The College Literary Society: The Predecessor Organization to Social Fraternities and Sororities

College literary societies were one of the first extracurricular associations on a great number of American institutions of higher learning. These literary societies were non-exclusive, local in nature, and student created spaces where members gathered to explore intellectual concerns, refine orator skills, and enjoy social companionship. Eventually, almost all college literary societies became extinct, while others morphed into some of the oldest social fraternities in the United States.

The college literary society from the late 18th century to the early 19th century was an important part of campus student life. Most colleges and universities had at least two literary societies which sponsored public debates on topics of the time. These societies were generally formed soon after the establishment of the host college or university and membership was not only open to all the students but in many cases, membership was all but required.

In the 1830s and 1840s, according to Wikipedia, students began to organize private literary societies for smaller groups. These more intimate associations quickly developed into secret associations. Groups such as the Kappa Alpha Society, Sigma Phi, Delta Phi, Alpha Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, and Delta Kappa Epsilon and virtually all the pre-Civil War college fraternities were either first organized as literary societies or derived from factions split off of literary societies.

As colleges and universities grew and began to offer other social resources and activities to the student body, like student union centers and athletic programs, college literary societies became less popular and eventually lowered in number. This eventually led to fraternity and sorority life on college campuses, making fraternities and sororities one of the first student organizations.

More than 50 college literary societies existed prior to the initial founding of the Chi Phi Fraternity in 1824. Very few college literary societies are still in existence today. Those that remain active include the Philolexian Society at Columbia University, the Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania, the Phi Alpha Literary Society at Illinois College, and Emerson Literary Society at Hamilton College.

(Disclosure: The author of this blog is the historian of the Delphic Fraternity, which was originally founded as the Delphic Society, a literary debating society in upstate New York in 1871. If your fraternity or sorority history, local or national, traces back to a college literary society, feel free to note it by posting a comment. Please also comment to add to the list of active college literary societies.)