Vivekananda’s Midwest tour began with a trip to Madison, WI on November 20, 1893. In addition to Madison, the Swami visited other major cities, such as Minneapolis and Des Moines, where he seemed to have a particularly warm reception. Reports of lectures he gave in Des Moines attest to the enthusiasm the city had for him. In fact, before leaving Des Moines in December to return to Minneapolis for another lecture, a report from the Iowa State Register from December 1 said, “The visit of Vivekananda, stirring as it did the intellectual centers of the city to their depths and starting a lively religious discussion prepared the way for the present visitor [B.B. Nagarkar, a former Parliament delegate of the Brahmo-Samaj] from the Orient and heightened public interest in whatever he might have to say.” Clearly, the start of Vivekananda’s tour had drawn the attention, and perhaps respect, of audiences that were willing to engage with Hindu traditions.. Reports or newspaper articles about his lecture series suddenly stopped for six weeks, until news of him in Memphis in January 1894 emerged. He would go on to make a return trip back to Chicago as well as a climactic trip to Detroit in mid-February 1894. He returned to Detroit in 1896 for three lectures and classes on the four yogas, and visited again in 1900 to see two converts to Hinduism. 

Swami Vivekananda’s travels were not uniformly successful. He often faced criticism, especially from Christian clergy who resented Vivekananda’s teaching that no single religion reigned supreme. They took this as a challenge to their authority and reacted accordingly. They also took issue with the Swami’s critique of hypocrisy within Christianity both at home and abroad. In their attempts to resist the Swami, clergy in cities that he visited would hurl insults at him and his country, claiming that India was a degenerate nation. They would also insist that missionaries doing God’s work abroad were heroes to whom Hindus should be grateful and whom Americans should continue to support. Despite all this, Vivekananda’s passion and enthusiasm never wavered. In fact, he is quoted in a letter as saying, “The more I have been opposed, the more my energy has come out always.”¹