College literary societies
College literary societies in American higher education are a particular kind of social organization, distinct from literary societies generally, and they were often the precursors of college fraternities and sororities.[1] In the period from the late 18th century to the Civil War, collegiate literary societies were an important part of campus social life. These societies are often called Latin literary societies because they typically have compound Latinate names.
Association of American Collegiate Literary Societies[edit]
In April 1978, several literary societies held a Congress hosted by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It was at this gathering that the Association of American Collegiate Literary Societies (AACLS) was established. For the next two decades, AACLS would hold a Congress in the spring to conduct business, and a Rhetor in the autumn where debates, literary exercises, and exchanges of literary magazines took place. As of April, 2024, efforts are currently underway to reestablish the AACLS.
Libraries[edit]
Since every college literary society saw itself as complementing the classical curriculum with the knowledge of current events, many of the societies also had libraries. "At a number of Northern colleges...the society libraries were larger than the college libraries. The society libraries were also high in quality, as shown by their printed catalogs... The rivalry between the two societies at each college extended to their libraries; each tried to have a larger library than the other."[1] Several societies, especially in the South, would build separate buildings for the societies and their libraries.[1] On the austere college campus of two centuries ago, "the only fairly comfortable and attractive places were the rooms of the literary societies. Their members,... raised money for rugs, draperies, and comfortable, even luxurious, furniture."[1]
Today[edit]
The University of Georgia hosts two literary societies (both of which were temporarily disbanded during the Civil War and the subsequent Union occupation): the Demosthenian Literary Society, founded in 1803, and the Phi Kappa Literary Society, founded in 1820 and dormant from the 1970s until its official reestablishment in 1991. Similarly, the Philolexian Society of Columbia University, established in 1802, operated more or less continuously until expiring in the early 1950s and, except for a brief revival in the early 1960s, was not revived until 1985. The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were founded in 1795, closed for approximately four years when the university was shuttered during Reconstruction and reopened. These societies merged in 1959 and still meet today as a "joint senate." The Euphradian Society at the University of South Carolina, established in 1806, was deactivated sometime during the late 1970s; it was reactivated by alumni in 2011. The Clariosophic Society, also established in 1806 at the University of South Carolina, was reactivated in 2013. The Euphrosynean Literary Society, established in 1924 at the University of South Carolina, was reactivated in 2015. The Linonian Society at Yale University is the oldest society to still be in existence, founded in 1753, the society went sometime in the 1890s and was revamped at the beginning of the 21st century making it with over a century of dormancy the oldest literary society in the United States. The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1813, is the oldest continuously existing collegiate literary society.
In recent years, the Philodemic Society of Georgetown University has attempted to resuscitate the long tradition of intercollegiate debate between collegiate literary societies with the Annual East Coast Conference of Collegiate Literary Debate Societies, held in conjunction with a masked ball known as the Kai Yai Yai ball. The competition is held at the beginning of October and has in recent years included the Philomathean Society, the American Whig-Cliosophic Society of Princeton University, the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina, the Demosthenian Literary Society and Phi Kappa Literary Society of The University of Georgia in Athens, the Enosinian Society of The George Washington University and the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society of the University of Virginia.[7]
Some early college social fraternities still meet in a literary society format, including Kappa Alpha, Alpha Delta Phi, and Mystical 7.
There are seven literary societies at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois where they have remained despite the nationwide trend of developing into fraternities and sororities; these include: Phi Alpha Literary Society, Chi Beta Literary Society, Sigma Pi Literary Society, Gamma Nu Literary Society, Sigma Phi Epsilon Literary Society, Pi Pi Rho Literary Society, and Gamma Delta Literary Society.
The University of Pennsylvania Philomathean Society Meeting Room circa 1913
The Philodemic Society Room in 1910
Philomathean Hall of Erskine College
Clio Hall of Princeton University
Demosthenian Hall at the University of Georgia
The Dialectic Society Chamber in New West at the University of North Carolina
Jefferson Hall at the University of Virginia
