Philomathean Society - History

History

"Philo," as members affectionately refer to the Society, was founded October 2, 1813, by all thirteen members of the junior class, its original purpose being "the advancement of learning;" a counterweight and complement to Penn's academic coursework. In the first meeting, the title of Moderator was chosen for the Society’s presiding officer; two Censores Morum were appointed by the third meeting, who were given the responsibility, maintained to this day, of fining members for various real or imaginary infractions. Philo’s first meeting was on Friday night, at which time it would remain up to the present day. Minutes of the Society’s Meetings have been kept (relatively) faithfully in large leather-bound volumes since the first Meeting. Members still sign the Recorder’s Roll upon their initiation into the Society, following the tradition started by the founders. Early meetings were dominated by spirited debates and literary exercises where members would present original research, essays, or literary productions; both practices have continued through the present day.

When the University of Pennsylvania moved its campus from Ninth Street to West Philadelphia in 1872, four rooms at the top of College Hall were specifically built for the use of the Society and its rival Zelosophic Society. After the first collapse of the Zelosophic Society in 1872, the former Zelo rooms reverted to Philo.

The Society is credited with helping to found entire academic departments, including American Civilization, Comparative Literature, and History of Science, and many campus groups and publications, including the Daily Pennsylvanian and the Mask and Wig Club.

In 1858, the Society published the first complete English translation of the Rosetta Stone. The work was performed solely by three undergraduate members, Charles R Hale, S Huntington Jones, and Henry Morton. The translation quickly sold out two editions, and was internationally hailed as a monumental work of scholarship. In 1988, the British Museum bestowed the honor of including the Philomathean Rosetta Stone Report in its select bibliography of the most important works ever published on the Rosetta Stone. The Philomathean Society maintains a full-scale cast of the stone in its meeting room, along with several original lithograph prints of the report.

In its internal governance, Philo reflected the progressivism of the early twentieth century by being, in 1916, the first Penn group to require its members take an oath not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, and religion; in 1948 the Society voted to admit women as full members, prompting the headline “Philo hits rock bottom, admits women”. The Society vehemently defended the decision more than 25 years before women were admitted to the University proper.

In 1927, overcrowding at the University led the Philos to agree to vacate their space in College Hall in exchange for temporary quarters in Houston Hall until more class space could be found. Houston Hall was not an ideal location: space constraints and building policy, especially the 11.30pm curfew, severely limited Philo traditions. As a result, Society membership decreased, a trend further exacebated by the oubreak of World War II, when Houston Hall was taken over by the US Navy of part of its officer training programme, and former Philo rooms were requisitioned for storage. The Society had dwindled to a single member, one Hilary Putnam, who tried to preserve the Philomathean customs and arranged informal meetings in Members’ apartments. After the war, the Society held more formal Meetings and grew in membership, but it was not until 1951, under the direction of Moderator Charles Fine Ludwig, that the old pre-war customs were revived. Ludwig re-acquired the Philomathean archives and reintroduced academic attire, consistent meeting minutes, a regular literary exercise, and an official lecture series, among many other Philomathean customs. Ludwig also established the tradition of Philo’s graduates, or “senior members“, participating in the Society’s activities and taking an ongoing interest in the welfare of the Society.

Finally, in 1967, after a determined campaign of lobbying University administrators for permission and senior members for donations, the Society returned to its beloved Philomathean Halls on the fourth floor of College Hall, where it has remained (with brief absences for maintenance) until the present day.