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The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies grew out of the debating club Charles Wilson Harris organized among UNC students on June 3, 1795, weeks after the university opened, and took their names in 1796. For over a century they served as debating clubs, student government and keepers of large libraries, which they merged with the university's in 1886.
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People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.
Books, articles, records, and images about Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.
Brian Brigman's short illustrated pamphlet on the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, the debating societies founded at the University of North Carolina in 1795, with the Latin phrase virtus, libertas et scientia in its subtitle. Published by the societies themselves in Chapel Hill in 1988, eleven unnumbered pages with portraits.
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Joseph K. L. Reckford's honors essay in American Studies at the University of North Carolina, submitted in 1981, reproduces the portraits acquired between 1795 and 1868 by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, the university's two debating societies, and adds selected biographical data on the sitters. 211 pages with a short bibliography.
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Kevin Cherry's lecture on 215 years of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, the student debating societies at the University of North Carolina, delivered on April 7, 2011 in Wilson Library for the Gladys Hall Coates University History Lecture series. Seventeen pages as published online, covering student oratory and society life at Chapel Hill from the 1790s onward.
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Evangeline Burbank Murphy traces the growth of the library built up by the Philanthropic Society at the University of North Carolina between 1797 and 1822, in a thesis the university issued in 1979. Subjects include academic libraries in Chapel Hill and the society and the university library of the 1793 to 1962 period. Seventy three leaves.
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Stuart Willis traces the history of the North Carolina University Magazine, the student periodical published at Chapel Hill since 1844. His article was detached from the magazine itself in 1914 and printed by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies, which ran it.
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Holland Thompson's history of the North Carolina University Magazine at fifty years, written while he was a student of the class of 1895. It ran in the magazine for March and April 1894 and was issued separately at Chapel Hill by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies.
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Albert Coates's response on being honored by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies in joint session at the University of North Carolina on February 19, 1976, printed by order of the Philanthropic Society together with opening remarks from George T. Blackburn II, who led the societies' foundation. Fifteen pages with a portrait. Coates speaks to the history of the two student literary societies that have shaped campus life at Chapel Hill since the 1790s.
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Front of New East on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, where the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies' Joint Senate has its home. North Carolina ECHO photograph, 31 May 2002.
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NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
North Carolina ECHO photograph of the historical marker for New East, the UNC-Chapel Hill building that is home to the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. Taken 31 May 2002.
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NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
New East at UNC-Chapel Hill, home to the Joint Senate of the Di and Phi, photographed from another angle and in another season than its companion view. Dated 31 May 2002 in the North Carolina ECHO series.
Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.
NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Portrait of Oliver Max Gardner, a 1906 UNC graduate, from the North Carolina ECHO series on the Joint Senate of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. Gardner, a lawyer and businessman, served as state senator, lieutenant governor and governor of North Carolina. Photographed 31 May 2002.
Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.
NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
George T. Blackburn's index to the portraits owned by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies, the two student debating societies at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. It lists the sitters and identifies each portrait. Published by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Society Foundation in 1980, 20 pages.
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Elizabeth L. Nelson compiled this 1996 catalog of the addresses and debates of the Dialectic Society, the student society at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as its papers sit in the Manuscripts Department of Wilson Library. Two hundred five leaves listing the society's speeches item by item, with a bibliography on the last leaf.
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Maurice C. York on what the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies gave to the library of the University of North Carolina between 1886 and 1906, published in 1982 as an article of twenty-seven pages with illustrations and portraits. It traces the history of the two student societies and the university library.
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Laura Frances Parrish sets what members of the Philanthropic Society at the University of North Carolina read between 1828 and 1832 against the topics they debated. Completed in 1979 through the School of Library Science at Chapel Hill and published by the university, it draws on the reading of one of the university's two student debating societies.
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Maurice C. York traces the part the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, the two student societies at the University of North Carolina, played in developing the university library between 1875 and 1906. Topics include the history of academic libraries in Chapel Hill and the history of both societies. Written in 1977, with a bibliography on leaves 78 to 81.
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Richard Walser's short article on Thomas Wolfe's years in the Dialectic Society, the student debating body at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Published in Raleigh by C. Goerch in 1977, the copy was detached from The State, volume 46, number 10, of March 1977. Topics include campus debating societies at Chapel Hill and Wolfe himself.
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Maurice C. York prepared this paper for History 336 in 1976, on how endowments from the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies built up the university library at Chapel Hill between 1886 and 1906. Topics include the history of both societies, of that library, and of academic libraries in Chapel Hill generally. The photocopied typescript is in the North Carolina Collection at UNC.
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George T. Blackburn II's inventory, dated May 1973, of the oil portraits belonging to the Dialectic and Philanthropic literary societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It records the location and condition of each painting, with biographical notes on the sitters, across twenty six unnumbered leaves of typescript. Part of UNC's North Carolina Collection.
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Roger N. Kirkman, born 1949, is represented by 2,300 items in 3.5 linear feet covering 1967 to 1986, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 4292.
