Bright Epoch: Women and Coeducation in the American West

3. The Early Practice of Coeducation: Literary Societies as Laboratories for Separation and Inclusion

3 The Early Practice of Coeducation Literary Societies as Laboratories for Separation and Inclusion After long and ardent pleading pro and con, [the Crescent Society] finally concluded to throw open its doors to receive the fair maids of the agricultural college who came “tapping, gently tapping” for admission. “meeting minutes, 1871–1877,” Crescent Literary Society, April 2, 1873 Literary societies for male and female students emerged in the 1870s and 1880s as significant experimental laboratories for the implementation of coeducation, especially as land-grants in the 1870s struggled to define the extent of gender mixing. Coed literary societies offered what few universities possessed—an opportunity for men and women students to debate, discuss, and share their intellectual endeavors in a mixed-gender environment . As women gained admission to literary societies, either through the natural workings of coeducational progress or through their own struggle for equality of access, they helped to expand the boundaries of the social and intellectual female sphere on land-grant campuses. This broadened domain of women’s intellectual activity subsequently translated into an expanded political sphere, especially as women found public space to voice their opinions through essays, recitations, and debates. Women students were certainly not passive subjects in the process of inclusion or exclusion in campus literary societies. The process of defining literary society participation showed some of the early difficulties and triumphs in working through the forces of gender separation and inclusion. The literaries, as they were called, offered an important trial environment for women students, not only because they provided social interaction but also because they promoted students’ intellectual development. To what 79 80 | the early practice of coeducation extent women did or did not participate in these activities is important to the study of land-grant gendered relations. Sometimes women were excluded from all-male societies, but in other instances, women encountered acceptance and inclusion. They even actively settled their own membership in mixed societies, in spite of initial discrimination by male members. Even more surprising was that some women shunned mixed-gender societies in favor of female-only clubs, even when they had the option of joining the men. Thus, through literary society membership, land-grant women actively negotiated the extent of their own gendered separation and inclusion . Because of the complexity of this gender-mixing, the literary societies are a microcosm for the larger understanding of gender interaction and separation on campuses. Once women had established their presence in literary societies—both mixed and all-female—debate proceedings in these societies became important avenues for women to develop intellectually, socially, and politically. Yet within that advancement lay subtle forces for gender segregation, through the use of language, ideology, and physical separation. Women’s entrance into debate proceedings was at times gradual and reluctant, especially considering the domination of male students in this activity. And still, women debated. Debates gave women students the advantage of finding their own political voice within a mixed-gender environment, thus eventually leading them into other areas of public debate and political activism. literary societies Literary societies were an important part of campus intellectual life in the nineteenth century. Most college students after the Civil War considered participation in a literary society a necessity for both academic and social success. So significant was literary activity to students that almost every land-grant university claimed at least one formal, organized society within one month after the school’s opening. Societies were formed according to constitutional rules, as found in various published guidebooks on organizational procedures, such as Robert’s Rules of Order and Smith’s Diagram of Parliamentary Rules. Founding students chartered a society, then opened it for prospective members who had to show a willingness to attend weekly meetings, participate fully in the literary activities, and be prompt and orderly. Dues were as much as two dollars per year, but expenses could the early practice of coeducation | 81 be paid from members’ fines for tardiness, absence, disorderly behavior, and nonperformance of duty. Each society had elected officers, including a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. Literary societies met once a week, in rooms of the main university building , usually called Old Main, Administration Building, or University Hall. Societies often met on Friday or Saturday nights where students found their foremost social, political, and academic interaction. The presiding officer brought each week’s meeting to order, with dues called...