Named for Clio, the muse of history in Greek mythology, the Clionian Debating Society was formed in 1847 by a group of free people of color in Antebellum-era Charleston. They were professionals and businessmen of good standing, who worked as tailors, merchants, ministers, and the like. During the organization's ten-year history, it debated nearly 100 questions among 55 members, honorary members, and supporters, all listed by name. members were exclusively male, but women are recorded as having contributed financial support and books for the Society's library.
Members did not debate the topic of slavery, but they were keenly interested in questions of historical importance, such as whether there are any benefits to riches, and whether it was wisdom or folly that led Caesar to cross the Rubicon.
The Society disbanded in 1858 due to the "many difficulties and discouragements under which the Society labors," particularly the "present political disadvantages," that existed for free people of color in South Carolina on the cusp of Civil War.
Eventually the two volumes of the Society's minute books made their way to the A. W. Dellquest Book Company in August, GA, where the first copy was acquired by the bookseller John M. Greer in Charleston. It was then acquired by the Charleston Library Society in 1919, while the later volume came to be held by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University.
Free people of color were a small but significant portion of Charleston's antebellum population. Their numbers never reached more than 2% of the state's population, and free people of color mostly lived in urban areas and held professional occupations like carpenters, tailors, merchants, and craftsmen. The number of people who were de facto free was probably higher than the recorded numbers of de jure free people, given South Carolina's infamously difficult manumission laws that made it almost impossible to emancipate slaves in the years following the Nat Turner Rebellion. Many free people, including members of the Clionian Debating Society, were known to "own" some of their own family members and friends for their protection.
In the years leading up to the Civil War they were often caught between racial and familial ties to the enslaved, their status as free persons, and suspicions of disloyalty by white neighbors. This racial element was even more complicated for the high number of free persons who were mixed race. Concerned about their fate in the coming upheaval, many threw their lot in with the secessionists to protect themselves and their social standing. Whatever side they fell on, these individuals never experienced full legal equality in Charleston in the antebellum period. They could not testify in court or move freely in many public spaces like churches or medical facilities.
"Friendly societies" or "fellowship societies" began in late 18th century England as a form of mutual aid, similar to the modern concept of insurance but with a greater social aspect. Members would pay annual dues, and in return would receive support when they were sick or injured, burial in the society's cemetery, care for their widows and children if they were to die, and often educational opportunities, loans, networking opportunities, and general socio-economic support.
Friendly societies played an important role in 19th century Black Charleston, especially for free people during the antebellum period and people who were mixed race. These societies served an important role as an early form of health and life insurance, and a cooperative financial institution for Black communities. During the antebellum period, many free African Americans lived in an uncertain social limbo; while some were allowed to worship in segregated spaces within white churches, Black Charlestonians were almost universally excluded from their graveyards. In response, groups of freedmen formed mutual aid organizations, known as burial societies, to create their own cemeteries and help defray burial costs. Many of these societies continued to operate after the abolition of slavery as important social institutions for Black autonomy and celebration of cultural identity, some of which are still active today.
Though the Clionian Debating Society was not a mutual aid organization, its educational and social mission dovetailed with these groups, and many of its members were also involved in fellowship societies like the Brown Fellowship Society. Many Clionian Debating Society members were buried in their cemetery on Pitt Street, which was later moved to Cunnington Avenue. Burial societies also historically reflected the complex racial hierarchy of antebellum Charleston. Membership of some groups was originally exclusive to wealthier, lighter-skinned people of color who were more likely to be land-owners, entrepreneurs, and even slaveholders.