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Four scrapbooks kept by Richard Beverly Raney Webb between 1952 and 1956, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5533. Topics include student life at the University of North Carolina in those years, college societies in the state, the Order of the Grail, and the history of the Dialectic Society at Chapel Hill.
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Interior of Phi Hall at the University of North Carolina, the ornate room where the Philanthropic Society met, on a postcard from 1905. The view takes in the lectern and stage of the society's hall.
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A hand drawn plan of 1852, in pen and ink with some color, showing the layout of the library of the Philanthropic Society at the north end of Old East on the University of North Carolina campus. Attributed to James Donaldson, 1802 to 1872, but possibly the work of A. J. Davis. In the North Carolina Collection at UNC.
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Four items centered on the diary Thomas Miles Garrett (1830-1864) kept in 1849 and 1850, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 1171-z. The papers cover the social and religious life of college students in Chapel Hill, temperance societies in nineteenth century North Carolina, and the university's Philanthropic Society, with material on Cornelia Phillips Spencer, John W. Moore and Joseph Alonzo Manning.
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Twenty-three undated photographs of grave markers in the Chapel Hill cemetery, among them a Philanthropic Society marker for David Fisher, the grave of Joshua P. Perry, and a marker inscribed 'grave of North Carolina servants'. From the Cemeteries binder of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.
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Six undated photographs in the Chapel Hill cemetery, showing the burial plots of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies and an unidentified marker with trees grown up around it. Part of the Cemeteries binder in the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.
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Two undated views in the Chapel Hill cemetery: the Philanthropic Society's burial plot, and the graves of Cornelia Phillips Spencer and Julia Spencer Love. From the Cemeteries binder of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.
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Gathering at the hall of the Dialectic Society, the student debating society at the University of North Carolina, of people who may be alumni. Undated, from the UNC Campus binder, Prints and Photographs Collection (CHHS.002).
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Newspaper clippings and photocopied articles on student societies at the University of North Carolina, where the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies date from 1795. An undated folder in the Chapel Hill Historical Society's vertical files.
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A printed membership roll of the Dialectic Society, one of the two student debating societies at the university in Chapel Hill, founded on June 3, 1795. The 1851 list runs to 25 pages and is accompanied by sketches of the society's history, including Richard H. Lewis on the years 1848 to 1852 and an address by Richard H. Battle on the society between 1850 and 1854.
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An electronic edition of the printed membership list of the Philanthropic Society, one of the two student debating societies at the University of North Carolina, naming members from the society's founding on August 1, 1795, through 1852. The transcription was produced in 2005 by the University Library at Chapel Hill for Documenting the American South, within its collection on the first century of the university.
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Poster for a 1979 concert of Elizabethan music by Nicholas Hodsdon, billed as the Troubadour, at 7:30 on March 27 in room 400 New East on the University of North Carolina campus. The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies sponsored the evening. The poster is signed Tracy Sanders and printed in red and green ink on cream paper.
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Student periodical published from 1975 by the Senate of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies at Chapel Hill, describing itself as a critique of University civilization. Issued in a large newspaper format of 58 centimeters with illustrations.
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Magazine brought out in Chapel Hill in 1895 by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, the two literary and debating societies of the University of North Carolina. Illustrated volumes at 28 cm.
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Membership register of the Philanthropic Society, one of the two student debating societies at the university in Chapel Hill, founded on August 1, 1795. Along with the roll of members it prints a list of the faculty, explanatory notes, and rolls of the Confederate dead from both the Philanthropic and the Dialectic Societies. Electronic edition issued 2005 by the UNC University Library for Documenting the American South.
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Sixteen volumes of the university magazine issued at Chapel Hill by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies, covering the years 1902 to 1918 with illustrations and portraits.
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Program for an 1897 representative contest between the Philanthropic and Dialectic societies, the two student societies at the University of North Carolina. DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection includes the printed program.
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Membership catalogue of the Dialectic Society, the University of North Carolina student society founded on June 3, 1795 according to the title, compiled in 1852. It describes the university curriculum. It sits in DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection.
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A catalogue of the members of the Dialectic Society, the University of North Carolina debating society instituted on June 3, 1795, printed at Chapel Hill in 1841. Part of DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection.
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A catalogue of the Philanthropic Society, instituted in the University of North Carolina on August 1st, 1795, in this printing of 1841 from Chapel Hill. It is a university curricula catalog and a college publication of Chapel Hill and Orange County. Part of DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection.
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The student literary magazine of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies at Chapel Hill, running to twenty six illustrated volumes. The University of North Carolina Publications Union carried the imprint from December 1923 to October 1948, and the October 1938 number was a Thomas Wolfe commemorative issue.
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The Carolina yearbook for 1948, produced by students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and edited by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies together with the university fraternities. Volumes with illustrations, plates and portraits, 29 cm.
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Sixteen volumes of the magazine published under the auspices of the Philanthropic and Dialectic Societies at Chapel Hill, dated 1902. Printing moved around the state, and the imprints name Greensboro in 1884 and 1885, Winston in 1885, Raleigh from 1886 to 1889 and Chapel Hill through the 1890s.
