The Philolexian Society of Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 is one of the oldest college literary societies

College literary societies (American)

College literary societies in American higher education were a distinctive kind of social organization, distinct from literary societies generally, and they were the precursors of college fraternities and sororities. In the period from the late eighteenth century to the Civil War, collegiate...

 in the United States, and the oldest student group at Columbia. Founded in 1802, the Society aims to "improve its members in Oratory, Composition and Forensic Discussion." The name Philolexian is Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 for "lover of discourse," and the society's motto is the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 word Surgam, meaning "I shall rise."

Philolexian (known to members as "Philo," pronounced with a long "i") has been called the "oldest thing at Columbia except the College itself," and it has been an integral part of Columbia from the beginning, providing the institution with everything from its colors, Philolexian Blue (along with White, from her long-dispatched rival Peithologian Society

Peithologian Society

The Peithologian Society was an undergraduate literary organization at Columbia University. It was founded in 1806, four years after Columbia's first literary group, the Philolexian Society, by freshmen who were disenfranchised by Philolexian's requirement that its members be upperclassmen...

), to some of its most solemn traditions and many of its finest (as well as a few of its most notorious and most dissipated) graduates.

History

Philolexian is one of many literary societies

College literary societies (American)

College literary societies in American higher education were a distinctive kind of social organization, distinct from literary societies generally, and they were the precursors of college fraternities and sororities. In the period from the late eighteenth century to the Civil War, collegiate...

 that flourished at the nation's early colonial colleges. Before fraternities, publications, and other extracurriculars became common, these groups—which generally bore Greek or Latin names—were the sole source of undergraduate social life. Indeed, it was not unusual for two or more groups to coexist at one institution, often in competition. Surviving examples include the Philodemic Society

Philodemic Society

The Philodemic Society is a student debating organization at Georgetown University. It was founded in 1830 by Father James Ryder, S.J., in whose honor an award is given every Spring at the Merrick Debate. The Philodemic is among the oldest such societies in the United States and is the oldest...

 of Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

, the Union-Philanthropic Society

Union-Philanthropic Society

The Union-Philanthropic Society is a college literary society at Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia.For over two centuries, the Union-Philanthropic Society has offered Hampden-Sydney a unique forum for discussion...

 of Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...

, the Philomathean Society

Philomathean Society

The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania is a collegiate literary society, the oldest student group at the university, and a claimant to the title of the oldest continuously-existing literary society in the United States.This claim is disputed between the Philomathean Society and...

 of the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

, the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

, the Demosthenian Literary Society

Demosthenian Literary Society

The Demosthenian Literary Society is a debating society at The University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1803 by the first graduating class of the University's Franklin College. The society was founded on February 19, 1803 and the anniversary is celebrated now with the Society's...

 and Phi Kappa Literary Society

Phi Kappa Literary Society

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 , and by William Crabbe, Edwin...

 at the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

, the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society

Jefferson Literary and Debating Society

The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society is a debating and literary society at the University of Virginia. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest organization at The University and one of the oldest continuously existing debating societies in North America....

 at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 and the Whig–Cliosophic Society at Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

.

Founding

Columbia's first such society was formed in the 1770s, when the school was still known as King's College; among this unnamed organization's members was future Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...

 (Class of 1778) and his roommate Robert Troup

Robert Troup

Robert Troup was an American soldier, lawyer and jurist.Born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, Troup attended King's College...

. After the Revolution, a similar group known as the Columbia College Society for Progress in Letters was formed; among its members were John P. Van Ness (Class of 1789), later mayor of Washington, D.C., and Daniel D. Tompkins

Daniel D. Tompkins

Daniel D. Tompkins was an entrepreneur, jurist, Congressman, the fourth Governor of New York , and the sixth Vice President of the United States .-Name:...

 (Class of 1795), vice president of the United States under James Monroe. The group became extinct in 1795.

Building on these earlier efforts, Philolexian was established on May 17, 1802. Among its earliest members were future Columbia president Nathaniel Fish Moore

Nathaniel Fish Moore

Nathaniel Fish Moore was the eighth president of Columbia College; he had earlier been a lawyer and served on the faculty. He was the nephew of the college's former president Benjamin Moore.-Notes:...

 (Class of 1802), and Alexander Hamilton's son, James Alexander Hamilton

James Alexander Hamilton

James Alexander Hamilton was the third son of Alexander Hamilton. He graduated from Columbia University, was an officer in the War of 1812, and served as acting Secretary of State to Andrew Jackson. He then became a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York....

 (Class of 1805). To accommodate freshmen, who were initially ineligible for admission, the Peithologian Society

Peithologian Society

The Peithologian Society was an undergraduate literary organization at Columbia University. It was founded in 1806, four years after Columbia's first literary group, the Philolexian Society, by freshmen who were disenfranchised by Philolexian's requirement that its members be upperclassmen...

 was formed four years later. For most of the next 100 years, Peithologian would serve as Philolexian's primary literary rival.

For most of the 19th century, Philo engaged in a wide range of literary activities, including debates within and without the society, essay writing, correspondence, and hosting speeches by eminent men of the city. In 1852, at the organization's semi-centennial celebration, alumni raised a prize fund of over $1,300 to endow annual awards in three categories: Oratory, Debate, and Essay. (The awards were eventually combined into a general "Philolexian Prize" which, since the 1950s, has been awarded annually by Columbia University's

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 English department.)

