The word "chautauqua" is Iroquois and means either "two moccasins tied together" or "jumping fish," used to describe a lake in western New York. In 1874, John Heyl Vincent and Lewis Miller rented a site in New York state to use as a summer school for Sunday school teachers; this became known as the Chautauqua Institution. Within a few years, the scope of the Chautauqua Institution had broadened to include adult education of all kinds, as well as a correspondence course designed to bring "a college outlook" to working and middle-class people. Along with the educational offerings at Chautauqua, its thousands of summer residents attended concerts and social activities. By the last decade of the nineteenth century, the Chautauqua Institution was nationally known as a center for rather earnest, but high-minded, activities that aimed at intellectual and moral self-improvement and civic involvement. From there, the Chautauqua Movement grew around the country. As its members and graduates spread the Chautauqua idea, many towns—especially in rural areas where opportunities for secondary education were limited—established "chautauquas". These seasonal establishments reflected the intense desire for self-improvement through education that has always marked the American striver. The movement pretty much died out by the mid-1930s. Most historians cite the rise of the car culture, radio, and movies as the causes. There were several other important, yet subtle, reasons for the decline. One was the sharp increase in fundamentalism and evangelical Christianity in the 20s; the bland non-denominationalism exhibited at most chautauquas couldn't accommodate these impulses. Another—seemingly contradictory influence—was the rise of the liberated, educated woman. Chautauquas functioned for many lower- and middle-class women much as the elite women's colleges did for upper-class women. They were training grounds from which women could launch "real" careers. When professional and educational opportunities increased, interest in chautauquas dwindled. Finally, the Depression itself made chautauquas economically impossible for organizers and audiences. Several independent chautauquas survived. Estimates vary about how many function today as they did in the late-19th century: offering summer-long educational, cultural, and recreational programs and accommodations. Boulder’s is the only year-round chautauqua, and the only one whose grounds are free and open to the public.