NCC: Literary Societies files

The files of the literary societies of North-Western College include the minutes, programs, and papers of many different campus societies. Societies represented in this series include Cliosophic, Laconian, Neocosmian, North-Western Debating Club, Phi Beta Alpha/Phi Sigma Alpha, Phi Beta Kappa, Philologian, Philorhetorian, Pi Kappa Delta, and Star. The bulk of this collection is minutes created by each society, usually handwritten into bound journals. These minutes include constitution changes, attendance, and weekly meetings. Meetings often consisted of a selected reading, narration, song, and discussion question followed by a debate, followed by a critic’s report of the debate. The subjects of the debates include political, social, and economic issues. In some instances, the files include copies of the actual papers prepared for the debate as well as programs.