20th century

In the 20th century, Philo broadened its range of activities as it became a training ground for essayist Randolph Bourne

Randolph Bourne

Randolph Silliman Bourne was a progressive writer and "leftist intellectual" born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and a graduate of Columbia University...

 (Class of 1912), poet A. Joyce Kilmer

Joyce Kilmer

Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American journalist, poet, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his religious faith, Kilmer is remembered most for a short poem entitled "Trees" , which was published in...

 (Class of 1908), and statesman V.K. Wellington Koo

Wellington Koo

Koo Vi Kyuin or Ku Wei-chün , often known by the Western name V.K. Wellington Koo, was a prominent diplomat under the Republic of China, representative to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Ambassador to France, Great Britain, and the United States; participant in founding the League of Nations...

 (Class of 1909), all prize winners in their time at Philo. In 1910 the society took a decidedly dramatic turn when it commenced a 20-year stretch of annual theatre productions, ranging from Elizabethan comedies to contemporary works. Many of the older productions, by the likes of Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...

, Nicholas Udall

Nicholas Udall

Nicholas Udall was an English playwright, cleric, pederast and schoolmaster, the author of Ralph Roister Doister, generally regarded as the first comedy written in the English language.-Biography:...

, and Robert Greene

Robert Greene (16th century)

Robert Greene was an English author best known for a posthumous pamphlet attributed to him, Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit, widely believed to contain a polemic attack on William Shakespeare. He was born in Norwich and attended Cambridge University, receiving a B.A. in 1580, and an M.A...

, were North American debuts. Oscar-winning screenwriter Sidney Buchman

Sidney Buchman

Sidney Robert Buchman was a screenwriter and producer who worked on 38 films from the late 1920s to the early 1970s. He is also sometimes credited as Sydney Buchman.-Career:...

 (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 American drama film starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart about one man's effect on American politics. It was directed by Frank Capra and written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story. Mr...

, Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is a comedy film in which a boxer, mistakenly taken to Heaven before his time, is given a second chance back on Earth. It stars Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains and Evelyn Keyes. The movie was adapted by Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller from the play Heaven Can Wait by Harry...

, Cleopatra

Cleopatra (1963 film)

Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy...

) (Class of 1923) got a start playing Shakespeare's Richard II

Richard II (play)

King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...

 for a Philo production.

Although Philolexian members during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 included such figures as future Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Berryman

John Berryman

John Allyn Berryman was an American poet and scholar, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and was considered a key figure in the Confessional school of poetry...

 and publisher Robert Giroux

Robert Giroux

Robert Giroux was an influential American book editor and publisher. Starting his editing career with Harcourt, Brace & Co., he was hired away to work for Roger W. Straus, Jr. at Farrar & Straus in 1955, where he became a partner and, eventually, its chairman...

 (both Class of 1936) and noted Trappist monk and humanist Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. was a 20th century Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion...

 (Class of 1938), the economic hardships of the period severely curtailed the group's activities. By the late 1930s, according to former society president Ralph de Toledano

Ralph de Toledano

Ralph de Toledano was a major figure in the conservative movement in the United States throughout the second half of the 20th century.-Early years:...

 (Class of 1938), the organization was devoted mainly to drinking wine and listening to jazz. Philo effectively ceased to function by the beginning of World War II.

Decline and renewal

But in 1943, at the behest of Columbia history professor and former Philo president Jacques Barzun

Jacques Barzun

Jacques Martin Barzun is a French-born American historian of ideas and culture. He has written on a wide range of topics, but is perhaps best known as a philosopher of education, his Teacher in America being a strong influence on post-WWII training of schoolteachers in the United...

 (Class of 1927), several undergraduates competed for the Philolexian Centennial Washington Prize, an oratory competition endowed by J. Ackerman Coles (Class of 1864), bestowed on the society on the occasion of its centennial in 1902. This short-lived revival was followed by another wartime incarnation. By 1952, due to waning interest and, according to some, the infamous presidency of poet Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

 (Class of 1948), the society entered a 10-year period of dormancy. Another brief revival in 1962 was followed by an even longer period of inactivity.

On Wednesday, October 16, 1985, under the guidance of Thomas J. Vinciguerra (Class of 1985), the society was revived in its current incarnation. Mr. Vinciguerra was subsequently recognized as the society's "avatar" in honor of this and other critical and successful efforts for Philo. In 2003, an award in his name was established.

On Saturday, October 16, 2010, the society celebrated the 25th anniversary of its revival with a reception and meeting for students, alumni (known as "Geezers"), and various supporters; the occasion was dubbed "Resurgam 25." The debate topic, "Resolved: The Philolexian Society Has Never Had It So Good" was overwhelmingly approved.

Current Organization

The Philolexian Society holds meetings every Thursday the College is in session; the agenda typically consists of a debate and the presentation of a literary work. Meetings are often serious and absurd simultaneously. As a result of the long history of the club, numerous in-jokes, scripted by tradition, are told throughout the session. Philolexian also hosts a Croquet

Croquet

Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...

 Tea, the Annual Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest

The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest has been hosted annually by Columbia University's Philolexian Society, a literary society, since 1986, drawing crowds of 200-300 students and participants vying for the title of best of the worst. Columbia faculty members serve as judges...

