The Lyceum Club of Tarrytown (formerly known as the Young Men’s Lyceum) is the oldest organization within Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. It was established on June 22, 1866 as a reading and debating club.

The members, all men, originally met in the schoolhouse of the Rev. Edmund Guilbert at 151 North Washington St. 

Guilbert (their first President) led the creation of a robust library, with over 1,400 volumes within 15 years.  Readings, recitations, debates and related activities occurred every Tuesday evening.

The American lyceum movement of the mid-19th to early 20th century was an early form of organized adult education. Lectures, dramatic performances, classes, and debates held in the halls of small towns contributed significantly to the education of adult Americans and provided a platform for disseminating culture and ideas.

The first American lyceum, “Millsbury Branch, # 1 of the American Lyceum,” was founded in 1826 by Josiah Holbrook, a traveling lecturer and teacher who believed that education was a lifelong experience. The Lyceum Movement reached the peak of its popularity in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) era.

Public lyceums were organized from Florida to Michigan. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau endorsed the movement and lectured at many local lyceums.

Chautauqua was a social and cultural phenomenon which began in 1874 and expanded and permeated rural American until the mid 1920s.  Going to Chautauqua meant music, laughter, relaxation and stimulation for millions of rural Americans.  When Chautauqua came to town, there was entertainment for the whole family and the entire community.