Charles C. Wilson

              1916

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CHARLES C. WILSON


CHARLES C. WILSON
Biographical Statements

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SOCIAL ENGINEER—The day of Social Action is here.  Social Engineers are in demand to bridge the gulf between man and man. Mr. Wilson has specialized in Social Philosophy and Civic Engineering.  His message has been hammered out on the anvil of both thought and experience.

Early Life—Born among the hills of Carroll County, Ohio, Mr. Wilson grew up behind the counter in his father's store.  While in High School he worked on Saturdays at the brick works and on the farm in summer.  During four years at Hiram College vacations were spent working in shops and stores and selling books.

Trip to Hawaii—One day Mr. Wilson was asked to go on a mission to Honolulu.  Six months were spent at this picturesque island melting pot, studying religious and social conditions.  His observations crystallized into an illustrated lecture

A Sky Pilot—Mr. Wilson has held three important pulpit jobs in Ohio.  In Milwaukee he had the leading pulpit of one denomination in the state.  There he was active in civic affairs, among other things, directing the social survey of the city

Back to the Soil—In order to pry into the Rural problem, Mr. Wilson yielded to the lure of the land.  On an Ohio farm he experimented with raising chickens and vegetables, and ran a dairy.

The Call of the Town—While milking one February morning, a fire broke out, destroying Mr. Wilson's country home.  William Rainey Bennett, the lecturer, happened along and soon a call was on the way from a county-seat town in Wisconsin.  With a down-town office, Mr. Wilson has had experience as a Scout Master, manager of Lyceum courses, writer of Community editorials, president of a civic dramatic club, chairman of Municipal social center committee, and other civic interests.

Platform Experience—Altho a young man, Mr. Wilson has been a platformist many years.  His Lyceum and Chautauqua experience has been with the Central, Radcliffe and Redpath bureaus.  Some say he bears a striking resemblance to his illustrious namesake, Woodrow Wilson; others see a likeness to Newell Dwight Hillis; all agree with Strickland Gillilan that he has a vital message and knows how to apply it—painlessly.




THE C. C. WILSON LECTURES

THE LURE OF THE WEB
Or, The Coming Community

I.
The Lure of the City—1.  Alarming shift of population.  2.  Cities sapping vitals.  (a).  Raising babies by Philo system.  (b).  The disappearing home.  (c).  Why prices aviate.  (d).  The pace that kills.  (e).  Jungle ethics.  (f).  Social dynamite.
II.
Why Folks Forsake the Farm—1.  Farmers who succeed, move to town and go to seed.  2.  Why boys try the absent treatment.  (a).  Does farming pay?  (b).  Nothing doing in the country.  3.  Shining up the countryside.  The stake of the school and church.
III.
Town Building—1.  The Social Survey.  Know your city.  2.  Town building vs. town drifting.  (a).  The bread and butter basis.  The golden egg.  Trading posts.  (b).  Recreation.Putting the lid on.  The movies.  Crowding vs. driving the devil out of town.  (c).  Social Life.  The town's latch-string.  Cliques and gossip.  Social Centers.  (d) Sky Lights.  The school of tomorrow.  Jangling bells and church unity.  The gospel of team work.



THE FURNITURE OF FORTUNE
Or, The Challenge of the Times

I.
The New World—Droning thru' old nose spectacles vs. knowing the times.  Our age.  1.  Curb-stone view.  2.  Wonder age.  3.  Age of wheels.  4.  Social age.  Shaking hands vs. shaking fists.
II.
The Furniture of Fortune—Lame ducks.  1.  What practical, personal preparedness does: (a).  Puts in mental sky lights.  (b).  Makes every stroke count.  Folks who get in their own way.  Carrying the message to Garcia.
III.
The Social Gleam—Pattern of life woven on double set of threads—egoism and altruism.  Whirlpool or fountain?  1.  The call of the job.  2.  Fighting the Community's battles.  Seven pestiferous obstacles.  3.  A friend to man.  The social hunger.  The house by the side of the road.



THE BATTLE FOR BROTHERHOOD
Or, What's Wrong with the World?

I.
World-wide Upheaval.  1.  Stop!  Look!  and Listen!  2.  Voices of discontent.  Seething social caldron must be tended or will run over and scald.
II.
The Battles of Peace—1.  The pathos of poverty.  2.  The Golden Rule or the rule of gold.  3.  Jingo patriotism.  4.  The coming generation.  5.  Mirth and moral medicine.  6.  The church of tomorrow.  7.  False Feelings.
III.
The War Against War—The men behind the guns.  The waste of war.  Shall America be Prussianized?  Christ or Napoleon?  A substitute for war.  Evolution vs. revolution.  The world neighborhood.