(which has received coverage in the New York Times) (the winner of which becomes the Poet Laureate

Poet Laureate

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

 of the society until the next Contest), a beat poetry event appropriately called Beat Night, and a Greek-style symposium

Symposium

In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...

. The organization also publishes a collection of poetry and prose called "Surgam." Starting in 2003, Philolexian has organized a fund for small theatre projects, later named for Robert C. Schnitzer

Robert C. Schnitzer

Robert C. Schnitzer was an American actor, producer, educator, and theater administrator. Schnitzer, a former Weston, Connecticut resident, was active in the Westport-Weston Arts Council and later the Westport Arts Center...

 (Class of 1927), and sponsored an improv comedy group called Klaritin.

In 2003 the society held a constitutional convention that updated the original document, adjusting the organization to suit changes that had happened in the previous 200 years, such as co-education. Nonetheless, the society has retained its traditional forms and rituals almost in their entirety. Philolexian has several officers, the Moderator (de facto

De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

president), Scriba, and Censor (emeritus

Emeritus

Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

president), as well as other positions, including Herald

Herald

A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....

, Keeper of the Halls, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

, Sergeant-at-Arms, Whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

, Minister of Internet Truth

Webmaster

A webmaster , also called a web architect, web developer, site author, or website administrator is a person responsible for maintaining one or many websites...

, Nomenclaturist-General, and Literary Czar, editor of the literary journal of the Society. These titles are derived from the roles performed at the meeting, at which the Moderator leads debate, the Scriba records minutes, and the Censor adds his or her views about the debates, censuring or commending members as necessary.

The number of Philolexians is actually unknown, because any person who attends even part of a meeting is officially a member (the organization's website claims that the number is greater than one but less than infinity). Those who wish to gain full membership within the society must speak well at three "consecutive" meetings and attend regularly. Those candidates who qualify may receive an invitation to New Member Night, a secretive initiation rite. To further test a potential Full Philo's merit, he or she must also present a petition reflecting the approval of other Philolexians and some work of original creative merit in order to be considered at New Member Night, as well as surviving The Horrors. This meeting is not open to the public, and if asked, Full Philos may only disclose that it involves weasel

Weasel

Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....

s and/or platypi. Full Philos have access to a large number of privileges through the organization.

Notable Philolexians

In addition to the names cited above, prominent Philolexians have included:

• Pennsylvania bishop Henry Ustick Onderdonk
  Henry Ustick Onderdonk
  Henry Ustick Onderdonk was the second Episcopal bishop of Pennsylvania.-Early life:Onderdonk was born in New York City. He studied at Columbia University, receiving his degree in 1805, and then traveled to Britain for further education, receiving his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh...
  
   (Class of 1805);
• U.S. Congressman Edmund H. Pendleton (Class of 1805);
• New Jersey Governor Peter Dumont Vroom
  Peter Dumont Vroom
  Peter Dumont Vroom , an American Democratic Party politician, served as the 9th Governor of New Jersey and as a member of the United States House of Representatives for a single term, from 1839–1841.He was born in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey the son of Col...
  
   (Class of 1808);
• Theologian Jackson Kemper
  Jackson Kemper
  Bishop Jackson Kemper was the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.Baptized David Jackson Kemper by Dr...
  
   (Class of 1809);
• New York bishop Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk
  Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk
  Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk was the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York from 1830–1861.- Early years :...
  
   (Class of 1809);
• Financier William Backhouse Astor, Sr.
  William Backhouse Astor, Sr.
  William Backhouse Astor, Sr. was an American businessman and member of the Astor family.-Origins and schooling:...
  
   (Class of 1811);
• Congressman Charles G. Ferris
  Charles G. Ferris
  Charles Goadsby Ferris was a U.S. Representative from New York.Born at "The Homestead," Throgs Neck, the Bronx, New York, Ferris received a limited education.He studied law.He was admitted to the bar and practiced in New York City....
  
   (Class of 1811);
• Maj. Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny (Class of 1812);
• Classical scholar Charles Anthon
  Charles Anthon
  Charles Anthon was an American classical scholar.-Life:After graduating with honors at Columbia College in 1815, he began the study of law, and in 1819 was admitted to the bar, but never practiced...
  
   (Class of 1815);
• Acting Rhode Island Governor William Beach Lawrence
  William Beach Lawrence
  William Beach Lawrence was an American politician and jurist who served as lieutenant governor of Rhode Island from 1851 to 1852....
  
   (1818);
• Bibliophile James Lenox
  James Lenox
  James Lenox was an American bibliophile and philanthropist. His collection of paintings and books eventually became known as the Lenox Library and later became part of the New York Public Library in 1895.-Biography:...
  
   (Class of 1818);
• Explorer John Lloyd Stephens
  John Lloyd Stephens
  John Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America and in the planning of the Panama railroad....
  
   (Class of 1822);
• Railroad engineer Horatio Allen
  Horatio Allen
  Horatio Allen LL.D was an American civil engineer and inventor.Born in Schenectady, New York, he graduated from Columbia in 1823, and was appointed the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company chief engineer. In 1828 he was sent to England to buy locomotives for the canal company's projected railway...
  
