The Franklin Society is a secret society

Secret society

A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...

 based at Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

, in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, and is one of the oldest student secret societies in the United States. Organized in 1824, it was created in a year when such a large class entered Brown University that the two existing literary debating societies, the Philermenian Society and the United Brothers Society could not accommodate the new students. Notable personages such as Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

, John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...

, and Henry Clay

Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...

 accepted honorary membership into the society during this time. The society was founded with the motto: Scientia Potentia Est, meaning “Knowledge is Power.”

There is debate as to the existence of the society today. Martha Mitchell's research in the Encyclopedia Brunoniana

Encyclopedia Brunoniana

Encyclopedia Brunoniana is an American reference work by Martha Mitchell covering Brown University. Published in 1993 by the Brown University Library, the encyclopedia has 629 pages. A digital version can be read free of charge on the Internet....

indicated that the society was dissolved some time in the 1840s. However, there is at least one reference that seems to indicate it is possible the society existed at least until the late 19th century: "It is believed to have been the first society organization in this city to institute a course of popular lectures for the public entertainment and instruction. Through its lectures it has introduced to the citizens some of the most noted scientists of the world."

History

Records indicate that ten years after its establishment, in 1834, a select core of students in the Franklin Society recognized that the quality of members had diminished due to competition with the other two literary societies and the new emergence and popularity of Fraternities. Recognizing a loss of general integrity within the Society, the Franklin Society was dissolved, its library of several hundred volumes was turned over to the College Library, and in 1847 its members were elected in equal proportions into the two older societies. Save a few references in the 19th century, the Franklin Society's presence and impact on the campus is unknown and undocumented.

Continued Evidence of Activity

The small bit that is known seems to indicate that the Franklin Society was originally "devoted especially to the study of natural science and the mechanic arts," Further, that in 1887, the Franklin Society commissioned a "Report of the Committee on the geology of Rhode Island." These references seem to indicate a continued presence of the society beyond 1834, when it was believed to have been dissolved.

Membership

Because there is little evidence that points to the existence of the society, the process of selection of its members is not known.

Coat of arms

The Franklin Society coat of arms consists of three golden key intersecting each other, with the Brown crest in the background. The Brown crest serves as a tribute to the University, while the three keys are distinctly Franklin symbols. The three keys, partially references to Benjamin Franklin's electricity experiment involving a key and a kite, are said to represent Science, Reason and Action.

It is not possible that this is the same seal that was used when the society was founded, as the Brown University seal was that of the College of Rhode Island until 1844. However, it is possible that this seal was used from that point onward.