CALLISOPHIA

The Long History of Callisophia at Elmira College

The first issue of Callisophia was published in 1993. The title of this journal was taken from the first women’s society on the Elmira College campus: the Callisophia Society. The Society was dedicated to education for women in the sciences such as astronomy, chemistry, physics, and technical math. The women conducted intense reading seminars and workshops and eventually erected an observatory on campus. In 1886 the Society published their first bi-monthly magazine called The Callisophia, which was dedicated to the sciences. It published articles by women students as well as their professors and important scientific news of the time. Eventually the magazine became more general in content and began to include poetry and stories.