IV. Membership Rolls,, 1825-1866, 1876-1890

Summary: This series includes lists of honorary members and roll books of active student members. There is greater and more consistent documentation of the honorary members, with six separate lists dating from 1831 up to 1866. There are only two student roll books; these are from the 1860's and 1870's. This greater emphasis on honorary members may be a result of the pride and importance attached to honorary members. The careful preservation of the correspondence with the honorary members tends to confirm this view. As for the lack of consistent registers of the student members, the preponderance of their names in other records of the society might have made such a list seem unnecessary. Dues books, account books, library book of borrowers, and early versions of the constitution all list student members. Another source of information on student members are the minutes, which list the officers, active participants, and those absent from any given meeting. Further, new student members for the semester are reported in Communications to the Peithessophian Society, found in the Correspondence series. Starting in 1871 membership lists can be found in the Scarlet Letter, the Rutgers College yearbook.