About the Society and Us
The Snyder Society
(top row) Storm Wright, Tyler McMaster, Stephen Hajcak
(bottom row) Debbie Doughtery, Cameron Wertz, Kathy Evans
The Snyder Society
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The Snyder Society is a re-imagining of the Philomathean Literary Society that was one of two Literary Societies at Kutztown University in the late 1800's. Although the how and why's behind it's dismantling remain a mystery, the archives are full of the remains of what it was and what it could be again.
The society was primarily liberal arts students, but not exclusively. If instituted, this will be a group of Kutztown University students joined together by their passion for history and literature.
What started as intrigue about the ghost stories of
Kutztown's Old Main building. We set out to find the truth behind Mary Snyder and her alleged haunting of the upper floors of the oldest building on campus. Throughout the investigation, we uncovered the true story behind Mary's death and that she was a vital part of the Philomathean Literary Society. This discovery reinforced our desire to once again reinstate the Kutztown chapter of the society, under the new title "the Snyder Society."
About The Founders
In the fall of 2017, we started our final project for Dr. Kathleen Hartman's Writing for the Workplace class. What started as two separate groups of English and professional writing majors quickly became one. Tasked with finding a token from KU's past, we set out into the archives searching for inspiration. What we thought would be just another assignment surprised us all with a passion to re-instate a long forgotten piece of the University's history and bring back a more modern version of the Philomathean Literary Society.
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The Snyder Society founders consist of:
Storm Wright, a professional writing major from Ephrata, Pa.
Kathy Evans, an professional writing major from Douglassville, Pa.
Stephen Hajcak, a professional writing major and history minor from Summit Hill, Pa.
Tyler McMaster, an English major and a professional writing and women and gender studies minor from Perkasie, Pa.
Debbie Dougherty, an English major and professional writing minor from Coplay, Pa.
Cameron Wertz, a professional writing major and psychology and German minor from Pine Grove, Pa.
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Acknowledgements
A special thanks to:
Sue Cerzny, the archivist at Rohrbach Library, Kutztown, PA.
Dave Johnson, our tour guide through the fourth and fifth floors of Old Main.
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Thank you for helping us find information about Mary Snyder and the history of the campus. As well as the support and encouragement.
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Thank you Dr. Kathleen Hartman for not only assigning this project in the fall of 2017, but the opportunity to present our work at the KU Composition Conference on April 18, 2018. As well as all the support and encouragement throughout this process.
