The Ingersoll Chronology Project

Your Ingersoll Quote of the Day From: Individuality Universal obedience is universal stagnation; disobedience is one of the conditions of progress. To see where this lecture was performed click here Robert G. Ingersoll - A Chronology of his lectures, with newspaper commentaries by Doug Schiffer Getting Involved Random Ads Introduction What's New Ingersoll Resources The Chronology What's Next Special Thanks Some Research Notes May 23rd lectures in the Chronology. 1880 New York, NY Gods 1881 Indianapolis, IN Great Infidels 1884 Philadelphia, PA Orthodoxy 1885 Minneapolis, MN Which Way? 1896 Philadelphia, PA Foundations of Faith May 22   May 24

Introduction

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Ingersoll's works on tape!

Visit the Ingersoll Birthplace Museum: 14th season opening on on May 26th, 2007!

Robert G. Ingersoll - was a 19th century Freethinker, orator and lawyer extraordinare.  His name was a household word in North America from the 1870's until after his death in 1899.  If you were a literate American in those times, you knew of Robert Ingersoll, and his frequent lectures defending and advocating freethought.

 

   If you are interested in the life and times of "Colonel Bob", then you will find a wealth of information here about his career.  If you ever wondered if there is a history of freethought in your area, this resource may very well tell you the answer.

   This project has as its goal to document his life and lecture tours, and preserve the public reactions of Robert Ingersoll's American and Canadian lectures.  Here you'll be able to see where and when Ingersoll spoke, what he said, and what happened afterwards.  Although this project is well under way, it it is by no means complete.   The total number of lectures that Col. Bob delivered may have numbered as high as 2 thousand, and we currently have almost 1300 listed.  If you would like to help find additional lectures - and help document the history of freethought in America, click here.

Entries are being added every week, so if you don't see anything for your area, check back every so often!

The Chronology So Far

Look at the Chronology Statistics page, which lets you look for specific years, states, lectures and events.

Alternatively, you can browse the Complete Chronology
 
 

Sources

• "Sixty-five Press Interviews with Robert G. Ingersoll", American Atheist Press, 2nd edition
• Ranjit Sandhu, a Buffalo Theatre historian, kindly provided a list of 10 Ingersoll visits to Buffalo, with dates, locations and speeches.
• Tom Flynn, of the Ingersoll Birthplace Museum contributed photographs of Ingersoll's Iternary for his Western tour of 1884, which proved to be an enormous assist in documenting this 3 month stretch of time.
• "Robert G. Ingersoll - A Life", by Frank Smith, Prometheus Books, 1990, ISBN 0-87975-588-1 - an excellent biography and highly recommended.
• The Truth Seeker newspaper
• "Ingersoll: A Biographical Appreciation", by Herman E. Kittredge, 1911
• My daughter gave me a copy of "Col. R. G. Ingersoll's 44 Lectures Complete" for Christmas - thanks Dana!
• Some of Ingersoll's papers

Getting Involved:

Here's the sort of information that is especially wanted:

Lectures that aren't listed in the chronology.

The title of the lecture delivered on certain date, if it is not currently known.

Ads for lectures, from old newspapers.

Reviews of lectures, from old newspapers.

Copies of lithographs or theater programs for Ingersoll lectures.

Erie,PA Morning Dispatch on Nov 4,1878	Binghamton,NY Republican on Feb 26,1878

What's next to be done:

Thanks goes to:

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