   (1823);
• Preacher George Washington Bethune
  George Washington Bethune
  George Washington Bethune was a preacher-pastor in the Dutch Reformed Church.Of Huguenot descent, his father was a highly successful merchant in New York. Originally a student at Columbia College of Columbia University, Bethune graduated in 1822 from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania and...
  
   (1823);
• United States Secretary of State
  United States Secretary of State
  The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
  
   Hamilton Fish
  Hamilton Fish
  Hamilton Fish was an American statesman and politician who served as the 16th Governor of New York, United States Senator and United States Secretary of State. Fish has been considered one of the best Secretary of States in the United States history; known for his judiciousness and reform efforts...
  
   (Class of 1827);
• Journalist John L. O'Sullivan (Class of 1831), coiner of the phrase "Manifest Destiny
  Manifest Destiny
  Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
  
  ";
• Lobbyist Samuel Cutler Ward
  Samuel Cutler Ward
  Samuel Ward , was a poet, author, and gourmet, and in the years after the Civil War he was widely known as the "King of the Lobby." He combined delicious food, fine wines, and good conversation to create a new type of lobbying in Washington, DC—social lobbying—over which he reigned for...
  
   (Class of 1831);
• Literary critic Evert Augustus Duyckinck
  Evert Augustus Duyckinck
  Evert Augustus Duyckinck was an American publisher and biographer. He was associated with the literary side of the Young America movement in New York.-Life and work:...
  
   (Class of 1835);
• Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
  Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
  Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
  
   Samuel Blatchford
  Samuel Blatchford
  Samuel Blatchford was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from April 3, 1882 until his death.-Early life:...
  
   (Class of 1837);
• Diarist and U.S. Sanitary Commission treasurer George Templeton Strong
  George Templeton Strong
  George Templeton Strong was an American lawyer and diarist. His 2,250-page diary, discovered in the 1930s, provides a striking personal account of life in the 19th century, especially during the events of the American Civil War...
  
   (Class of 1838);
• Sportsman William R. Travers
  William R. Travers
  William Riggin Travers was an American lawyer who made a fortune on Wall Street. A well-known cosmopolite and high liver, Travers was a member of 27 private clubs, according to Cleveland Amory in his book Who Killed Society?-Biography:He was born in 1819.Along with John Hunter, in 1863 he founded...
  
   (Class of 1838);
• Chemist Oliver Wolcott Gibbs
  Oliver Wolcott Gibbs
  For the writer, see Wolcott Gibbs.Oliver Wolcott Gibbs was an American chemist. He is known for performing the first electrogravimetric analyses, namely the reductions of copper and nickel ions to their respective metals.- Biography:Oliver Wolcott Gibbs was born in New York City in 1822 to...
  
   (Class of 1841);
• Mayor of New York City
  Mayor of New York City
  The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
  
   Abram S. Hewitt (Class of 1842);
• Financier William Backhouse Astor, Jr.
  William Backhouse Astor, Jr.
  William Backhouse Astor, Jr. was a businessman and a member of the prominent Astor family.He was the ancestor of the U.S. branch of the Astor family, which came to an end in the male line at the end of the 20th century....
  
   (Class of 1849);
• Military theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan
  Alfred Thayer Mahan
  Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States Navy flag officer, geostrategist, and historian, who has been called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His concept of "sea power" was based on the idea that countries with greater naval power will have greater worldwide...
  
   (Class of 1858);
• Real estate developer Robert Goelet
  Robert Goelet
  Robert Goelet was a real estate developer in New York City and a director of the Chemical National Bank. He had a house in New York, at 591 Fifth Avenue, and seasonal residences in Tuxedo Park and Newport, Rhode Island...
  
   (Class of 1860);
• Columbia College Dean John Howard Van Amringe
  John Howard Van Amringe
  John Howard Van Amringe was a U.S. educator and mathematician. He was born in Philadelphia, and graduated from Columbia in 1860. Thereafter, he taught mathematics at Columbia, holding a professorship from 1865 to 1910 when he retired...
  
   (Class of 1860);
• Novelist Edgar Fawcett
  Edgar Fawcett
  Edgar Fawcett was an American novelist and poet.-Biography:Fawcett was born in New York on May 26, 1847, and spent much of his life there. Educated at Columbia College, he obtained the A.B. there in 1867 and his M.A. three years later...
  
   (Class of 1867);
• Diplomat Nicholas Fish II
  Nicholas Fish II
  Nicholas Fish was the grandson of American Revolutionary War soldier Nicholas Fish and son of the Secretary of State Hamilton Fish. He was born in New York City and educated at Columbia and at Harvard Law School. He practiced law in New York City, then went into the diplomatic service...
  
   (Class of 1867);
• Assistant Secretary of State and Columbia trustees chairman George Lockhart Rives (Class of 1868);
• Historian William Milligan Sloane
  William Milligan Sloane
  William Milligan Sloane was an American educator and historian, born at Richmond, Ohio.-Biography:...
  
   (Class of 1868);
• Speaker of the New York State Assembly
  Speaker of the New York State Assembly
  The Speaker of the New York State Assembly is the highest official in the New York State Assembly, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party....
  
   and U.S. Congressman Hamilton Fish II
  Hamilton Fish II
  Hamilton Fish II was an American lawyer and politician.-Life:He was the son of Julia Ursin Niemcewicz Kean and Hamilton Fish. He graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University, where he was a member of St...
  
