Inventory of the Debutante Ball Society of Durham Inc. Scrapbooks and Pin, 1955-1999

Collection Number 5199

Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.

Creator

Debutante Ball Society of Durham Inc.

Title

Debutante Ball Society of Durham Inc. Scrapbooks and Pin, 1955-1999

Call Number

5199

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: 17

Linear Feet: 15.0

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the Debutante Ball Society of Durham Inc. of Durham, N.C., in February 2005 (Acc. 100020).

Processing Information

Processed by: Nancy Kaiser and Margaret Dickson, December 2005

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser and Margaret Dickson, December 2005

Funding from the Debutante Ball Society of Durham Inc. supported the processing of this collection.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Debutante Ball Society of Durham Inc. Scrapbook and Pin #5199, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Clothing and dress--Social aspects--North Carolina.

Debutantes--North Carolina--Durham.

Debutante Ball Society of Durhan Inc.

Debutante balls--North Carolina--Durham.

Durham (N.C.)--Social life and customs.

Durham (N.C.)--Societies, etc.

Initiation rites--North Carolina.

North Carolina--Social life and customs--20th century.

Young women--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

Historical Note

The Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball of Durham, N.C., was founded by Mrs. Thomas Davenport Wright in 1955. Through 1960, the Ball was given as a benefit for Kenmore, a colonial mansion in Fredericksburg, Va., built by Colonel Fielding Lewis for his bride Betty Washington, the only sister of George Washington. In 1961, Mrs. Wright, along with Mrs. Edward McCullough Cameron, Mrs. Charles Harris Livengood Jr., Mrs. Edward Stewart Orgain, Mrs. William Edwards Cranford, founded the Debutante Ball Society of Durham, N.C. At that time the Durham Arts Council, formerly Allied Arts, became the beneficiary of the ball.

The Durham Society is steeped in tradition. In every year since its founding, young women have been presented at the annual ball. The debutante calendar begins each year in February when young women, chiefly from Durham, Chapel Hill, and Orange County, N.C., are nominated by members of the Society. Members, formerly "patronesses," are a group of women selected as representative of the best civic and social life of the community, and invited to lend their names, prestige, and efforts to the ball, and to chair and serve on all ball committees. Mrs. Cameron served as the first chair of the patronesses in 1955.

In March, the Society selects young women to be debutantes and invites them to participate in the process. The Durham Society prides itself on its decision to select young women not only for their social standing, but for their personal achievements and special talents as well. The debutante social season begins when the names of the new debutantes are announced in May at the Mothers Day luncheon. Additional parties and other social events take place during the summer and fall. The season culminates with the cotillion and ball in December.

The first Debutante Ball consisted of a receiving line, the garland waltz, cotillion figures, singing of Christmas carols, a welcoming address by a local minister, and the first dance by the debutantes and their fathers. In succeeding years, the polka sleigh ride and the minuet were added, and the cotillion figure became the Christmas tree.

In 1964, the Society held its inaugural debutante art exhibit, and in 1967, it introduced the creative writing contest. In 1989, debutantes began the tradition of presenting a long-stemmed red rose to their mothers, and in 1990, the chorale was re-introduced.

Other traditions of the Durham Society include the crest, designed by William Cranford, the husband of one of the founders, with the inscription Integras, Virtus, Gratia (integrity, virtue, grace)--the qualities emphasized by the Society throughout the debutante year. During 1969 and 1970, the crest adorned a canopy under which the debutantes were introduced. The canopy was replaced by a set built by students of the North Carolina School of the Arts for the ball's relocation to the Omni Hotel and Convention Center Ballroom. Today the crest is featured on a charm that is presented to each debutante.

Since its inception, more than 2,000 young women have been presented by the Debutante Ball Society of Durham, N.C.

Note: Adapted from a history of the Debutante Ball Society compiled by past chairs.

Collection Overview

The collection consists of 16 scrapbooks of the Debutante Ball Society of Durham Inc. of Durham, N.C. The scrapbooks document yearlong preparations and events associated with the annual Debutante Ball held in late December. Included are photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, announcements, invitations, yearbooks, and other materials that show the young women, chiefly from Durham, Chapel Hill, N.C., and Orange County, N.C., in formal, semi-formal, and casual attire as they attend parties held in their honor, learning learning about society, etiquette, and the traditional debutante dances. Also included is a pin with the Society's crest.

Arrangement of Collection

Series 1. Scrapbooks
Series 2. Pin

Items Separated

Scrapbooks (V-5199/1-17)

Detailed Description of the Collection

Debutante at the Christmas Ball, December 1956

Cover of the Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball program, December 1957

Invitation to a Coke party

Mary Toms Cameron, Debutante Ball Society chair, 1969-1971

Julia Toms Carr, leader of the 1973 Debutante Ball

Frances Drake Bryant, Debutante Ball Society chair, 1973

Letter from Martha Uzzle to the debutantes informing them of the processs involved in choosing their marshals, 1 August 1973

Ad from the 1975 Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball program

Ad from the 1975 Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball program

Debutante questionnaire for the publicity chair, 1976

Invitation to be a debutante, 1979

Debutantes waiting to be presented, 29 December 1979

A poem from Anne Gibson Sullivan Wright, Debutante Society chair, to her debutantes, 29 December 1981

Follow-up letter from Anne Wright to other members of the Debutante Ball Society, 2 January 1982

"Standing Rules, Policies, and Traditions for Debutantes and Marshals," 1983

Program notes from the 1982 Debutante Ball

Ad from the 1984 Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball program

Ad from the 1985 Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball program

Debutante with her father and date at the 1986 Debutante Ball

Invitation to a casino party

Transcript of speech given by Barbara Collie, chair of the 1994 Debutante Ball Society, at a Mother's Day luncheon

Father-Daughter Brunch, 21 December 1994

Former and current debutantes model vintage ball gowns at the Mother-Daughter Luncheon, 13 May 1995

Mother-Daughter Luncheon, 10 May 1997

"Important Dates and Deadlines": Event calendar for the 1998 debutante season

Mother-Daughter Luncheon, 8 May 1999