Finding aid for the Philosophical Club of Cleveland Records

History of the Philosophical Club of Cleveland

The Philosophical Club of Cleveland, Ohio was established in 1902 by Charles S. Howe, president of Case School, Professor Herbert A. Aikens of Western Reserve University, and Professors Arthur S. Wright and Charles S. Benjamin of Case School. Mr. Howe, and many of the organizers of the club had been members of the Logos Club (later called the Cleveland Council of Sociology), but had become dissatisfied with that body when it grew into a rather larger, impersonal organization.

Like the council of Sociology, the Philosophical Club provided a forum for delivering papers on topics of current interest. However, the Philosophical Club limited its membership to thirty individuals in order to preserve the intimate atmosphere that had attended the early meetings of the Council of Sociology, and to provide for a more detailed discussion of the papers presented.

The president of the Club, Dr. John Langly, presented the first paper at the Club's inaugural meeting in November 1902. His topic, and those of subsequent speakers, related primarily to literature, science, and the humanities and the social sciences. Papers relating to political or religious topics were discouraged during the Club's early years of existence. However, the taboos on these subjects were broken in the 1930s and 1950s.

Similarly, the Club's insistence on a thirty member limit was broken in the 1960s. However, its goal of restricting membership to a highly educated group of people has been maintained.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Philosophical Club of Cleveland

Scope and Content

The Philosophical Club of Cleveland Records, 1902-1962 and undated, consist of constitution, minute books, by-laws, financial accounts, correspondence, membership rosters, historical sketches, and copies of papers delivered at meetings.

This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio, in the twentieth century. These papers relate to a variety of topics, many of which were of great interest to the erudite tastes of its members, and others that related to such broad areas of interest as the Great Depression, labor and capital, the Soviet Union, the Cold War, and the creation of the state of Israel. Others related to local Cleveland topics, such as the Van Sweringen brothers and governmental reform.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

All photographs have been removed to the WRHS Photograph and Print Collection.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3591 Philosophical Club of Cleveland Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Philosophical Club of Cleveland in 1972.

Processing Information

Processed by Joyce E. Taipale in 1974.

Other Finding Aid

A list of the papers delivered at Philosophical Club meetings (1935-1962) is available at the Reference Desk of the WRHS Research Library.

Detailed Description of The Collection