Jefferson Literary and Debating Society

The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society (commonly known as "Jeff Soc") is the oldest continuously existing collegiate debating society in North America. The society was founded on July 14, 1825, in Room Seven, West Lawn at the University of Virginia. Named for the founder of the University, Thomas Jefferson, the society regularly meets on Friday evenings at "The Hall" in the Lawn.

The society's members have included several Presidents of the United States, a British Prime Minister as well as governors, senators and congresspeople. Its motto, Haec Olim Meminisse Iuvabit, is taken from Virgil's Aeneid and roughly translates to, "In the future it will be pleasing to remember these things." Its Greek name ΦΠΘ, initials for Φίλοί, Πατρίς, θεός (philoi, patris, theos, or "brotherhood, fatherland, divinity"), makes the society the second oldest Greek-lettered organization in the United States.



History
Membership in the society grew rapidly in the early years after its founding. By 1855, the University of Virginia was the second largest university in the nation after Harvard University, enrolling 645 students. That school year, the society admitted 155 new members: nearly a quarter of the student body of the university.

In the hotheaded antebellum years, the society could become raucous. Its elections were condemned by the faculty for "such turbulence as to degrade the reputation of the University." An especially coveted honor was to be selected as "final orator," a post comparable to that of a valedictorian today.

The society played a key role in establishing student journalism at the University, founding the University Magazine as early as 1856. Later known as the Virginia Spectator, the paper played a major part in University life for a century, with its profile ranging from high seriousness to satire, until being shut down by the president of the university in the late 1950s for obscenity. The Jefferson Society sponsored the magazine for many decades.

Also in 1856, the society expressed its approval of the caning of Charles Sumner by sending Preston Brooks a new gold-headed cane to replace his broken one.

Today, Room Seven, West Lawn, is maintained by the Jefferson Society, selecting a fourth-year student to live there. The society hosts several events throughout the year including its Distinguished Speaker Series, for which it invites prominent scholars and speakers across disciplines to address students. The society also hosts formal social events including Wilson's Day, the Restoration Ball, and Founder's Day, first held in 1832.

Possessions

 * The Sully Portrait is one of the only portraits of Thomas Jefferson painted from life. It was painted by Thomas Sully and is loaned to the University of Virginia to be displayed in the Rotunda.
 * Edgar Allan Poe signed a minutes book one evening during which he served as secretary pro tem. His signature was later clipped out by Lancelot Blackford in the 1850s, stealing it, yet also saving it from the Great Rotunda Fire in 1895. Society alumni raised money to buy the signature from a collector in the early 1980s, in honor of their friend and fellow alumnus, James F. Perz. The signature is kept in secure storage as part of the University library's special collections.
 * Thomas Woodrow Wilson signed one of the roll books during his tenure as the Society's President. Furthermore, the Society's minute books also contain many sets of handwritten minutes signed by Wilson when he was the Society's Secretary.

Notable members

 * Edgar Allan Poe, author of "The Raven"
 * Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States
 * Edward Stettinius Jr., Secretary of State and Ambassador to the United Nations
 * Hugh Scott, United States Representative and Senator from Pennsylvania
 * Colgate W. Darden, Governor of Virginia
 * John T. Casteen III, University of Virginia President
 * James Gilmore III, Governor of Virginia
 * Deidre Downs, Miss America 2005
 * Jamelle Bouie, political correspondent and journalist
 * Barbara M.G. Lynn, Chief United States District Judge

Honorary members

 * James Madison, 4th President of the United States
 * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States
 * Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
 * Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, former First Lady of the United States
 * William Faulkner, Nobel Prize for Literature recipient
 * Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Thomas Jefferson turned down an invitation for honorary membership in an August 12, 1825 letter, citing his need to avoid altering his relationship with the University and its students.