When the Academy of Music in Philadelphia was taken
under lease, in the autumn of 1920, for a term of years
by a group of public-spirited citizens, it was for the pur-
pose of acquiring the building so as to dedicate it to the
public good. Its sixty-three years of service had given
the Academy a wonderful history in which every Presi-
dent of the United States since Franklin Pierce had
figured: practically every great orator, artist, and dis-
tinguished publicist in the United States and every
illustrious visitor from foreign lands had appeared on
its stage.

It was determined to recreate the Foyer in the build-
ing into a beautiful auditorium of intimate size which
would serve as a Public Forum. In discussing this proj-
ect with Colonel Edward M. House, he expressed his
conviction that the time had come to tell the American
public, for the first time, the inside story of the Peace
Conference at Paris. It was decided that instead of
following the customary method of publishing the ma-
terial, it should be first spoken in a series of talks to be
given in the Academy Foyer and thus the idea of dedi-
cating the room as a public forum would be launched.
Fifteen of the most salient subjects of the Conference
were selected, and fifteen of the most authoritative
speakers chosen, and a series of fifteen weekly talks
explaining "What Really Happened at Paris" was
announced. Tickets were sold only for the entire series,
and when the first talk was delivered every seat in the
auditorium was sold to the most intellectually distin-
guished audience ever brought together in Philadelphia.

The series was given under the auspices of The Phila-
delphia Public Ledger, and it was arranged that each
talk should be sent out in advance of delivery to the

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