   (Class of 1869);
• Journalist and social reformer William Dudley Foulke
  William Dudley Foulke
  William Dudley Foulke was an American literary critic, journalist, poet and reformer.-Biography:He was born in New York City and graduated Columbia Law School in 1871...
  
   (Class of 1869);
• Willard Bartlett
  Willard Bartlett
  Willard Bartlett was an American jurist. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.-Biography:...
  
   (Class of 1869), Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
  Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
  Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals refers to the position of chief judge on the New York Court of Appeals.The chief judge supervises the seven-judge Court of Appeals...
  
  ;
• Illinois Central Railroad
  Illinois Central Railroad
  The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
  
   president Stuyvesant Fish
  Stuyvesant Fish
  Stuyvesant Fish was president of the Illinois Central Railroad.Fish was born in New York City, the son of Hamilton Fish and his wife Julia Ursin Niemcewicz, née Kean. A graduate of Columbia College, he was later an executive of the Illinois Central Railroad, and as its president from 1887 to 1906...
  
   (Class of 1871);
• Dramatic scholar Brander Matthews
  Brander Matthews
  James Brander Matthews , was a U.S. writer and educator. Matthews was the first U.S. professor of dramatic literature.-Biography:...
  
   (Class of 1871);
• Music critic Gustav Kobbé
  Gustav Kobbé
  Gustav Kobbé M.A. was an American music critic and author, best known for his guide to the operas, The Complete Opera Book, first published in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922.- Biography :Kobbé was born in March 1857 in New York City to William...
  
   (Class of 1877);
• New York City subway chief engineer William Barclay Parsons
  William Barclay Parsons
  William Barclay Parsons was an American civil engineer. He founded the firm that became Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the largest American civil engineering firms....
  
   (Class of 1879);
• William Fellowes Morgan, Sr.
  William Fellowes Morgan, Sr.
  William Fellowes Morgan, Sr. was president of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness.-Biography:He was born in 1861 and graduated from Columbia University in 1880 and pioneered the use of refrigeration in warehouses...
  
   (Class of 1880), president of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness;
• U.S. Congressman and Assistant Secretary of War J. Mayhew Wainwright
  J. Mayhew Wainwright
  Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was a U.S. Representative from New York.-Biography:Born in New York City, Wainwright was graduated from Columbia College and Columbia School of Political Science in 1884, and from Columbia Law School in 1886. He was admitted to the bar the same year and practiced in New...
  
   (Class of 1884);
• U.S. Ambassador to Germany James W. Gerard
  James W. Gerard
  James Watson Gerard was a U.S. lawyer and diplomat.-Biography:Gerard was born in Geneseo, N. Y. He graduated from Columbia in 1890 and from New York Law School. He was chairman of the Democratic campaign committee of New York County for four years, and served as major of the National Guard of the...
  
   (Class of 1890);
• Pioneering anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber
  Alfred L. Kroeber
  Alfred Louis Kroeber was an American anthropologist. He was the first professor appointed to the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and played an integral role in the early days of its Museum of Anthropology, where he served as director from 1909 through...
  
   (Class of 1896);
• Mayor of New York City
  Mayor of New York City
  The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
  
   John Purroy Mitchel
  John Purroy Mitchel
  John Purroy Mitchel was the mayor of New York from 1914 to 1917. At age 34 he was the second-youngest ever; he is sometimes referred to as "The Boy Mayor of New York." Mayor Mitchel is remembered for his short career as leader of Reform politics in New York, as well as for his early death as an...
  
   (Class of 1899);
• New York Times editor and "Topics of the Times" essayist Simeon Strunsky
  Simeon Strunsky
  Simeon Strunsky, A.B. was a Jewish American essayist, born in Vitebsk, Russian Empire . His parents are Isidor S. and Perl Wainstein. He graduated from Columbia University in 1900...
  
   (Class of 1900);
• Playwright George Middleton
  George Middleton (playwright)
  George Middleton was an American playwright, director, and producer.-Career:He was famous for his plays The Failures and Adam and Eva...
  
   (Class of 1902), president of the Dramatists Guild of America
  Dramatists Guild of America
  The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market.Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Members are playwrights who have had at least one play...
  
  ;
• Publisher Alfred Harcourt
  Alfred Harcourt
  Alfred Harcourt was an American Publisher, Compiler and Founder of Harcourt, Brace & Howe in 1919....
  
   (Class of 1904), co-founder of Harcourt Brace;
• Shoe manufacturer Ward Melville
  Ward Melville
  John Ward Melville was an American philanthropist, and businessman, born to Frank Melville, Jr. Ward Melville attended college at Columbia University, where he was active in the Columbia Daily Spectator and the Philolexian Society. Following graduation in 1909, Melville joined his father's shoe...
  
   (Class of 1909);
• Governor of North Dakota
  Governor of North Dakota
  The Governor of North Dakota is the chief executive of North Dakota. The current Governor is Jack Dalrymple. The Governor has the right to sign and laws, and to call the Legislative Assembly, into emergency session. The Governor is also chairman of the North Dakota Industrial Commission. The...
  
   and U.S. Senator William Langer
  William Langer
  William "Wild Bill" Langer was a prominent US politician from North Dakota. Langer is one of the most colorful characters in North Dakota history, most famously bouncing back from a scandal that forced him out of the governor's office and into prison. He served as the 17th and 21st Governor of...
  
