Jefferson Literary and Debating Society

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Jefferson Literary and Debating Society
ΦΠΘ
Jefferson Literary and Debating Society Logo.png
FoundedJuly 14, 1825;199 years ago (1825-07-14)
University of Virginia
Type Literary
AffiliationIndependent
StatusActive
EmphasisDebating Society, Oratory, Écriture
ScopeLocal
MottoHaec Olim Meminisse Iuvabit
Colors  Pink,   Gray, and   Blue
PhilanthropyRestoration Ball (annually)
Chapters1
NicknameThe Jefferson Society
HeadquartersUniversity of Virginia, Hotel C, West Range (Jefferson Hall)
Charlottesville , Virginia 22903
United States
Website jeffersonsociety.org

The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society (commonly known as "Jeff Society" or "Jeff Soc") is the oldest continuously existing collegiate debating society in North America. The society was founded on July 14, 1825, in Room Seven, West Lawn at the University of Virginia by 16 disgruntled members of the Patrick Henry Society. [1] Named for the founder of the university, Thomas Jefferson, the society regularly meets on Friday evenings at "The Hall" in the Lawn.

Contents

The society's members have included several Presidents of the United States, a British Prime Minister as well as governors, senators and congresspeople. Its motto, Haec Olim Meminisse Iuvabit, is taken from Virgil's Aeneid and roughly translates to, "In the future it will be pleasing to remember these things." Its Greek name ΦΠΘ, initials for Φίλοί, Πατρίς, θεός (philoi, patris, theos, or "brotherhood, fatherland, divinity"), makes the society the second-oldest Greek-lettered organization in the United States.

Jefferson Hall, Hotel C, West Range Jeff Hall 2015.jpg
Jefferson Hall, Hotel C, West Range

History

Jeff Society Members,
The Lawn, University of Virginia,
Founder's Day, April 13, 1867 Society Old Boys.jpg
Jeff Society Members,
The Lawn, University of Virginia,
Founder's Day, April 13, 1867

Membership in the society grew rapidly in the early years after its founding. By 1855, the University of Virginia was the second largest university in the nation after Harvard University, enrolling 645 students. That school year, the society admitted 155 new members: nearly a quarter of the student body of the university.

In the hotheaded antebellum years, the society could become raucous. Its elections were condemned by the faculty for "such turbulence as to degrade the reputation of the University." [3] An especially coveted honor was to be selected as "final orator," a post comparable to that of a valedictorian today.

The society played a key role in establishing student journalism at the university, founding the University Magazine as early as 1856. [4] Later known as the Virginia Spectator, the paper played a major part in University life for a century, with its profile ranging from high seriousness to satire, until being shut down by the president of the university in the late 1950s for obscenity. [5] In 1990, the Virginia Spectator experienced a brief revival which was shortlived due to the lack of sufficient funding. [6] The Jefferson Society sponsored the magazine for many decades. [7]

Also in 1856, the society expressed its approval of the caning of Charles Sumner by sending Preston Brooks a new gold-headed cane to replace his broken one. [8] During the Civil War period (1861–1865), the membership of the society at that time, committed to the defense of the Southern States, decided to donate its entire treasury to the Confederate cause. [1]

While the university remained open during the Civil War, the society was asked to leave Jefferson Hall temporarily in order to make way for the Charlottesville General Hospital established by the Confederate States of America and serving injured Confederate soldiers. [9] A number of students withdrew from the university during the War in order to volunteer in this hospital, where both enslaved and free African-Americans also labored. [9]

Since the antebellum and Civil War periods, the society has grown with the larger American and world culture — in the beginning, with difficulty. When Dr. Wesley L. Harris, the society's first African-American Member, and The Honorable Barbara M. G. Lynn, the society's first female Member, were inducted into the society following the successful completion of their probationary periods in 1963 and 1972, respectively, a significant number of Regular Members protested. [1] Today, commissioned portraits of both Dr. Harris and Judge Lynn, alongside portraits of President Woodrow Wilson (photo), Mr. Edgar Allen Poe (photo), President James Madison, and President James Monroe, grace The Hall, now hosting a still dynamic and more diverse society membership. [10] [11]

Continuing to confront the challenges of the past, in 1991, the briefly revived Virginia Spectator publicly defended Brad Ronnell Braxton, a Fourth-Year African-American undergraduate student and Lawn Resident at the University of Virginia who, after winning a Rhodes Scholarship, received hate mail from a self-professed University alumnus, "Dr. Bill Shepard". [12]

In addition to its traditional meetings in The Hall, Room Seven, West Lawn, is maintained by the Jefferson Society, selecting a fourth-year student to live there.

