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Literary Societies

Today has been sort of a clean-up day around my desk.  The papers had piled up – all sorts of items and files from the different aspects of my job.  The credenza beside my desk, which I got so that I'd have more room for processing papers here in my office, had turned into a flat file cabinet of newly-acquired things.  Fridays can sometimes be quieter days here in the library, so I spent the morning trying to move some of those things to a more permanent home.  

And while going through these things, I was keeping an eye out for something to share on the blog.  I've got a great 1910 campus calendar, complete with contemporary photos, and that's going to become part of the digital collection as soon as I get one of my very capable student assistants to scan it.  I found a few other things that may make it onto the blog soon.  I decided to share a 1883 literary society program.  

The literary societies, as I've written before, were a very important part of college life in the lae 19th century, and they were part of the great annual celebration of commencement.  Here's the program from the 1883 

LitSoc-1

The inside page details the events, debates, lectures, and receptions the societies sponsored at Commencement in 1883.  

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Click on either for a larger version of the image.