The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-03-31
WHAT! NO 3HAKESPEAREAN CLUB IN ATERBURY!
 WHERE'S OUR CULTURE?
March 30, 1897.

Editor, Waterbury Democrat:
 It has been remarked by casual visitors to Waterbury, that there is no culture in The Brass City. Just how such an impression could get abroad may be matter of surprise to some of our old families who pride themselves on the commercial achievements of their old home town, but the charge, may appear to some observers not to be entirely without foundation. There should, however, be no possible grounds for such an allegation. The historical background of New England alone, the panorama of the war of the Revolution in the Naugatuck Valley. all should be inducements to the rising generation to garner from the past the key to the genesis of the present era.
 Culture is defined as the train- ing of the mental or moral powers; the result of such training as shown in intellectual, aesthetic, and spirit ual development; refinement; as, typ.fied in Greek culture.
 Fortunate indeed is Waterbury in having the Bronson Library. Here is the door of culture wide open SO that all who run may read. What an unappreciated treasure house to the youth of Waterbury. This train of thought is engendered by the near approach of April 22nd, the anni- versary of the birth of William Shakespeare at Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
 William Shakespeare was born April 23rd, 1564-373 years ago and died on April 23rd, 1616. And after all those years there are plenty peo- pie in Waterbury, who are ready to deny that he was the author of the great masterpieces that bear his name, because they say, he did not have the education, and that the real author was Francis Bacon, Baron Verulan and Viscount St. AL bans, who was a Cambridge scholar, lawyer, politician, scientist, philos- opher, historian, and essayist.
 At thirteen, owing to his fathers increasing business difficulties, the boy William Shakespeare was re- moved from school, and bound to butcher.
 To one who appreciates the great ness of Shakespeare, who has en- joyed his marvellous genius in such productions as Hamlet, A Midsum- mer Nights Dream, Merry Wives of Windsor, and scores of other great dramas and comedies, the approach of the anniversary of his birth is an event that recalls many hours of pleasure, spent in the theater and the study library.
 It is on such an occasion that the question rises in the cultured mind why there are not ShakeSpearean clubs or societies in Waterbury to create a fundamental appreciation of his genius and greatness, and il is in such groups that the culture ot a town or city is cultivated, and ii one turns to our neighbor, the Do- minion of Canada, one will find such groups, as well as Dickens Fellowships, well organized and cen ters of cultural attention. And what better entertainments for long win ter evenings, or attractions for the rising generations, than the reincar- nations of the minds and works o1 the great geniuses that have left be- hind them the cloak of their great ness, for others, perhaps as great | to carry on. And as an old book worm said, "The older one grows the more pleasure and comfort he derives from his Shakespeare, Dick ems and the Book of old Memories the book of Creation. the Flood, the Kings, and the King of Kings. That is the beauty of culture. The cul- tured individual is never lonesome not while there is book at hand. FRED EDWARDS.