University of Pennsylvania. Zelosophic Society

The Zelosophic Society was formed in May 1829 as a response to the Philomathean Society, an exclusive literary society formed on campus in 1813. Commonly called "Zelo," the society's purpose was to discuss literature and conduct debates (much like the charge of its counterpart group).

Debates against their rival the Philomathean Society, began in 1847 and drew large crowds to various Philadelphia auditoriums. On the eve of the Civil War, for example, a debate on slavery took place while pistols lay atop the lectern between the debaters. In 1862, a committee of Zelo members, including J.M. Power Wallace (twice treasurer, Class of 1865) succeeded in forming a union with similar literary organizations on other college campuses, including Columbia, Brown, and Lafayette. The umbrella group, called the United States Literary League was the first co-operative group of its kind in America, but it seems to have only lasted through 1866.

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