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The origin of the Washington Society dates back to the glory days of the Jurassic Period of the Mesozoic Era. It was during this time that great plant-eating dinosaurs roamed the Earth, feeding on lush growths of ferns and palm-like cycads and bennettitaleans. Meanwhile, smaller but vicious carnivores stalked the great herbivores. The oceans were full of fish, squid, and coiled ammonites, plus great ichthyosaurs and the long-necked plesiosaurs. Vertebrates first took to the air, like the mighty pterosaurs and the first true birds. The supercontinent Pangaea began to break up and disperse itself across the Earth's surface, sending a big chunk of land to the very spot where Thomas Jefferson's decomposed old ass lies buried today. And it is on this same chunk of land, a few miles away, that Mr. Jefferson's University sits, home to the Washington Literary Society and Debating Union.
The earliest roots of the Wash can be traced back to 1831, during the eighth session of the University of Virginia. It was at this time that somewhere between 15 and 20 students, concerned about the quality and the advancement of oratory at UVA, founded the Association for Mutual Improvement in the Art of Oratory. This small club had a very shaky existence until 1835, when it merged with the Academics Society. "This new body they called the Washington Society, that its name, recalling the deeds of the 'Illustrious Father of American Liberty,' might animate them with the desire of using the power there attained for the good of their country, and the weal of their country men.
Then and thus the Washington Society originated, and thus did she spread her banner to the breeze. The records show that her history has been an eventful one - her ups and downs many. Several times has her very existence been imperiled by discord, but she has been able, on every such occasion, to slough off the discordant spirits, and has only wrapped closer around her the mantle of brotherly love. She has also had to contend with all the disadvantages usually attendant upon the situation of a younger sister; but such trials have only resulted in the attainment of a vigorous and hardy maturity, and she can now bid defiance to all adversaries.
The early days of the Wash saw meetings held in the Proctor's Office, with members being charged an "annual tax" of one dollar for membership. The Wash had no true home until 1845, when Messrs. N. H. Massie and John L. Cochran procured a room for meetings. But even this permanent home did not bring stability to the Washington Society. Deserters left to form the Philomathean Society in 1849 and the Parthenon Society in 1852. But these societies were stupid things, and their existences soon came to an end, while the Wash continued its rocky growth. But on April 20th, 1861, three days after Virginia voted to secede from the Union, the Washington Society was forced to adjourn, to meet again only at the call of the President. The Wash donated its funds, 200 dollars, to the Governor of Virginia for the "defense of the State in its present war with the United States.
During the Civil War, old members of the Wash and Jeff met informally in Washington Hall, calling themselves the University Literary Society. But this was obviously a futile existence, and the absence of the real Washington Society caused a darkness to descend on UVA - a darkness not seen since the days of the caveman. The art of oratory was lost, and communication was reduced to grunting. People walked blindly through life, without purpose and without inspiration. They stopped wearing underpants and forgot how to read, and it seemed as though all was lost. But fortunately, the Civil War came to an end and in 1865 the Washington Society called itself to order once again, ending what is now known as the First, or Minor, Interregnum, in which the Wash did not hold meetings. The world once again was a livable place. The skies turned from red to a brilliant blue, the rivers flowed freely, and the birds found their song. Yes, it was a good time to be alive.
In 1869, with surplus funds and a 500-dollar appropriation from the Board of Visitors, Washington Hall was expanded to its present dimensions so that it could accommodate the growing membership. The 1870s and 1880s are notable for the frenzied competition between and within the Washington and Jefferson Societies. During this period, membership flourished in both organizations, and reached its peak in the late 1880s. But the 1890s saw a rising interest in intercollegiate athletic sports and a subsequent decline in participation in debate and oratory. Hoping to quell this loss of interest in the oratorical arts, the Board of Visitors established the Rector's and Visitor's Debating Medal in 1896. In that same year, Dr. James A. Harrison provided a trophy to be contested for by the Washington and Jefferson Societies. The Washington Society won the first, the last, and most of the in-between debates for this trophy that was the predecessor to today's Harrison Cup. Perhaps the most beneficial and lasting contribution of the Washington Society was its joint proposal with the Jeff to the State Teachers' Association in 1913 for a speaking league of all public and private secondary schools in the state. This proposal was adopted, and formed what has now become the debate and forensics section of the Virginia High School League, which now is a huge organization with thousands of high school participants each year.