   (Class of 1910);
• Union College
  Union College
  Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
  
   president Dixon Ryan Fox
  Dixon Ryan Fox
  Dixon Ryan Fox was an American educator, researcher, and president of Union College from 1934-45.Fox graduated from New York University, where he was a member of the Andiron Club...
  
   (Class of 1911);
• Political scientist Parker Thomas Moon
  Parker Thomas Moon
  Parker LeRoy Moon was a U.S. educator and political scientist, born in New York City, and educated at Columbia University, where he became assistant professor in 1919. In 1921, he became managing editor of the Political Science Quarterly....
  
   (Class of 1913);
• Lawyer and publisher Douglas Black
  Douglas Black (publisher)
  Douglas McCrae Black was an American lawyer and publishing house executive, president of Doubleday and Company from 1946–1963, and president of the American Book Publishers Council....
  
   (Class of 1916), president of Doubleday and Company, 1946–1963;
• Congressman Frederic René Coudert, Jr.
  Frederic René Coudert, Jr.
  Frederic René Coudert Jr. ; born, died in New York City) was a Representative from New York.-Background:Coudert attended Browning and Morristown Schools in New York City, then graduated from Columbia University in 1918 and from its law school in 1922...
  
   (Class of 1918);
• Western writer James Warner Bellah
  James Warner Bellah
  James Warner Bellah was a popular American Western author from the 1930s to the 1950s...
  
   (Class of 1923);
• Oscar-winning screenwriter Sidney Buchman
  Sidney Buchman
  Sidney Robert Buchman was a screenwriter and producer who worked on 38 films from the late 1920s to the early 1970s. He is also sometimes credited as Sydney Buchman.-Career:...
  
   (Class of 1923);
• Writer Henry Morton Robinson
  Henry Morton Robinson
  Henry Morton Robinson was an American novelist, best known for A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake written with Joseph Campbell and his 1950 novel The Cardinal, which Time magazine reported was "The year's most popular book, fiction or nonfiction."-Biography:Robinson was born in Boston and graduated...
  
   (Class of 1923), author of The Cardinal
  The Cardinal
  The Cardinal is a 1963 film which was produced independently and directed by Otto Preminger, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was written by Robert Dozier, based on the novel by Henry Morton Robinson....
  
  and co-author of A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake
  A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake
  A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake by mythologist Joseph Campbell and Henry Morton Robinson is a work of literary criticism. One of the first major texts to provide an in-depth analysis of Finnegans Wake , A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake is considered by many scholars to be a seminal work on the...
  
  ;
• Philanthropist Lawrence Wien
  Lawrence Wien
  Lawrence Wien was an American lawyer, philanthropist and real estate owner.-Early life:Wien was born in Manhattan, New York City, and received his bachelors degree from Columbia College in 1925 and his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1927.-Career:Wien served as the Chairman of the Board of...
  
   (Class of 1925);
• Science fiction anthologist Groff Conklin
  Groff Conklin
  Edward Groff Conklin was a leading science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories , wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects as well as a published poet...
  
   (Class of 1927);
• Oscar-winning screenwriter William Ludwig
  William Ludwig
  William Ludwig was a screenwriter. He won, with Sonya Levien, an Oscar for "Best Writing, Story and Screenplay" in 1956 for Interrupted Melody. Other notable works include the screenplay for the 1955 production of Oklahoma!.-External links:...
  
   (Class of 1932);
• City College of New York
  City College of New York
  The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
  
   president Robert Marshak
  Robert Marshak
  Robert Eugene Marshak was an American physicist dedicated to learning, research, and education.-History:...
  
   (Class of 1936), president of the American Physical Society
  American Physical Society
  The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
  
  ;
• Robert Paul Smith
  Robert Paul Smith
  Robert Paul Smith was an American author, most famous for his classic evocation of childhood, Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing....
  
   (1936), author of Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing and co-author of The Tender Trap
  The Tender Trap
  The Tender Trap can refer to:*The Tender Trap , a 1954 Broadway play by Robert Paul Smith and Max Shulman, starring Robert Preston*The Tender Trap , a 1955 movie based on the play, starring Debbie Reynolds and Frank Sinatra...
  
  ;
• John La Touche (Class of 1937), lyricist for Cabin in the Sky
  Cabin in the Sky
  Cabin in the Sky is a 1943 American musical film with music by Vernon Duke, lyrics by John La Touche, and a musical book by Lynn Root. The musical premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 25, 1940. It closed on March 8, 1941 after a total of 156 performances...
  
  and The Golden Apple
  The Golden Apple (musical)
  The Golden Apple is a musical adaptation of parts of each of the Iliad and Odyssey epics of Homer, with music by Jerome Moross and lyrics by John Treville Latouche...
  
  ;
• Conservative author Ralph de Toledano
  Ralph de Toledano
  Ralph de Toledano was a major figure in the conservative movement in the United States throughout the second half of the 20th century.-Early years:...
  
   (Class of 1938);
• Minimalist poet Robert Lax
  Robert Lax
  Robert Lax was an American poet, known in particular for his association with famed 20th century Trappist monk and writer Thomas Merton. A third friend of his youth, whose work sheds light on both Lax and Merton, was Ad Reinhardt. During the latter period of his life, Lax resided on the island of...
  
