“(Not So) Secret: The History of Secret Societies at Smith College” tells the story of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians and the Orangemen, two of the most prominent secret societies at Smith College, from their founding in the 1890s to eventual outlaw in the 1940s. Beyond the secret societies is a question of what it meant to be a Smith College student at the time and what was expected of being a Smith College student.
Why were there secret societies at Smith College and what did that mean in the context of the expected image of a Smith student?