By 1919, the full course increased to seven lectures and cost was raised to $1.25. Each lecture was illustrated with "splendid, original lantern slides." And in 1920, the cost increased once again to $1.50 for seven lectures. By then the subjects had expanded to include other areas of interest such as, "Color Photography," and "Peace and Reconstruction in Europe." For the first time since 1906, a woman is a featured lecturer; Madam Rene Brown who had visited the "cannibals of the South Sea Islands and lived to tell the story."

With the collection is a program booklet titled "The Frederick Monsen Lectures Illustrated." Dated 1908 this series of three lectures covered the Navajo, the Hopi, and Old Mexico. It states "Mr. Monsen was the first artist to realize the great scientific value of a photographic record of these people, and his collection today stands as the most complete ethnographic series of pictures in existence of the life and manners of the Indians of Southwestern United States."