Collection of Augustana College debate societies records

Augustana College students established several debate clubs during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, participating in both inter-club and intercollegiate debates. Of those represented in this collection, the first to be established was the Third Class Debating Club, founded in 1889. “Third class” referred to its members’ position at Augustana Academy. An institution from early in Augustana College's history, the Academy prepared students before they entered the college proper. Gladstone Debating Club, one of the longest-lasting debate clubs, was founded at the college a few years later in 1893. Other clubs featured in this collection include the Webster Debating Club, founded in 1902; the Swedish-language Torgny Debatt Förening (Torgny Debating Club), founded in 1904; and the Balfour Debating Club, founded in 1905. The first women’s debating club was the Edward Everett Discussion Club, established in 1913. Other clubs not represented in this collection, including the Antonian Debating Club and the Lincoln Debating Society, existed contemporaneously with some of the above clubs.

The Augustana Debating League, composed of the Gladstone, Webster, and Balfour clubs, was established in 1909 as a student-run authority on debate at Augustana College. The Edward Everett Discussion Club, established later, also became a member of the Debating League in the year of its founding. However, in 1915, dissatisfaction with the exclusively student-controlled Augustana Debating League prompted the establishment of the Board of Control of Forensics, which was composed of both students and faculty.

With the advent of World War I, debate club attendance struggled. Although the practice of debate at Augustana College would later be revived, the major debate clubs never managed to regain their pre-war momentum. Gladstone held its last meeting in 1921, and Webster, which had merged with Balfour in 1918, ended the club in 1922. The Board of Control of Forensics persisted beyond the end of these individual debate clubs, and, later, the Augustana Debate Union emerged as the singular body in charge of debate at Augustana College.