Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Acadia University Athenaeum Society was established in 1860 by a group of students. The founding Chair was Charles E. Harris. At the second meeting of the Society, the following officers were elected: Maynard Parker Freeman (President), Joseph Freeman Kempton (Vice President), Samuel Bradford Kempton (Critic), John. E. P. Hopper (Corresponding Secretary), James Melbourne Parker (Recording Secretary), H. Harding Bligh (Treasurer). As stated in various early copies of the Constitution, “[t]he object of this Society shall be the improvement of its members in public speaking, in social advancement, and in general literature”. By 1895, the Society had added debating to their objective, and was thereafter alternatively known as the Athenaeum Debating Society. The 1935 Calendar states that the Athenaeum Society sponsored all inter-class, intercollegiate and other debates.
In 1874 the Athenaeum Society issued the first issue of the student publication, the Acadia Athenaeum.
The Athenaeum was predeceased by the Lyceum Society which was established in 1858 and dissolved in 1860.