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The Bughouse Square Debates are an annual event sponsored by the Newberry Library in Chicago. The debates take place across from the Newberry, in Washington Square Park. Soapboxes are distributed throughout the park to give a series of scheduled speakers a platform, literally, from which they may share their opinions on a variety of issues related to education, labor, sports, religion, technology, and national security. Every year, a panel of judges presents the champion soapboxer with the Dill Pickle Award, a nod to the Dill Pickle Club, a bohemian gathering place located near the park in the early twentieth century. Washington Square Park served as a raucous public forum for many of the political radicals and intellectuals who frequented the Dill Pickle Club. "Bughouse" being popular slang for mental health facilities at the time, the word gave the park its nickname and described the fringe attitudes and the free-flowing discourse on display there. John Drury, describing the scene for the ''Chicago Daily News'' in 1921, wrote, "free speech never was freer than in this unique spot on the near north side." During Bughouse Square's height in the 1920s and 1930s, poets, religionists, and cranks addressed the crowds, but the mainstays were soapboxers from the revolutionary left, especially from the Industrial Workers of the World. Many of the speakers became legendary and included anarchist Lucy Parsons, Ben Reitman, John Loughman, socialist Frank Midney, feminist-Marxist Martha Biegler, Frederick Wilkesbarr, Herbert Shaw (the “Cosmic Kid”), Kenneth Rexroth in his youth, the Sheridan twins (Jack and Jimmy), and one-armed “Cholly” Wendorf.〔(Encyclopedia of Chicago ), accessed July 29, 2012.〕 Today the Newberry organizes the debates as a celebration of the legacy of Bughouse Square and of First Amendment rights. Soapbox speakers and hecklers alike are encouraged to join in and voice their opinions on the important topics of the day. The event also includes reenactments of speeches by famous Chicagoans as well as open mic poetry, music, and food vendors. In addition to the debates, the Newberry honors individuals or organizations with the John Peter Altgeld Freedom of Speech Award. Recipients of the award have included ''Chicago Reader'' journalists Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky; Students Organizing to Save Our Schools; and Kartemquin Films. ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bughouse Square Debates」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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