In 1875, shortly after the organization of the Missouri State Normal School—Third District, students began forming literary societies. The first ones were the Union Literary, the Humboldt, and the Arion. The faculty supervised, but the students conducted most of the business. The societies drew both men and women as members. In 1876, the three original societies disbanded and two new ones organized, the Adelphi and the Zenonian. The Philomathean Literary Society originated in 1879; the Van Guard formed in 1888.

In 1892, the organization of literary societies began to change. Students of the class of 1893 (with the assistance of then-president of the school, Richard C. Norton) decided that the societies would “prosper” more if the men and women met separately. New societies were then organized.

The men of the Missouri State Normal School—Third District organized the Webster Society, the first men’s society; a short time later that year the women organized the first women’s society, the Sorosis. The next year the Bentons came into existence and several members of the Sorosis left their organization to form the Clios.

A group of twelve men established the Benton Literary Society at the Normal School during the years 1891-1892. They wanted an association dedicated to the encouragement of literary efforts, particularly debate and oratory. Students named the society in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, a well-known orator and political figure who had served in the Missouri legislature, as well as in the U.S. Congress. Their motto was “Once a Benton, always a Benton.”

In the early years of the college, literary societies were a very important part of the social and scholarly life on campus. As time went by, the growing need for classroom space, more interest in social life, and declining interest in debate and other scholarly activities led to the marginalization of literary societies. After much discussion, fraternity houses gradually replaced literary societies. In the late 1950s, the Benton Literary Society petitioned to become a chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. On April 10, 1960, the Bentons officially became the Epsilon Phi chapter of the 133rd chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity in the United States.