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Two volumes of a Chapel Hill monthly published under the auspices of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina, dated 1884, with imprints from 1883 and 1884. Includes portraits and material on state history.
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Three volumes of a Chapel Hill student monthly issued by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies at the University of North Carolina in the early 1880s, with North Carolina imprints from 1882 and 1883.
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A student magazine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, the two debating societies that ran much of student literary life. Two volumes with portraits survive, dated 1878. It is a source for state history as well as a student periodical.
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The Dialectic Society's catalogue of members, covering 1795 to 1851, for the debating society instituted at the University of North Carolina on 3 June 1795. It is a name list for anyone tracing antebellum students. The electronic edition belongs to the Documenting the American South collection The First Century of the First State University, with text encoded by Apex Data Services and colleagues at Chapel Hill.
Included because: Published by or for this institution.
Membership roll of the Dialectic Society, the debating society instituted at the University of North Carolina in June 1795, naming members from 1795 to 1889 and adding historical sketches. The electronic edition was prepared for Documenting the American South at Chapel Hill, within the collection True and Candid Compositions, with transcription by Apex Data Services and images scanned by Brian Dietz.
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Newsletter of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies Foundation, the alumni body behind the two student literary societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The series begins in 2005. Issued in volumes with illustrations at 29 cm, it carries news of the societies and of their graduates for a campus and alumni readership.
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A guide to the traditions, customs and activities of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, the literary societies founded at the University of North Carolina in 1795 and now meeting as a joint senate. Kevin Cherry edited the 2003 handbook, issued by order of the societies and directed by a committee of their alumni. One hundred eighty-two leaves with illustrations and portraits, some in color.
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A folded four page leaflet issued in 1985 by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies at Chapel Hill, describing the joint Senate of the two student literary societies founded at the University of North Carolina in 1795. Illustrations and portraits accompany the short text.
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The Philanthropic Society, one of the two old student debating societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, issued this periodical from 1977. It documents student society activity in the late 1970s. Volumes of 28 cm.
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Foundation records covering 1973 to 2018, roughly 540 items in one and a half linear feet, University Archives collection 40182 at UNC. The title is entered as 'Dialetic and Philanthropic Societies Foundation records'. Topics include student societies in North Carolina, student activities, and the Dialectic and Philanthropic Joint Senate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Student periodical put out by the Di-Phi Senate, the joint body of the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with the run recorded from 1966. Published in volumes at 28 cm.
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Periodical of the Philanthropic Society, the student debating society at the University of North Carolina, published by the Philanthropic Assembly at Chapel Hill in 1954. The work deals with college student newspapers and periodicals in Chapel Hill and with the university's societies, and the run belongs with the society's own publications rather than with the campus press.
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A volume of the student magazine published in Chapel Hill in 1921 by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies of the University of North Carolina. Includes illustrations and portraits. 30 centimeters.
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Two volumes of a 1920 Chapel Hill student magazine bearing the imprint of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies at the University of North Carolina. Each volume measures 23 centimeters.
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A sale list of second hand books from the libraries of the University of North Carolina and of its Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, printed at Chapel Hill in the late 1890s. It gives the books available and their prices. It shows what the university libraries were shedding and what old books fetched.
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An oration Franklin Plato Eller prepared as the Dialectic Society's representative for the University of North Carolina commencement of 1892. A note printed with the text records that his last illness kept him from delivering it and that he died on 15 June, so the speech went to press instead. Published at Chapel Hill under the society's name.
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A membership catalogue of the Dialectic Society at the University of North Carolina, the student debating society instituted on June 3, 1795, printed by Thomas Brothers in 1888 in a third edition of 34 pages. It is a directory of alumni and alumnae at Chapel Hill, so genealogists and campus historians can use it to place students by year of membership.
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Seven pages of parliamentary rules printed for the Dialectic Society, one of the student literary societies at the University of North Carolina, and dated 1884. The pamphlet sets out the order of business the society followed at its meetings. Printed in Chapel Hill around 1884.
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The Dialectic and Philanthropic Joint Senate at Chapel Hill is documented here from 1836 to 2019, with most material from 1959 to 2010, approximately 7,500 items in 12.5 linear feet, in the University Archives at UNC, collection 40153. The two debating societies and their joint body are represented along with debating in North Carolina, student societies and student activities through the university's history.
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A catalogue of the library of the Dialectic Society, one of the two student debating societies at the University of North Carolina, listing the books it owned as of February 1821. Printed at Hillsborough, it records the reading available to students at Chapel Hill in the early years of the university, and it counts among the North Carolina imprints of 1821.
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Catalogue of the books owned by the Dialectic Society at Chapel Hill as of May 1817, printed at Raleigh within an ornamental border. The list records the titles a University of North Carolina student society kept on its shelves.
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Book list of the Dialectic Society at the University of North Carolina, dated May 1817 and printed under the society's own name at Chapel Hill.
Included because: Published by or for this institution.
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