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names were added to its roster. These included more R-MWC faculty, physicians, and businessmen, and also a judge, a retired Episcopal bishop, and a Presbyterian minister.
The name “Sphex” has always been of intriguing interest. To avoid misunderstanding, it should be pronounced carefully. At its inception the organization was called the “Specs” Club, with the explanation that the letters of the name stood for: Social, Philosophy, Education, Civics, and Science. Very shortly after the first meeting, “Specs” had become “Sphex,” probably because someone had discovered that “Sphex” is a Greek word for a stinging insect. Tradition holds that this name change came about because Sphex described the stinging comments to which members’ papers were sometimes subjected in the discussion sessions that followed their presentation. There is little evidence of this supposition, neither in a reading through the club’s minutes, which remain remarkably complete for its entire century, nor in my personal experience as a thirteen-year member and secretary for the past five years.
The club’s initial paper was delivered by Dr. F. W. Martin, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Martin’s paper was titled “Science as the Rationalizing Element of the Curriculum.” Today, when a new member is elected, he or she is assigned to the end of the club’s current sequence of speakers. Since there are twelve meetings each year, novices normally have at least two years to listen to the papers of their more senior colleagues before presenting one of their own.
The club’s first annual dinner to which guests were
invited took place on January 31, 1913. It was held at the original Piedmont Club, a beautiful facility now demolished, which stood at Tenth and Church streets. The speaker was Dr. Henry Lewis Smith, president of Washington & Lee University; his subject was “A Worldwide Transformation.” It is difficult to tell from the minutes of the meeting what that transformation was supposed to be. However, the minutes do report that in addition to Sphex Club members, twenty-two guests were present. Many of them joined in the discussion after Dr. Smith’s presentation, as guests at the annual dinner do today.
The Sphex Club’s guest speakers continue to be people with state, regional, and sometimes even national reputations in their fields. This is rather remarkable, considering that (so far as is known) the club has never paid an honorarium to any of them—only expenses. This speaks well for the persuasive power of the club’s members and of their connections.
The interior of the Piedmont Club on Church Street, where the first annual dinner of the Sphex Club was held. Courtesy of LynchburgHistory.com.
The Sphex Club of Lynchburg
AT A GLANCE
The club was founded as a “town-gown” institution on October 5, 1910. Co-founders were Dr. Mosby G. Perrow Sr., Lynchburg’s first director of public health, and Dr. F. W. Martin, professor of chemistry and vice president of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. The club’s purpose was to provide a forum for its members to read papers they had written on any subject of their choosing.
Guests are often invited to meetings by members—usually those presenting a paper. Each year, there are twelve meetings every other week, starting in September and ending in May, with a break between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
Early in the Sphex Club’s history an annual meeting was established. Usually in the spring,
a dinner is held at a local club, hotel, or church, and an outside speaker of regional, state, and sometimes national reputation is obtained for the event. This annual meting, to which members are encouraged to bring guests, is the only Sphex gathering that might be considered “social.”
From its founding in 1910, the Sphex Club was all male and all white for almost eighty years. These barriers were eliminated in 1989, although membership is still by invitation. Vacancies
in the currently authorized thirty-five–active– member limit may be filled by the nomination of candidates by any member. Candidates must be elected by two thirds of the active membership. Emeritus status may be awarded to members “of long service and advanced years” who request it. Emeritus members may attend meetings but are no longer bound by an attendance requirement or the obligation to present papers.
FALL/WINTER 2010 