Calliopean Society
Encyclopedia
The Calliopean Society is a literary and debating society founded at Yale College in 1819 by a group of members of Linonia dissatisfied by the result of the election for that society's president. Its name refers to Calliope
, first and wisest of the muses, the muse of Epic Poetry, and daughter of Zeus
and Mnemosyne
(memory).
Calliopean was distinguished at Yale from its rival societies Linonia and Brothers-In-Unity by a membership drawn significantly from the Southern states. Calliopean eventually suspended its activities as sectional tensions increased prior to the War Between the States. It was subsequently revived and has since lapsed into hibernation repeatedly, periods of inactivity typically coinciding with major wars.
Calliopean was last revived in the aftermath of WWII.
For a bit over a decade from the mid 1950s through the early 1960s, the Calliopean Society was the lead organization and intellectual center of Conservatism at Yale, conducting a program of debates and meetings featuring prominent guest speakers, and maintaining its own library. M. Stanton Evans, Class of 1955, later a prominent syndicated columnist and conservative activist, was one of the presidents of Calliopean during that period.
In the mid-1960s, when the Party of the Right
of the Yale Political Union
(whose membership commonly overlapped with Calliopean) took over the role of central conservative organizational entity, Calliopean officership became a distinction passed down among prominent libertarian leaders of the POR.
Calliopean was remodeled into a Senior Honorary Society. Membership was limited to members of the Yale College senior class, but officers (appointed by the president) could be chosen from any class. Membership was awarded by the Calliopean president and director (on a non-political basis)as a form of recognition of exceptional qualities of spirit, intelligence, and talent.
Calliopean became increasingly active during the 1970s during the presidency of Martin D. "Chip" Gatter, Class of 1974, holding annual parties and special events in unusual locations in accordance with a cryptic constitutional provision permitting official meetings to be held only "on street corners and in dark alleys" and adopting a program of promoting "intellectual diversity at any cost."
For many decades, the Calliopean Society had no physical location, listing itself as located at "1985 Yale Station, New Haven, Connecticut 06520." Its 1985 box number had been chosen to refer to the inevitable victory of the West over the collectivist totalitarianism described in George Orwell
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
.
During much of the 1970s and 1980s, Calliopean was given by the university use of the attic space in Bingham Hall equipped with an old observatory dome.
The Calliopean Society is commemorated on the Yale University Campus by Calliope Court, one of three small courtyards within Branford College.
Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
, first and wisest of the muses, the muse of Epic Poetry, and daughter of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
and Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne , source of the word mnemonic, was the personification of memory in Greek mythology. This titaness was the daughter of Gaia and Uranus and the mother of the nine Muses by Zeus:* Calliope * Clio * Erato...
(memory).
Calliopean was distinguished at Yale from its rival societies Linonia and Brothers-In-Unity by a membership drawn significantly from the Southern states. Calliopean eventually suspended its activities as sectional tensions increased prior to the War Between the States. It was subsequently revived and has since lapsed into hibernation repeatedly, periods of inactivity typically coinciding with major wars.
Calliopean was last revived in the aftermath of WWII.
For a bit over a decade from the mid 1950s through the early 1960s, the Calliopean Society was the lead organization and intellectual center of Conservatism at Yale, conducting a program of debates and meetings featuring prominent guest speakers, and maintaining its own library. M. Stanton Evans, Class of 1955, later a prominent syndicated columnist and conservative activist, was one of the presidents of Calliopean during that period.
In the mid-1960s, when the Party of the Right
Party of the Right
Party of the Right may refer to:* The Party of the Right , a defunct conservative party* The Party of the Right , an elective membership intellectual, fraternal, and political society which holds debates and participates in the Yale Political Union* The Party of Rights , a Croatian political party...
of the Yale Political Union
Yale Political Union
The Yale Political Union , a debate society now the largest student organization at Yale University, was founded in 1934 by Professor Alfred Whitney Griswold , to enliven the university's political culture of the time. It was modelled on the Cambridge Union Society and Oxford Union...
(whose membership commonly overlapped with Calliopean) took over the role of central conservative organizational entity, Calliopean officership became a distinction passed down among prominent libertarian leaders of the POR.
Calliopean was remodeled into a Senior Honorary Society. Membership was limited to members of the Yale College senior class, but officers (appointed by the president) could be chosen from any class. Membership was awarded by the Calliopean president and director (on a non-political basis)as a form of recognition of exceptional qualities of spirit, intelligence, and talent.
Calliopean became increasingly active during the 1970s during the presidency of Martin D. "Chip" Gatter, Class of 1974, holding annual parties and special events in unusual locations in accordance with a cryptic constitutional provision permitting official meetings to be held only "on street corners and in dark alleys" and adopting a program of promoting "intellectual diversity at any cost."
For many decades, the Calliopean Society had no physical location, listing itself as located at "1985 Yale Station, New Haven, Connecticut 06520." Its 1985 box number had been chosen to refer to the inevitable victory of the West over the collectivist totalitarianism described in George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
.
During much of the 1970s and 1980s, Calliopean was given by the university use of the attic space in Bingham Hall equipped with an old observatory dome.
The Calliopean Society is commemorated on the Yale University Campus by Calliope Court, one of three small courtyards within Branford College.