The Normal Literary Society was organized October, 1869, with Mr. Augustine Robinette, of Allegany county, as its first president. The number of its members was small at the time, but it steadily increased each year with over a hundred names on its roll by 1902.

The exercises of the Society, being found an important auxillary to the school work, were incorporated into the school program through the request of the members and the consent of the faculty and trustees.

The object of the society is the general improvement of its members, especially in literature and the art of expression. If development along those lines has been successful, it may be considered the essential characteristics of the Normal Society have been fully emphasized.

Among the members of the Normal Literary Society are many of Maryland's best teachers, some outside of the State, who have achieved even a national reputation, and others who are working for honors in medicine, theology, and law.

(abridged from the Alethia, 1902)

The Maryland State Normal School established two student groups in the late 1800s: the Normal Literary Society and the Pestalozzi Society. These groups were created to foster a sense of community in the school which at that time had enrollments of 200 to 400 students per year. As literary societies, the groups created literary journals, and then moved into friendly competition with various entertainments such as public speaking, singing, and even drama production and sporting events. They were disbanded sometime before WWII as new student groups on campus emerged.