   (Class of 1938);
• Spiritual writer Thomas Merton
  Thomas Merton
  Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. was a 20th century Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion...
  
   (Class of 1938);
• English professor, and jazz and religion scholar Barry Ulanov
  Barry Ulanov
  Barry Ulanov was an American writer.Ulanov's father was Nathan Ulanov, concertmaster in Arturo Toscanini's NBC Philharmonic. His father taught him violin, but after a car crash in which he broke both wrists, he ceased studying the instrument. He studied at Columbia University, taking his BA there...
  
   (Class of 1939);
• Author Ed Rice
  Ed Rice
  Edward "Ed" Rice was an American author, publisher, photojournalist and painter, best known as a close friend and biographer of Thomas Merton...
  
   (Class of 1940);
• East Asian scholar and Columbia University provost Wm. Theodore de Bary
  Wm. Theodore de Bary
  William Theodore de Bary is an East Asian studies expert at Columbia University, with the title John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University and Provost Emeritus....
  
   (Class of 1941);
• Oscar-winning screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond (Class of 1941);
• Holocaust author Gerald Green
  Gerald Green (author)
  Gerald Green was an American author, journalist, producer and director.-Biography:Green was born in Brooklyn, New York as Gerald Greenberg. He was the son of a physician, Dr. Samuel Greenberg....
  
   (Class of 1942);
• Economist Robert Lekachman
  Robert Lekachman
  Robert Lekachman was an economist known for his extensive advocacy of state intervention, and for a debating style characterized by slow, sing-song speech and circumlocution....
  
   (Class of 1942);
• East Asian scholar Philip Yampolsky
  Philip Yampolsky
  Philip Boas Yampolsky was an eminent translator and scholar of Zen Buddhism and a former Director of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library of Columbia University...
  
   (Class of 1942);
• New York Giants quarterback Paul Governali
  Paul Governali
  Paul Vincent "Pitchin' Paul" Governali was a professional American football quarterback in the National Football League. An All-American at Columbia University, he was the 1942 recipient of the Maxwell Award for College Player of the Year and the first runner-up for the Heisman Trophy...
  
   (Class of 1943);
• Grammy-winning record producer Orrin Keepnews
  Orrin Keepnews
  Orrin Keepnews is an American writer and jazz record producer. In June 2010, he received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.- Career :...
  
   (Class of 1943);
• Novelist Walter Wager
  Walter Wager
  Walter Herman Wager was an American novelist.-Early life:Walter Wager grew up in the East Tremont section of The Bronx, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants; his father, Max, was a doctor, and his mother, Jessie, was a nurse...
  
   (Class of 1944);
• Pulitzer Prize
  Pulitzer Prize
  The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
  
  -winning gerontologist Robert Neil Butler
  Robert Neil Butler
  Robert Neil Butler was a physician, gerontologist, psychiatrist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who was the first director of the National Institute on Aging...
  
   (Class of 1949);
• Publisher Jason Epstein
  Jason Epstein
  Jason Epstein is an American editor and publisher.A 1949 graduate of Columbia College of Columbia University, Epstein was hired by Bennett Cerf at Random House, where he was the editorial director for forty years. He was responsible for the Vintage paperbacks, which published such authors as...
  
   (Class of 1949);
• Poet John Hollander
  John Hollander
  John Hollander is a Jewish-American poet and literary critic. As of 2007, he is Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University...
  
   (Class of 1950);
• Columbia College Dean Carl Hovde
  Carl Hovde
  Carl Frederick Hovde was an American educator who from 1968 until 1972 was the Dean of Columbia College, the undergraduate division of Columbia University...
  
   (1950);
• Pulitzer Prize
  Pulitzer Prize
  The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
  
  -winning poet and translator Richard Howard
  Richard Howard
  Richard Howard is an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a graduate of Columbia University, where he studied under Mark Van Doren, and where he now teaches...
  
   (Class of 1951);
• Editor Robert Gottlieb
  Robert Gottlieb
  Robert Adams Gottlieb , is an American writer and editor. From 1987 to 1992 he was the editor of The New Yorker.-Personal:Robert Gottlieb was born in New York City in 1931 and grew up in Manhattan...
  
   (Class of 1952);
• Television writer Art Eisenson (Class of 1963);
• Rheumatologist and pioneering investigator of Lyme Disease
  Lyme disease
  Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is the main cause of Lyme disease in the United States, whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii cause most...
  
   Allen Steere
  Allen Steere
  Allen C. Steere is a professor of rheumatology at Harvard University and previously at Yale University. Steere is credited with discovering and naming Lyme disease, and he published almost 200 scholarly articles on Lyme disease between 1977 and 2007. At a ceremony in Hartford, Connecticut in 1998,...
  
   (1965);
• Actor Ben Stein
  Ben Stein
  Benjamin Jeremy "Ben" Stein is an American actor, writer, lawyer, and commentator on political and economic issues. He attained early success as a speechwriter for American presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford...
  
   (Class of 1966);
• Novelist and Academy Award-winning film producer Garth Stein
  Garth Stein
  Garth Stein is an American author and film producer from Seattle, Washington.-Career:Stein earned a B.A. in 1987 from Columbia College of Columbia University and later received a Master of Fine Arts degree in film from the University's School of the Arts. Subsequently, Stein worked as a director,...
  
