Linonia is a literary and debating society founded in 1753 at Yale University. It is the university's second-oldest secret society.

History

Linonia was founded on September 12, 1753, as Yale College's second literary and debating society, after Crotonia, founded in 1738. By the late eighteenth century, all incoming freshmen became members either of Linonia or its rival society, Brothers in Unity, which was founded in 1768. Other debating societies arose throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, notably Calliope in 1819, but were relatively short-lived. By the end of the Civil War, the social dominance of Linonia and Brothers began to decline. Both folded in the 1870s. The debating society system ultimately evolved into the Yale Union and later in 1934, the Yale Political Union. Linonia was reconstituted multiple times throughout the 20th century, with its current form taking the shape of Yale's other undergraduate secret societies. Each year's delegation of twenty is drawn from students in the senior undergraduate class, Yale Law School, Yale Graduate School, and Yale School of Management. Linonia is the only Yale secret society known to tap students beyond the undergraduates. Each delegate is selected by unanimous vote among Linonia alumni and delegates. Linonia participates in Yale's tap night during the second week of April. Unlike many secret societies whose focus is the members' biographies, Linonia meetings often involve debate on intellectual and political topics.

Linonia and Sterling Memorial Library

In 1871, Linonia and Brothers donated their literary collections to the university's new central library, then shut down. Both societies had kept substantial collections of works not deemed suitable by the Yale faculty, which did not teach English literature until the late nineteenth century. The donation is commemorated in the Linonia and Brothers Reading Room at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library. The reading room contains the Linonia and Brothers (L&B) collection, a travel collection, a collection devoted to medieval history, and a selection of new books recently added to Sterling's collections. The library is undergoing renovation to be completed in 2023. The Linonian Society, Brothers in Unity, and Calliope are commemorated with courtyards in Branford College.

Notable members