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AUGUSTA, Ga. ()- For centuries in both Europe and the United States, debutante balls have been a tradition, one brought to modern consciousness by the popularity of Netflix’s “Bridgerton.”
But these coming out balls have different meaning depending on who you talk to.
Imagine being a young girl of around 17 and putting on a beautiful white ball gown, being introduced into society by your loving father and dancing a ballroom dance with your handsome escort.
Sounds like a fairytale, right?
For many girls right here in Augusta, it’s a reality and a long standing tradition.
‘Debutante’ is a French word meaning ‘female beginner.’
It’s a tradition that began when young girls of marriageable age from wealthy families were introduced to society. It was a bit of a matchmaking event that dates back nearly 250 years.
“The first debutantes were around 1780 with, like you said, Queen Charlotte and King George. And it was a mixture of, for the most part, to celebrate her birthday as a party, but also to help clean up the monarch’s image,” said Brittany Noel Corbin, a guest curator at the Lucy C. Laney Museum of Black History and a former debutante.
She added that a young lady’s “coming out” evolved into an annual ball out of necessity.
“Historically, young ladies were brought to court to represent the society in front of the Queen as ready for marriage, ready for suitors. And then, I’ve read a few places, that over time there were so many women coming to Court, she brought it all into one and made the ball…had a debutante ball. It was one of the first times you see it.”
The ball was called ‘The Queen Charlotte Ball. It continued until 1976, when Queen Elizabeth II discontinued it in an attempt to modernize the monarchy. But it was brought back in the early 2000’s by the Duke of Somerset.
Debutante balls became popular in the United States around the same time. The idea was the same- introduce wealthy young ladies to society as ready for marriage.
“As we look at America, some of the first ones that you see are in New York, in Louisiana, and then they start popping up a little bit more in major cities like Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia,” said Corbin.
The oldest debutante ball that is still in existence is the Christmas Cotillion in Savannah, Georgia. It was first held in 1817.
These debutante balls may seem a bit archaic to us now, but back then for women of all classes, finding a good husband was a top priority.
“Women couldn’t own property, couldn’t even in…looking at America…couldn’t open banking accounts until around the mid 20th century,” explained Corbin. “But women needed to be married to be able to have finance, to be productive people in society and have things. And so a lot of that was attached to that. That was their livelihood, how they succeeded.”
These ‘coming out’ balls were held for heiresses and socialites, all primarily white women. But debutante balls have a long history within the African American community as well.
NewsChannel 6’s Dee Griffin is a former debutante. She said African American Debutante Balls have been around for a long time.
“Cotillions have been going on for generations, but in the black community they can be traced back to the Ethiopian balls back in the 1700s. And then the 1800s, the black debutantes in New Orleans… Illinois..”
These balls were also introductions to society for young black girls, but Corbin said that the goals were much different than their white counterparts.
“It was also a way for black families, not only the young ladies, to be a part of this uplift movement and really combat the stereotypical views of what people thought about black people in America. To have your daughter presented society and your family be a part of these organizations and the event as big as a ball, it really meant something.”
Corbin explained one of the major stereotypes the events tried to fight was what the black core family looked like.
“The stereotypical views of men being absent from the home. You don’t see that in the debutante balls, and it kind of reinforces family and black love to some extent, the way I look at it.”
The black debutante balls were designed to education young African American women and to prepare them for life in the society they lived in.
Toni Dean is the Program Manager at the Lucy C. Laney Museum and a former debutante.
She said education is why black debutante balls were so important, especially during and after the Civil Rights Movement.
“We were dealing with a disaggregated world and we were dealing with a world that in many ways still thought of black Americans as inferior. So a lot of these balls were started to help women with their deportment, to help them be able to function in the world, to be able to be good citizens, to be able to have the social skills, that community service, all those things that strengthen a community.”
Dean added that the balls were also to help boost the confidence of young black women in a world where they were held to white standards of beauty.
