From Pantomimes to Parliamentary Procedure: Remembering the Wheaton College Literary Societies

In his history of the Wheaton College literary societies, former Wheaton College communications professor, Edwin Hollatz, aptly stated that “the development of the American college is a story that can hardly be told without some consideration of Literary Societies” (Wheaton Alumni Magazine, September 1967). These student-led organizations, which thrived at Wheaton College from the mid-nineteenth century until World War II, played a pivotal role in shaping the college life and education of Wheaton students.

Members of the Celts (Excelsior) and Phils (Philalethian), brother-sister societies, 1914. (College Archives Photograph B06142)
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