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Copyright Notice

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

Preferred Citation

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

Acquisitions Information

Received from the Debutante Ball Society of Durham Inc. of Durham, N.C., in February 2005 (Acc. 100020), January 2008 (Acc. 100852), January 2009 (Acc. 101142), and February 2010 (Acc. 101249); from Paula McGurk Meyer in December 2006 (Acc. 100589), March 2010 (Acc. 101268), May 2010 (Acc. 101284), March 2011 (Acc. 101409), and September 2011 (Acc. 101499); and from Martha Erwin Uzzle in May 2009 (Acc. 100423).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Clothing and dress--Social aspects--North Carolina.
• Debutante Ball Society of Durhan Inc.
• Debutante balls--North Carolina--Durham.
• Debutantes--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.
• Young women--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

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.

The collection chiefly consists of 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; ball programs, 1955-2009; The Debutante Register, 1951; and a video recording of the 2002 Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball.

• Scrapbooks (SV-5199/1-26)
• Digital item (DI-5199/1)
• Extra-oversize paper (XOP-5199/1)