   (Class of 1987);
• Lesbian writer and poet Carol Guess
  Carol Guess
  Carol Guess is an American novelist and poet. Her family moved frequently during her childhood. Her father, Harry Guess, was a prominent epidemiologist. Her mother, Gerry Guess, is a homemaker and teacher. Guess attended Columbia University, majoring in English while studying ballet...
  
   (Class of 1990);
• New York Times Style reporter Alex Kuczynski
  Alex Kuczynski
  Alexandra Louise Kuczynski is a reporter for the New York Times, a columnist for the New York Times Magazine and the author of the award-winning 2006 book Beauty Junkies about the cosmetic surgery industry...
  
   (Barnard College
  Barnard College
  Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
  
   Class of 1990);
• MTV
  MTV
  MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
  
   personality Gideon Yago
  Gideon Yago
  Gideon Yago is a writer and former correspondent for MTV News and CBS News though he is most recognized for his contributions to MTV.-Background:...
  
   (Class of 2000).

Awards and Accomplishments

Philolexians have:

• Won:
  • Four Academy Awards
    Academy Awards
    An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
    
    
  • Three Pulitzer Prizes
  • Two Grammy Awards
  • One Emmy Award
    Emmy Award
    An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
    
    
• Included:
  • Eight United States Representatives
    United States House of Representatives
    The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
    
    
  • Eight college presidents
  • Five United States ambassadors
  • Four governors
    Governor (United States)
    In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state or insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.-Role and powers:...
    
    
  • Two United States Senators
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
    
    
  • Two Mayors of New York City
  • One Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
    Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
    Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
    
    

• Founded or co-founded:
  • The Travers Stakes
    Travers Stakes
    The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.First held in 1864, it was named for William R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers...
    
    
  • Harcourt Brace
  • Thom McAn Shoes
  • The New York Review of Books
    The New York Review of Books
    The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
    
    
  • Library of America
    Library of America
    The Library of America is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature.- Overview and history :Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LoA has published over 200 volumes by a wide range of authors from Mark Twain to Philip...
    
    
  • Writers Guild of America
    Writers Guild of America
    The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
    
    
  • The Century Association
    Century Association
    __notoc__The Century Association is a private club in New York City. It evolved out of an earlier organization – the Sketch Club, founded in 1829 by editor and poet William Cullen Bryant and his friends – and was established in 1847 by Bryant and others as a club to promote interest in...
    
    
  • Players' Club
• Been president of:
  • New-York Historical Society
    New-York Historical Society
    The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library located in New York City at the corner of 77th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan. Founded in 1804 as New York's first museum, the New-York Historical Society presents exhibitions, public programs and research that...
    
    
  • New York Chamber of Commerce
  • New York Athletic Club
  • National Academy of Sciences
    United States National Academy of Sciences
    The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
    
    
  • Doubleday
  • Authors' League of America
  • American Physical Society
    American Physical Society
    The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
    
    
  • American Mathematical Society
    American Mathematical Society
    The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
    
    
  • The American Jewish Committee
    American Jewish Committee
    The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
    
    
  • American Historical Association
    American Historical Association
    The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
    
    
  • American Society of Civil Engineers
    American Society of Civil Engineers
    The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
    
    
  • American Academy of Arts and Letters
  • The Union League Club of New York

Other Historic Societies

• The Philomathean Society
  Philomathean Society
  The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania is a collegiate literary society, the oldest student group at the university, and a claimant to the title of the oldest continuously-existing literary society in the United States.This claim is disputed between the Philomathean Society and...
  
   of the University of Pennsylvania
  University of Pennsylvania
  The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
  
  
• The American Whig-Cliosophic Society
  American Whig-Cliosophic Society
  The American Whig–Cliosophic Society is a political, literary, and debating society at Princeton University and the oldest debate union in the United States...
  
   of Princeton University
  Princeton University
  Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
  
  
• The Philodemic Society
  Philodemic Society
  The Philodemic Society is a student debating organization at Georgetown University. It was founded in 1830 by Father James Ryder, S.J., in whose honor an award is given every Spring at the Merrick Debate. The Philodemic is among the oldest such societies in the United States and is the oldest...
  
   of Georgetown University
  Georgetown University
  Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
  
  
• The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society
  Jefferson Literary and Debating Society
  The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society is a debating and literary society at the University of Virginia. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest organization at The University and one of the oldest continuously existing debating societies in North America....
  
   of the University of Virginia
  University of Virginia
  The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
  
  
• The Union-Philanthropic (Literary) Society of Hampden-Sydney College
  Hampden-Sydney College
  Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...
  
  
• The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
  
  
• The Demosthenian Literary Society
  Demosthenian Literary Society
  The Demosthenian Literary Society is a debating society at The University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1803 by the first graduating class of the University's Franklin College. The society was founded on February 19, 1803 and the anniversary is celebrated now with the Society's...
  
   of The University of Georgia
  University of Georgia
  The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
  
   in Athens
  Athens, Georgia
  Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
  
  

External links

• The Philolexian Society of Columbia University
• The Philolexian Foundation
• Columbia University
• 1987 New York Times Article on Joyce Kilmer Bad Poetry Contest