Are women beneficial to society?
That’s the subject up for debate in St. Johnsbury.

The St. Johnsbury Lyceum was holding a debate on this day in 1842. During the mid-1800s, lyceums were organized throughout Vermont to discuss and promote public education. These groups organized readings, debates and public discussion designed to instigate thought.

Up for debate on this day? "Is the influence of woman upon society in the aggregate salutary, or not?"

Whether women were deemed beneficial remains unknown, but William Dickinson, Jacob Benton, Charles Fairbanks and John Paddock argued yes, while Dr. Morrill Stevens, Asa French, J.P. Foster, and Aaron Farnham argued no.

Image courtesy Images of America: St. Johnsbury by Claire Dunne Johnson.

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