Adelphian

One of the first two original literary societies on campus, Adelphian was inducted in 1893 along with Cornelian. All students were placed randomly into either one or the other upon arrival at the State Normal and Industrial College.

Below are various forms of ephemera pertaining to the Adelphian literary society and all originate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), and are made available through the Special Collections & University Archives.

All items can be clicked upon for additional information regarding their source.

Adelphian Group Photo, 1910

The Adelphian Profile

Society Motto: "Society of Sisters"
Society Emblem: A Greased Pole
Society Colors: Red and Gold

Adelphian Society Song

shoulder to shoulder, hearts filled with devotion

with purpose not aimless, but earnest and true;

united by all of the ties of deep friendship,

we bring, O' Adelphai, our homage to you.

we pledge to you loyalty, long and unending,

loyalty which will be firm, will be sure;

devotion we pledge you which can never perish

and love which through which all coming time will endure.

with courage undaunted, we'll march ever onward,

up heights to be won, along paths strange and new;

but, now and forever, one great band of sisters,

we'll be, O' Adelphai, still loyal to you.

"Adelphia" in Pine Needles, 1930

Adelphian-Aletheian Sweetheart Ball Program, 1950

On many occasions, two literary societies would partner up to organize an event for their groups together, these would likely be formals or dances. Above is a program for one of those events; a "Sweethearts Ball" to celebrate Valentine's Day. The literary society officers would create programs such as this one to give attendees, and it would include a schedule as well as a dance card to be filled out by attending students.

Adelphian Society Pin, 1908

An Adelphian literary society broach, which was likely worn on class jackets or during social engagements of students. The pin is adorned with pearls and has "ADELPHAI" written in Greek letters on the center onyx stone. This particular pin has the name of a student, Annie May Hunter, engraved on the back and is believed to have belonged to her.

Adelphian Society Logo, 1920

A hand drawn insignia of the Adelphian literary society, most likely done by a student working on the 'Pine Needles' yearbook committee of 1920. During the time, there were only three literary societies to date and each had their own logos with their society name written in Greek as well as their "mascot" or "emblem" represented in each one.

Both of the dresses above belonged to an Adelphian literary society member and would typically be worn during graduation ceremonies by society members who were nominated by their fellow members to be marshals. The dress to the left was owned by Miriam Boyd, class of 1907 and the dress to the right was owned by Jean Elizabeth Williams, class of 1950. Here you can see the color remained the same of the literary society marshal dresses over the years, however the style changed drastically. They both serve as a testament to the fashion trends of their time, considering these dresses were used for the more formal engagements. In addition to the traditional white dresses, marshals would also wear colored sashes in accordance to their class year colors, and the girls would commonly pin a small note wrapped in satin to themselves with handwritten messages from their loved ones.

From formals, to plays, to meetings, to tea-time, the campus literary societies did it all! Here are some photos exemplifying the day-to-day life of these very charismatic women of the Woman's College.

"Living Statues", 1900

The Girls Attending A House Meeting, 1949

Putting on plays and theatre productions were something the literary societies loved doing for their fellow sisters and societies. This is a program for a Cinderella production the Adelphian society hosted in 1918!

Adelphian Literary Society Initiation Invite, 1915

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