Dr. William E. Bohn: a forceful speaker, a clear thinker

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DR. WILLIAM E. BOHN
A Forceful Speaker-A Clear Thinker


DR. WILLIAM E. BOHN
A College Professor Who Forsook His Class Room to Teach in the World University


A Friendly Appreciation
DR. WILLIAM BOHN has given me the privilege of writing this brief word of introduction.  I am glad to do it, for I can say to committeemen who read this what he, in his modesty, would never say about himself.

What kind of lectures do your people like best?  Do they simply wish to be amused?  Do they like to hear the old bromides, the predigested lectures that entertain and amuse—the mother, home and heaven type?  If they do, you may as well lay this circular aside, for Dr. Bohn is not the man your town wants.

But if in your community there are men and women, old and young, who are hungry for something that will feed their minds; if there are those who are trying to interpret, in terms of everyday living and thinking, the handwriting on the wall we call current history, and who are eager to hear a man with a vital, pulsing message, then I know of no lecturer who can fill that need as effectively as Dr. Bohn.

HE DID not enter the lecture field because he thought it an easy method of earning a living.  A university man who studied in Paris and took his Ph. D. in the University of Michigan, he resigned his professorship to lecture in the great University of the World where he could reach thousands with his message as against the comparatively few of the classroom.

He compels thought.  That sounds as though his lectures were dry and heavy.  They are just the reverse.  In a conversational voice, in plain, simple language, he talks to his audiences as one of themselves and grips and holds their interest from his first sentence to the close.  His unstudied eloquence, the eloquence of earnestness and profound sincerity, gives to his lectures just the emphasis needed to drive home the impression of fine scholarship and splendid idealism.

What I have written is not a mere compliment.  It is the result of intimate association.  Dr. Bohn possesses to a rare degree the ability to project great truths simply and clearly.  His interpretation of history, coupled as it is with his rare vision and fine idealism, was never more timely than now when this world of ours is being remade before our eyes.

CARLTON CHAMBERLAYNE, Schnectady, N. Y.





He Compels Thought
In His Profound, Yet Intensely Interesting Discussions of Vital Problems of Today

Dr. Bohn has just returned from a long tour throughout western Canada where his work was little short of sensational.  He found the same ready response among the Canadians in his brilliant lectures that he has always found before American audiences.  This indicates the strength of Dr. Bohn as a platform lecturer of the thinking type.  He has two great subjects for the coming season.


The Resistless Tide
Concerns one phase of the world's movements, that of revolutions.  It deals with the great revolutions of the past, both bloody and peaceful.  Then the revolution of the future.  Are these real important ones, will they be gradual and peaceful, or sudden and painful?  This lecture deals largely with attempts now being made in various parts of the world to make necessary changes without pulling down our civilization.



Education for Democracy
Is a strong plea for democracy as the proper medicine for a turbulent world.  The lecture has aroused wonderful comment wherever it has been heard.  It has been called a classic of the platform.  It points out in a clear, unmistakable way the correct solution for many of the big vital problems which now confront the world.



Some Recent Press Comments

Dr. Bohn gave a careful talk on 'The League of Nations' and it was both an entertaining and instructive lecture.  Dr. Bohn is a splendid speaker with deap-seated convictions.
Potstown News, Pa.


The addresses of Dr. William E. Bohn to two Fort Wayne audiences on Wednesday should have been heard by every citizen of Fort Wayne.—
The Journal Gazette (Editorial) Fort Wayne, Ind.


Dr. William E. Bohn, of New York City, addressed one of the largest meetings of the Sunday lecture course in the Eagle Temple yesterday afternoon.  The lecture was one of the most interesting ever heard in the Temple and Dr. Bohn's remarks were followed with intense interest and he was frequently interrupted with applause.—
The Morning Post, Jamestown, N. Y.


Dr. Bohn's address was received with profound attention and many interruptions of applause.  He is a speaker of more than usual ability with sonorous voice, easy delivery, splendid command of English and an animation of utterance that fires his hearers.—
The Star, Indianapolis, Ind.


Laying bare the workings of that terrific German machine which has been in the making for the last fifty years for the sole purpose of destroying nations by brute force, Dr. William E. Bohn, of New York City, made a dramatic and forceful appeal at Convocation at the University of Nebraska this morning.  Dr. Bohn's address was one of the most forceful, patriotic addresses given at the University this year.  Except for frequent applause he held the large gathering of students and faculty spellbound for over an hour.—
The Daily Star, Lincoln, Neb.





Some Personal Endorsements
Chancellor Bradford says:

Dr. William E. Bohn is on the platform, where he belongs.  He is a public teacher.  To teach the public from our great American forum, the Chautauqua and the Lyceum, one must possess those outstanding qualities which fit him for this exacting work.

Bohn eats books and digests them.  Therefore he knows the results of history and their first causes.  Feeling, as he does, that we must now have a vital concern touching present conditions, he can also diagnose society, and his suggestions for betterment can well be heard and studied.  There is no question about our wish to correct every wrong.  If we can see what it is and where it is, corrective means will at once be applied.

Those who can sit under the teachings of this man will find profit and get a working program.  Personally he is a delight.  People go to concerts knowing the artist's voice will charm them.  Voice to an orator is quite as essential as voice to a soprano.

He has great sympathy with humanity, and seeks to enrich their lives instead of getting rich from their labors.  Hear him and his voice will charm you as his message will help you.

Chancellor George H. Bradford

From a Chautauqua Director:

My dear Mr. Bohn:

For several years you and I have been team-mates upon a circuit of the Swarthmore Chautauqua Association.  It has been my privilege to feel the force of your genial personality and to experience the stimulating influence of your lectures many times.  Permit me to say that no lecturer comes to our platform with a fresher or more vital message than do you, and few bring to the platform as great an ability to win the minds and hearts of their audiences as do you.  Almost every town in which you have worked asks for your return.  We have no one upon our staff concerning whom we have had so many request returns.

We are so engrossed with the ordinary grind of the daily routine, that we often fail to pass along to each other expressions of appreciation such as this.  I am interrupting my work today just to write you this message of appreciation.

George H. Turner, Associate Director,

Echoes of the War Days:

Dr. William E. Bohn, held conferences and delivered addresses for the Speakers' Bureau of the State Council of Defense of Indiana and also for the Speaking Division of the Committee on Public Information at Washington.  He was unusually successful in this work.  It was a type of work that was greatly needed during the war and at the same time, was difficult to perform.

Dr. Bohn has a splendid personality, a sincerity and honesty that commands the confidence of everyone who meets him.  He is a forceful speaker, a clear thinker, and convincing in his arguments.  I can recommend him to any type of audience.  He is sufficiently popular to meet the mixed audience, and has a fine scholarship that commands the respect of College audiences.

Prof. J. J. Pettijohn, Director Speakers' Bureau, Indiana State Council of Defense.