The society hosts several events throughout the year including its Distinguished Speaker Series, [13] for which it invites prominent scholars and speakers across academic disciplines to address students. The society also hosts formal social events including Wilson's Day, the Restoration Ball, and Founder's Day, first held in 1832.

Art Collection and Archive (Selected)

Notable Members

Honorary Members

Thomas Jefferson turned down an invitation for honorary membership in a letter dated August 12, 1825, citing his need to avoid altering his relationship with the university and its students. [32]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "History". The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society. April 21, 2025.
  2. Williamson, Eric (July 19, 2017). "Uncovering the Story Behind UVA's Oldest Student Society". University of Virginia, School of Law. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  3. Dabney, p. 12
  4. More, John, History of the Jefferson Society, 1825–1957, noting that the magazine was first mentioned in the Society's minutes in 1865
  5. Dabney, pp. 552, 606
  6. Howard III, Thomas L.; Gallogly, Owen W.; Casteen, John Thomas (2017). Society Ties: A History of the Jefferson Society and Student Life at the University of Virginia. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. pp. 217–218. ISBN   0-8139-3981-X.
  7. Dabney, p. 181
  8. Puleo, Stephen (2012). The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War. Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing LLC. pp. 102, 114–115. ISBN   978-1-59416-516-0.
  9. 1 2 Wald, Amelia F. (November 4, 2019). "'Grounds While Occupied as a Military Hospital:' Charlottesville General Hospital at the University of Virginia". National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  10. "History". The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society. April 22, 2025.
  11. "Hall Reservations". The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society. April 22, 2025.
  12. Anderson (Anderson-Avraham), Yvonne Michele (Ruth Rachel Yvonne) (April 1991). "Bringing Voices Together: An Interview with Brad Braxton". The Virginia Spectator. Vol. I, no. i. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Magazine (UVM), Inc. p. 22.
  13. "Speaker Series". The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society. April 15, 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 Minturn, Molly (2016). "The Jefferson Curating Society: At long last, the oldest student group on Grounds agrees to share a treasure trove of UVA history". Virginia Magazine. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  15. Pecquet du Bellet, Louise (1907). Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume IV. Lynchburg, Virginia: J.P. Bell Co. pp. 301–314.
  16. Wilson, Edith Bolling Galt (1939). My Memoir. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company. pp. 228–231.
  17. 1 2 Kraig, Robert Alexander (2004). Woodrow Wilson and the Lost World of the Oratorical Statesman. Texas A&M University Press. p. 42. ISBN   9781585442751.
  18. Harrison, James Albert (1903). The life of Edgar Allan Poe. T.Y. Crowell & Company. pp.  60–61. edgar allan poe jefferson society.
  19. Education, United States Congress House Committee on Education and Labor Subcommittee on Postsecondary (1975). Sex Discrimination Regulations: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, First Session: Review of Regulations to Implement Title IX of Public Law 92-318 Conducted Pursuant to Sec. 431 of the General Education Provisions Act, Washington, D.C. ... U.S. Government Printing Office.
  20. Minturn, Molly (2016). "The Jefferson Curating Society: At long last, the oldest student group on Grounds agrees to share a treasure trove of UVA history". Virginia Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  21. Wharton, Amy. "Law Library Guides: Our History: Featured Alumni/ae: Scott, Hugh D., Jr., 1922". libguides.law.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  22. 1 2 3 4 "Jefferson Society Famous Members (Revised)" (PDF). University of Virginia Board of Visitors. 2013-11-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-04. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  23. "UVa President John Casteen Discusses School History with Students". Newsplex.com. 2010-02-01. Archived from the original on 2014-10-08. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  24. "Virginia is for Lovers: Romance at the University". UVA Magazine. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  25. Weeks, Lindon (1998-07-16). "A Life of History". Washington Post . Archived from the original on 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  26. Mather, Mike (2024-08-19). "In Memoriam: Roxane Gilmore, Double Hoo and Former Virginia First Lady". UVA Today . Archived from the original on 2024-08-26. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  27. Gunay, Defne (2004-10-20). "Cavalier Royalty". The Cavalier Daily . Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2006-11-09. I played varsity volleyball, I was in the Jefferson Society, A Chi O sorority, U.Dems and I was also an honor advisor.
  28. Lindenfeld Hall, Sarah (Spring 2019). "On the Beat: UVA grads find success in journalism". Virginia Magazine. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  29. Adkins, Lenore T. (2022). "Distinguished Professor Wesley Harris Reflects on Trailblazing Career". American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  30. Staff, National Academy of Engineering (2025). "Dr. Wesley L. Harris". National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  31. "Meet Barbara and Mike Lynn, Dallas' legal power couple". Dallas News. 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  32. 1 2 3 4 HNAI Long Beach Hard Times Tokens Auction Catalog. Ivy Press. 2007. p. 95. ISBN   9781599670744.