Franklin Society

The Franklin Society is a secret society based at Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, and is one of the oldest student secret societies in the United States. [Mitchell, Martha. (1993). "Franklin Society." Encyclopedia Brunoniana.] Organized in 1824, it was created in a year when such a large class entered Brown University that the two existing literary debating societies, the Philermenian Society and the United Brothers Society could not accommodate the new students. [Mitchell, Martha. (1993). "Fraternities." Encyclopedia Brunoniana.] Notable personages such as Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, and Henry Clay accepted honorary membership into the society during this time. [Mitchell, Martha. (1993). "Franklin Society." Encyclopedia Brunoniana.] The society was founded with the motto: Scientia Potentia Est, meaning “Knowledge is Power.”

Although originally a male-only Society, with Brown’s creation of the Women’s College in 1891, the Franklin Society opened its membership to women as well. [Mitchell, Martha. (1993). "Franklin Society." Encyclopedia Brunoniana.] Reviled by undeserved privilege, the Franklin Society has no tradition of accepting legacies on that sole basis although multiple generations of members have been accepted on their own merit. "It is believed to have been the first society organization in this city to institute a course of popular lectures for the public entertainment and instruction. Through its lectures it has introduced to the citizens some of the most noted scientists of the world." [Stockwell, Thomas B. (1876). "A History of Public Education in Rhode Island: From 1636 to 1876."] Known for the sophistication and intensity of its discussions, the Franklin Society has served as a haven to intellectualism.

History

Ten years after its establishment, in 1834, a select core of students in the Franklin Society recognized that the quality of members had diminished due to competition with the other two literary societies and the new emergence and popularity of Fraternities. [Mitchell, Martha. (1993). "Fraternities." Encyclopedia Brunoniana.] Recognizing a loss of general integrity within the Society, the Franklin Society was dissolved, its library of several hundred volumes was turned over to the College Library, and in 1847 its members were elected in equal proportions into the two older societies. [Mitchell, Martha. (1993). "Franklin Society." Encyclopedia Brunoniana.] Desiring to create a new student society with a heightened emphasis on personal achievement in place of the usual collegiate debauchery, the now incognito Franklin Society in 1834 revised its constitution, deciding to remain largely removed from campus culture. The Franklin Society publicly enjoyed a minimal presence to the Brown Community until the 1970s when rumors first began to spread about the existence of a Brown Secret Society.

Membership

The society begins inducting students in their sophomore year, basing selection on the inductee’s character, achievements, and demonstration of specific personality traits, members having often been described as students of "known integrity and of good conversation." Dogood’s often must have performed a specific feat of note to give cause for their induction.

Coat of Arms

The Franklin Society coat of arms consists of three golden key intersecting each other, with the Brown crest in the background. The Brown crest serves as a tribute to the University, while the three keys are distinctly Franklin symbols. The three keys, partially references to Benjamin Franklin's electricity experiment involving a key and a kite, are said to represent Science, Reason and Action.

Activity

Originally, it seems the Franklin Society was "devoted especially to the study of natural science and the mechanic arts," [ Rhees, William Jones. (1859). Manual of public libraries, institutions and societies in the United States and British provinces of North America.] In 1887, the Franklin Society commissioned "Providence Franklin society. Report of the Committee on the geology of Rhode Island, appointed by the society June 19, 1883." [ The Franklin Society. (1883). Report of the Committee on the geology of Rhode Island. ] As of May 2002, the Franklin Society submitted a petition to several senators in opposition to a bill that would make the cloning of cells for scientific advancement a federal crime. [ The Franklin Society (2002). http://www.discord.org/~lippard/petition.html.]

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