The Philolexian Society of Columbia University
George Templeton Strong
Diarist of Civil War-era New York (four volumes, four million words); treasurer of the U.S.
From Notable Alumni · Foundation editorial
Diarist of Civil War-era New York (four volumes, four million words); treasurer of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. George Templeton Strong (CC 1838) began a diary as a Columbia sophomore in 1835, fueled by a cup or two of coffee, and kept it for the next four decades until it ran to roughly four million words. The Civil War volumes, in particular, are the document everyone with a serious interest in Lincoln-era New York eventually quotes; he also did the actual unromantic work of keeping the U.S. Sanitary Commission solvent. The diary is dry, Episcopal, snobbish, generous, opinionated, and indispensable.
Vital
- Full name
- George Templeton Strong
Columbia & the Society
- Columbia
- Class of 1838 (Columbia College)
- Society role
- President of the Philolexian Society (per 1860 Constitution and By-Laws, Presidents-in-order-of-first-election list, pp. 28-29 — named as "George Templeton Strong").
Works (14)
- 1835 The Diary of George Templeton Strong · Diary, 4 vols., ~4M words
- 1988 Strong on Music: The New York Music Scene in the Days of George Templeton Strong, Volume I: Resonances, 1836-1849 · Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988
- 1989 The Hone and Strong Diaries of Old Manhattan, · New York: Abbeville Press, 1989
- 1995 Strong on Music: The New York Music Scene in the Days of George Templeton Strong, Volume II: Reverberations, 1850-1856 · Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995
- 1999 Strong on Music: The New York Music Scene in the Days of George Templeton Strong, Volume III: Repercussions, 1857-1862 · Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999
- 1838 [Brief outline of what the United States Sanitary Commission has done and is doing
- 1838 [Diary
- 1838 Catalogue of the books, manuscripts, etc
- 1838 Catalogue of the books, manuscripts, etc., of the late George T. Strong, Esq. ...
- 1838 Diary of the Civil War, 1860-1865
- 1838 Incipit libellus de ludo scachorum & de dictis factisq[ue] nobiliu[m] viroru[m] philosophorum et antiquorum prologus libelli
- 1838 Letter
- 1838 Origin, struggles and principles of the U.S. Sanitary Commission
- 1838 The execution of iustice in England for maintenaunce of publique and Christian peace
Primary sources
The member's own writing
Primary-source writing The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Volume 4
After dinner to anniversary (66th) of the old Philolexian Society at Academy of Music. Crowd. Large percentage of fresh young girls, as pretty as possible, and all in high giggle. Stayed out two or three 'orations.' I thought them creditable — healthy and manly in tone, or at least far less crude and sophomorical than I expected, and clothed in very fair English. A horrible doubt occurred to me whether they were not perhaps privily and fraudulently polished up for public display by outside experts????!
The Annals of the Philolexian Society (1912)
The Annals of the Philolexian Society (1912) Leaf / page 43
Named in The Annals of the Philolexian Society (1912) at the referenced leaf.
Maxwell, Catalogue of Columbia Graduates (1916)
Maxwell, Catalogue of Columbia Graduates (1916) Leaf / page 15
Named in Maxwell, Catalogue of Columbia Graduates (1916) at the referenced leaf.
Maxwell, Catalogue of Columbia Graduates (1916) Leaf / page 135
Named in Maxwell, Catalogue of Columbia Graduates (1916) at the referenced leaf.
Maxwell, Catalogue of Columbia Graduates (1916) Leaf / page 1000
Named in Maxwell, Catalogue of Columbia Graduates (1916) at the referenced leaf.
The Foundation's research archive
Philolexian Annals 1912, Roll of Members
G. Templeton Strong · Confidence: CERTAIN
External references
Community-maintained record
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