Ladies' Literary Society.

In 1835, nine women founded the Young Ladies' Association of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute. As the first college women's debate society in the United States, female students established and organized a forum to discuss issues of interest and to learn the skills of oratory and debate denied them in their formal education. Among the early members were such prominent women as Lucy Stone (1818-1893), Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825-1921), Betsey Mix Cowles (1810-1876), and Lucy Stanton (1831-1910). By 1852 the size of the organization promoted differences among the women. The more progressive members withdrew that year and formed the Young Ladies' Lyceum, forerunner of the Aelioian Literary Society. The literary societies remained an integral part of the Oberlin community until World War I. A brief resurgence in popularity revived interest in the literary societies, but by 1948, with declining membership the two rival women's societies were forced to merge. In 1952 the students and alumnae voted to dissolve, declaring that the purpose for which the societies had been created was fulfilled.