Phi Kappa Literary Society
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The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.
The Society was founded in 1820 by Joseph Henry Lumpkin, later to become the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and eponym for the University of Georgia Lumpkin School of Law, and by William Crabbe, Edwin Mason, and Henry Mason, who formed the society after splitting from the Demosthenian Literary Society.
Literary societies were nineteenth century forerunners to the modern social fraternities and sororities that emerged early in the twentieth century on college campuses. Literary societies tended to focus on debate and parliamentary procedure as a way of preparing their student members for roles in public and political life. Few societies remain active in holding regular meetings and debate; some, like the Phi Beta Kappa Society have become honorary societies.
The Phi Kappa Literary Society is one of the few active literary societies left, meeting every academic Thursday at 7pm on the University Georgia's North Campus in Phi Kappa Hall. The Phi Kappa Literary Society still holds debates and a forum for creative writings and orations.
Phi Kappa Hall, one of the oldest buildings on the North Campus of the University of Georgia, was built at a cost of $5,000 and dedicated on July 5, 1836.
Famous alumni
Joseph Henry Lumpkin, First Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia
Benjamin M. Palmer, First Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America
Howell Cobb, Secretary of U.S. Treasury, Constitutional Convention Chairman of the Confederate States of America
Morris Berthold Abram, Founder of UN Watch, Permanent U.S. Ambassador to UN
Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, Confederate General and Editor of the first Georgia Code
Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America
Henry W. Grady, Editor of the Atlanta Constitution, the voice of the "New South" Movement
Eugene Talmadge, Georgia Governor/Segregationist
Richard B. Russell, United States Senator
Ernest Vandiver, Georgia Governor
Herschel V. Johnson, Georgia Governor, 1860 Democratic Party Vice Presidential Nominee
Carl Sanders, Georgia Governor
Phil Gramm, United States Senator
William Tate, University of Georgia Dean of Men
Nathaniel Harris, Georgia Governor, Founder of Georgia Institute of Technology
Francis S. Bartow, Confederate Congressman/Brigadier General C.S.A.
Henry L. Benning, Confederate General/Eponym of Fort Benning
Augustus O. Bacon, United States Senator/ President Pro tempore
Norman S. Fletcher, Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court 2001-2005
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"(7) Phi Kappa Hall (lower floor open), Broad and Jackson Sts, is a two-story, red brick structure with four smooth Doric columns across its portico. The building was constructed in 1836 for the Phi Kappa Literary Society, which was organized in 1820 largely through the efforts of Joseph Henry Lumpkin. Taking themselves very seriously, the Phi Kappa boys showed their patriotism by adorning their walls with portraits of Presidents of the United States. In selecting their honorary members, they were even more ambitious than their Demosthenian rivals, for they extended invitations to Andrew Jackson, James K Polk, James Buchanan, Jefferson Davis, John Tyler, and Napoleon III. When the hall was used as a storehouse during the War between the States, its valuable library was damaged irreparably."
--Georgia: A Guide to its Cities and Towns, 1940
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The hall still stands, the lower floor is no longer open. The society still exists, though the building is rarely seen open. Below is a link to the Society and a write up from the Carl Vinson Institute.
Phi Kappa Literary Society (http://www.phikappa.org/)
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Influenced by the Greek Revival style, Phi Kappa Hall is a vernacular interpretation of a prostyle Doric temple with simulated stucco lintels above the windows and central entrance.
Established in 1820, the Phi Kappa Literary Society was the rival of the Demothenian Society. Constructed directly across from Demosthenain Hall and dedicated in 1836, Phi Kappa Hall's first floor served as the University's first real gymnasium in 1888. During the Civil War, the building was converted by Federal troops into the headquarters for the provost-marshal government. Subsequently, Dr. E. Merton Coulter utilized the first floor as an office and library, and the building housed the University store and co-op. Periodically, the upper hall is used as a meeting space.
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