In the economic depression that followed the great stock market crash of 1929, the Washington Society resolved to adjourn, to meet again only at the President's call until such time as the membership felt that conditions warranted a return to more regular proceedings. In the period that followed, known as the Second, or Major, Interregnum, members of the Society met very informally and infrequently, and could hardly be said to exist at all. This period of inactivity lasted about fifty years, ending by all accounts in the Fall of 1979, when Mr. J. D. Henson, a former Vice President of the Jefferson Society, spoke with Mr. J. R. Davis, then Vice President of the Jefferson Society, concerning the state of oratory at the University. Mr. Davis noted to Mr. Henson that the Jefferson Society, though then the sole literary society at the University, once competed with the defunct Columbian and Patrick Henry Societies, as well as with the inactive Washington Society. Mr. Davis noted with some regret that the Jeff had no rivals against whom to exercise its oratorical powers, confident that the Jefferson Society would triumph in any such encounter.
Some time later, Mr. Henson, along with J. Mitchell Aberman of Rock Hill, South Carolina and Stephen L. Huntoon of Arlington, Virginia, was involved in the preparation of a brief to be argued before the honor committee. During one break from their work on the brief, the three discussed the state of the Jefferson Society. All three, though loyal to the Jeff, were concerned with its restrictive membership practices as well as the decline in debating in favor of guest speakers. These were topics of longstanding concern with Aberman, Henson, and Huntoon, who as former officers of the Jeff had strong feelings for the organization and concern for its direction. The conversation was prompted by the recent rejection of Richard Nichols Randolph from membership in the Jefferson Society, notwithstanding his successful completion of all membership requirements and the fact that he was a descendant of Thomas Jefferson himself. Recalling his conversation with J. R. Davis, Mr. Henson suggested creating a rival literary society to awaken the Jefferson Society from its oratorical atrophy through friendly competition. Recalling that the Washington Society, though dormant, was still technically in existence, Aberman, Henson, and Huntoon (later known as the "Revivers" or the "Jefferson Triumvirate") chose thus to awaken the Washington Society from its slumber.
Mr. Huntoon secured a copy of the constitution of the Washington Society, only to discover that membership had to be bestowed upon them by a member of the Washington Society. With the added interest of Mr. Randolph (who was not admitted into the Jeff), the four men together located Mr. R. E. Heischman of Charlottesville, Virginia, an active member of the Washington Society from 1923 until 1925, who administered the oath of membership that night, Saturday, November 16th, 1979. And so it was on this evening that the Washington Society convened for the first time in fifty years. Ever true to the constitution, Aberman, Henson, Huntoon, and Randolph, like the four horsemen of the apocalypse, strode with thunderous step to the East Range and met, as tradition dictated, at Washington Hall. The Hall had long ago been reclaimed by the University and occupied by others. The doors were locked, but the steps were not and so, as if in fulfillment of a long dormant prophesy, the Washington Society convened on the steps of Washington Hall, beneath the granite plaque which simply stated: "Washington Literary Society 1869." The Washington Society had returned.
Many of today's traditions came about during this period of refounding. Meetings were held on Thursdays instead of Saturdays, and the place of meeting was moved to Jefferson Hall, seeing as the steps of Washington Hall were not the most comfortable or glamorous location. The annual oratorical and literary contests were established, and women were first inducted into the Society, a move regretted to this very day. Just kidding. The fall of 1980 marked the first election of a female president, Miss Leslie Eliason of Washington, D.C. The Washington Society also adopted the Greek letters Sigma Beta Phi in the fall of 1980, the year that saw the Washington Society return to full membership and activity at the University. Recalling the classical ideal of sound mind and sound body, the Washington Society also challenged the Jeff to both a debate and a tug-of-war on the Lawn between the statues of Washington and Jefferson. The rules of the tug-of-war, also known as the "Pull," devised by Mr. Huntoon, required one society to pull the other nine feet to win, provided that each time one Society advanced the rope three feet the successful society had to drink a full mug of beer. The Wash prevailed in the Pull much to the dismay of J. R. Davis, who was then the President of the Jeff. Davis, who had welcomed inter-society competition with confidence the previous year, was further dismayed when the Washington Society also won the debate on the proposition that the United States should annex Canada and Mexico.
And since this date, the Wash has become the Society that it is today, full of tradition and yet still innovative - able to stay in touch with the past while still able to relate to the kids of today with their baggy pants and ragged haircuts. It be sweet, yo.
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