The Union Philosophical Society or UPS is the seventh oldest collegiate organization in the United States, and one of the three oldest 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...

. Founded at Dickinson College

Dickinson College

Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...

 in 1789, it took the white rose and the Roman goddess Minerva

Minerva

Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...

 as its primary symbols. The Union Philosophical Society adopted a badge in 1791, designed as a Maltese Cross

Maltese cross

The Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...

 with a wreath of white roses about the letters 'U.P.S.'. The white rose of this society is responsible for the white color adopted as one of the honorary colors of Dickinson College (the red rose of the Belles Lettres Society is responsible for the red color adopted as the other honorary color of Dickinson College). This was in opposition to Belles Lettres, the sixth oldest collegiate organization in the US, and founded three years before UPS. Throughout the college's history and only discontinued in the mid-20th century, Dickinson students had to join either Belles Lettres or Union Philosophical Society to participate in other extracurricular collegiate activities. Belles Lettres and UPS developed a rivalry that continues to this day.

UPS and Belles Lettres not only were among the first literary societies but actively engaged in the collection of literary texts. In 1791, the school's library held only a few thousand books. UPS and Belles Lettres began collecting books in opposition to each other and each organization had its own library located in Old West. Eventually, the two libraries together reached almost 10,000 books, and both libraries were donated to Dickinson College.

UPS was disbanded in the mid-1970s due to lack of participation. However, on October 12, 2004, the organization was revived and is active once again on the Dickinson campus. UPS is currently a philosophical debating society, inspired by the debate contests that used to be held yearly between UPS and Belles Lettres.

Denny Hall

The Union Philosophical Society was permitted to meet in Professor of History, Robert Davidson's recitation room in Denny Hall. During the 1904 fire of Denny Hall, many early records of the society were destroyed. In 1791, the Union Philosophical Society began to gather a collection of books. As the collection grew, the Union Philosophical Society, as well as the Belles Lettres Society were granted a small space on the third floor of West College to use as a library. As both societies continued to collect books, the space was soon overcrowded. In 1886, the Bosler Memorial Hall was completed and the collections of both literary societies, along with the collections of the college were kept in the new library, Bosler. These collections were absorbed by the greater Dickinson library, now Waidner-Spahr Library. While the Belles Lettres library room was entirely destroyed in a 1984 renovation of Denny, the UPS library room now stands as Denny 317 (also called the Temple of Minerva). The room is framed with stained glass windows that prominently display the UPS crest as well as commemorate the fire that destroyed Denny Hall.

External links

• Dickinsonian article describing the revival of UPS