OTHER LECTURES AND ADDRESSES
Lincoln, Hawaii—The Paradise of the Pacific (Illustrated).  Tolstoy.  The Riddle of Life.  Training the Human Plant.  The Soil and the Soul.  The Man Within the Man, Religion in Overalls.  The People's Play.





THE MELANGE
Strickland Gillilan—Humorist

Orators for human good are as scarce as ever, altho all that is required is a message and some way to apply it painlessly.  The message should be big—a part of the man who delivers it.  The giving of it should be cleverly, attractively done.  Now one Charles C. Wilson has these qualifications.  The message, its deliverer—he has the one and is the other.  He belongs on the platform, and will grow bigger as he becomes still better known.

Thos. Brooks Fletcher—Lecturer and Editor This man Wilson has brains and he has a program.  He does not talk at random nor indulge in platitude, funny stories and punk piffle.  He presents some big truths about some almighty big themes.  He is a prophet who has a vision of things as they ought to be.  It will be good for all apostles of mental inertia to hear him.  He may give them a jolt but he will also give them mental momentum.  Wilson looks like Newell Dwight Hillis, but I would rather have Wilson on my lecture course than Hillis; and I have heard them both.

Herbert L. Willett—University of Chicago His work has won for him a place of acceptance.

Lee Francis Lybarger—Lecturer

You are one of the ablest and most efficient men I know.  My best wishes are with you.

C. M. Sanford, Prof. Oratory, Ill. Normal University

I consider him one of the very best speakers in southern Wisconsin.

Byron Piatt—Lecturer

A letter from Piatt endorses you for the lecture platform.  As a rule we do not take the initiative, but we have such confidence in Piatt's judgment that I am glad to begin.—W. H. Stout, Mgr. Central bureau, Indianapolis, Sept. 26, 1910.

Roland Nichols—Lecturer

When I heard you several years ago I put you down in my book of remembrance as one from whom the world would hear.

Judge A. R. Webber, Ex-Congressman, Elyria, O. Wilson talks under a pressure of sixteen pounds to the square inch.  I shall watch his career with greatest interest.


Bluefield “Telegraph,” W. Va.
This young man has but few equals on the platform today.  He has an unlimited store of knowledge and held his big audience spell-bound with his sound logic, bright sayings and eloquence.

J. K. Baxter, Pres. Ohio Teachers Ass'n., Canton, O.

I have heard him lecture several times.  He is a man of wide experience and a most forceful speaker.  He pleases, entertains and instructs his audience because he has a message.

Frank M. Kelly, Atty. And Committeeman, Lebanon, Va.

It was the generally stated view that Mr. Wilson's Lecture was the best thing of the Chautauqua.

R. T. Hubbard, Jr., Fayetteville, W. Va., Atty. and Committeeman

We like you for your progressive Christianity, as a preacher of brotherhood among men, and of brightness, flowers, song and laughter along the pathway of life.

Arthur Oates, Theological student at Union Seminary, N. Y.

(In letter to his brother at home)

I certainly am gratified to hear how well things are going in old Darlington.  Mr. Wilson is great, and he is just making that old town and community over.  It's really wonderful what he has done this winter.  That's the sort of thing I want to do when I get settled somewhere.  I don't know whether it's in me or not, but it's the kind of thing I believe in, and I'm willing to sink all I have in that kind of service.  I'm coming to realize more and more that it is n't what, or how much, we believe in the way of creed and dogma but it's rather how much we are willing to give ourselves for the other fellow that counts.

L. H. Keller, D. D., General Supt. Wis. Congregational Assn.

When I saw the literature (church efficiency) you sent out I almost shouted.  That is business.  It is the way to do things.  If you have a few extra copies of these I wish you would send them to me that I may use them to guide other churches.  Nothing better in the state has been done in this line.


Bellefontaine, O., “Examiner.”
Mr. Wilson's lecture was a beautifully presented and scholarly production.  The audience endorsed it as especially fine.


Milwaukee “Times”
Blessed with splendid natural ability and a strong personality, he couples an intense human interest, a large fund of useful knowledge, and a broad social vision.  He is destined to a brilliant career.  He is a master on the platform, and a true orator with a message that is thoroly modern, intensely interesting and inspirational.