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A Guide to its records at the Indiana University Archives

Lynn Gelfand, Brad Cook, and Ryan K. Lee
Electronic finding aid encoded by Beth Benda

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Athenian Society (Indiana University)

Title
Indiana University Athenian Society records, 1830-1886,  bulk 1840-1865

Collection No.
C135

Extent
2 cubic feet (3 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English.

Abstract
One of the two chief literary societies on campus, the Athenian Society was founded at Indiana University in 1830. Literary societies gave students practice in speaking and writing through regular orations, essays, and debates, as well as filling a social role. Collection consists of minutes, correspondence, publications, addresses, and announcements. The Publication series includes copies of the Athenian, a monthly periodical of writings submitted by members of the Athenian Society that were of "a high literary character," including what the editors considered "chaste and elevated literature." These span December 1845 through November 1846. Most prominent in the collection are the minutes from the weekly meeting of the Society.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Advance notice is required.

Administrative History

The Athenian Society, a student literary and oratory organization, was founded at Indiana University on February 12, 1830. It served as a training ground for students in such areas as public speaking, scholarly research, writing, debating, and parliamentary procedures. Its rival, the Philomathean Society, another literary and oratory group, was founded in 1831. At the height of their popularity in the 1850's, both societies contained memberships that, between the two, embraced almost the entire University student enrollment.

Both the Athenian Society and the Philomathean Society were born from an older student literary organization, the Henodelphisterian Society, established during the school's early Seminary period (1823-1828). The Henodelphisterian Society was founded by the school's first instructor, Baynard Rush Hall. The Henodelphisterians emphasized classical interests; members even assumed Greek and Roman names during meetings. However, with the transformation of Indiana State Seminary into Indiana College, the society found itself torn apart by rivalries between students native to Indiana and students from other states, and conflicts between Baynard Hall and Andrew Wylie, the school's first President. In 1830, nine students split from the Henodelphisterian Society to form the Athenian Society. Of the nine students, three were from Pennsylvania, two were from Kentucky, and four were from Indiana. Students remaining in the Henodelphisterian Society formed the Philomathean Society in 1831. Eventually, the relationship between the two literary societies developed into friendly, if sometimes sharp, rivalry. By the 1850s, both were large enough to dominate the intellectual and social life of Indiana University's student body. Athenian members met every Friday evening and frequently held public exhibitions where members would debate issues of scholarly or current interest.

However, by the mid 1880s, membership in both the Athenian and Philomathean societies were at low ebb. Scandals involving fist fights and plagiarism, as well as the introduction of Greek fraternities and specialized clubs (i.e. the Homeric Club, the Shakespeare Club, etc.) succeeded in drawing members away from the older literary societies. By 1887, the Athenian Society had dwindled to 15 members and the Philomathean Society to 20. Neither society is active today.

Scope and Content Note

The Athenian Society records span the period from the society’s founding in 1830 to 1886. The collection is organized into five series: Administrative files, Correspondence, Publications, Membership files, and Minutes.

The Administrative files series includes copies of the Athenian Oath; the Constitution and By-laws of the Athenian Society from 1870 and 1873; a pledge for the university (an oath of consecration to civic, military, and religious duty taken by ancient Greek Athenians at 18 years of age); and a pledge to Indiana, which is patterned after the pledge for the university. This series is arranged alphabetically.

The Correspondence series consist of two letters: one is dated September 29, 1842, to John R. Cravens thanking him for his address delivered before the society; the other, dated January 26, 1864, is to the Board of Trustees asking them to "...reconsider and rescind the resolutions regarding the Literary Societies connected with the University adopted...in 1862." This series is arranged chronologically.

The Publications series consists of three sub-series: Addresses, The Athenian, and Announcements / Programs. Addresses include speeches delivered before the society by individuals such as Professor Alexander T. McGill of the Western Theological Seminary and Professor J.W. Scott of Miami University. This sub-series is arranged alphabetically by author. The Athenian sub-series consists of bound and loose copies of the first volume of this periodical, spanning from Dec. 1845-Nov. 1846. The Athenian was a monthly periodical of writings submitted by members of the Athenian Society that were of “a high literary character,” including what the editors considered “chaste and elevated literature.” The Announcements / Programs sub-series consist of exhibition and contest announcements and programs spanning from 1839-1885. This sub-series is arranged chronologically. Many of the addresses, exhibition, and contest announcements / programs state that they were also delivered or were exercises, respectively, of not only the Athenian Society, but also of the Philomathean Society.

The Membership series consists of material dealing with the membership of the Athenian Society. The first item of this series is the Athenian Roll, which is a ledger of the names of the society's members from 1830 to 1885, and includes such information as the student's place of residence, the date the student joined, the date the student left, and status at the time of leaving. The second item is the Catalogue of the Athenian Society, the official membership directory. This booklet includes the names of members from 1830 to 1858; additional information includes the members’ place of residence and occupation as of 1860. This series is arranged alphabetically.

The Minutes series consists of meeting minutes from the weekly meetings of the Athenian Society. This series consists of four leather-bound ledgers whose dates are 1852-1855, 1856-1865, 1865-1876, and 1876-1886. Volumes for 1856-1865 and 1865-1876 are oversized and stored separately from volumes for 1852-1855 and 1876-1886. Please refer to the folder listing for more details.

Arrangement

Arranged into five series: Administrative files, Correspondence, Publications, Membership files, and Minutes.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Athenian Society (Indiana University) --History --Sources.
  • Athenian Society (Indiana University) --Records and correspondence.
  • Indiana College --Students --Intellectual life.
  • Indiana College --Students --Social life and customs.
  • Indiana University --Students --Intellectual life.
  • Indiana University --Students --Social life and customs.
• • Topics
  • Literature --Societies, etc. --History --19th century --Sources.
  • Debates and debating --Indiana --Bloomington --Societies, etc. --History --19th century --Sources.
  • College students' writings, American --Indiana --Bloomington.
• • Titles
  • Athenian (Bloomington, Ind.)

Related Material

See also the Philomathean Society records, IU Archives Collection C221 .

Administrative Information

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