A detailed, atmospheric look at a Chicago celebration honoring a renowned pastor and author.
This book captures a historic 1886 reception and dinner for Prof. David Swing, showing how a city’s civic leaders, churches, and friends joined to honor a man whose work shaped ethics, religion, and letters.
The volume presents the event as a social and cultural moment. It weaves together the reception, the banquet menu, and the speeches, offering a window into how communities celebrated intellectual and spiritual leadership in the late 19th century. Readers will see the warmth of well-wishers, the admiration of colleagues, and the careful pageantry that marked the occasion.
- A vivid account of the reception, dinner, and program, including speakers and their themes.
- Portraits of notable guests, organizers, and supporters who shaped the gathering.
- The menu, toasts, poems, and excerpts that reflect the era’s style and sensibilities.
- Context about the influence of Prof. Swing on religion, literature, and civic life in Chicago.
Ideal for readers of local history, religious studies, and cultural history, as well as anyone curious about how 19th‑century civic events were organized and celebrated.