From The Vidette (Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois), Tuesday, May 28, 1963 --
Debate Team's First Meeting Held In Candlelight Years Ago
By LINDA BLOYDFriday evening, October 9, 1857, just four days after Illinois State first opened her doors, 14 serious-minded male students met by the light of a single flickering candle in a small classroom on the third floor of Bloomington’s Major’s Hall. Their purpose as expressed by their leaders, Harvey J. Dutton and Charles Irons, was to found a debating society which would "extend social relations and elevate moral character and intellectual attainments.”Thus began the Normal Debating Society later to be known as the Wrightonians (or more familiarly as the "Wrights”). . . .
Harvey James Dutton (1836-1928) was my 2xg-granduncle. I blog about him more than anyone, but he was a great man and there is a lot written about him. And like a lot of family historians, I go first for the low hanging fruit.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin W. Walker
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