“Everybody looked different. Everybody had different experiences. Everybody had different talents and skills, and all of those were celebrated. So when you came, it was like just a celebration of our culture and not that any person or any look or any style was better,” she said.
The desire to learn how to be successful in society is why, in 1963, 6 teenage girls at A.R. Johnson Junior High School went to one of their teachers, asking to start a debutante club.
“They knew that we were getting ready to go into a desegregated world. And because of that, they wanted to learn how to function properly in this new world,” explained Dean. “And so they saw something in Mrs. Rosa Beard about her leadership skills or her ability to be able to connect and guide. And so they went to her and asked her to help them do that.”
Rosa Tarver Beard was born in Blythe, Georgia in 1919. She married Ernest Beard in 1948 and they had 4 children.
She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics and Natural Science from Paine College in 1942. She went on to earn her Master’s in Education and Chemistry from Columbia University in New York in 1951.
She taught for 41 years, starting at Bettis Academy and Junior College in Trenton, South Carolina and continuing at C.T. Walker Elementary, A.R Johnson Junior High and T.W. Josey High Schools.
Her youngest daughter, Reverend Cheryl Beard said being an educator was extremely important to her mother.
“Rosa T. Beard was certainly a master educator. She was one who certainly took her career seriously, and working with young people and dedicated herself to that, with great sacrifice.”
Community was important to Rosa T. Beard as well.
“But also a community activist and wanting to uplift her community, from involvement in organizations like the NAACP as a lifetime member,” Rev. Beard explained. “She was one of the founding members of the Shiloh Community Center who saved that old orphanage in the Turpin Hill community.”
Rev. Beard said that when those 6 young ladies approached her mother about starting the debutante club, she didn’t think twice.
“She had already actually begun an organization that mostly catered to the young men. There were a few young women who were part of the Rocket Club at A.R. Johnson. And then these young ladies who had observed all of that, as well as had had an experience on a field trip where they were among Caucasian kids in Atlanta and realized, ‘Oh, the world is changing.’”
The ‘Debutante Club,’ later called the ‘Augusta Adult Society,’ was renamed the ‘Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club‘ in 1990.
The girls who took part learned about etiquette, social graces, how to act in public and how to dress properly.
They also went beyond these lessons, out into their community by giving their time to local charities and nonprofit organizations.
Corbin, Dee, Dean and Rev. Beard were all Debutantes and for all of them it was a family tradition.
“The debutante tradition is long in my family. My sister was a debutante before me. My cousins were debutantes. My cousin Pamela, I remember going to her cotillion,” Dee explained.
Dee was a debutante in 1988. She said the experience was really special.
“One of my fondest memories is dancing with my dad and the rehearsals and stepping on each other’s feet and just the nervousness of that night. And I remember, also prior to the cotillion, being at home and practicing the waltz with my dad in the living room and curtsying and trying to get it just the perfect curtsy and my dad being right there by my side,” she smiled.
Corbin believes being a debutante helped her come out of her shell and through the club she made lifelong friends.
“I’m a very shy person. But that’s one thing with debutantes, it really created a safe space for me to be with my fellow sisters. At least five of the young ladies went to my high school and we really bonded and ended up… many of us ended up going to the same college together and really kept this relationship up,” Corbin said.
Dean was also a debutante in 1988 and said it was the biggest class of debs, even now. One of her favorite parts of being a debutante were the monthly meetings.
“And it would just be so exciting to go into the room with all these young women. Everybody’s just excited about whatever the activity was,” she said. “Sometimes the activity was a speaker who’s going to tell us something about life skills or college. Being able to be active in the community. Our activities sometimes were going out into the community, to the hospitals, nursing homes to interact with people.”
Rev. Beard likes to think she’s been a deb her whole life, having helped with the organization for as long as she can remember.
And as you would expect- she was a debutante too.
“It was something to look forward to. To be engaged with my friends and classmates that I had known all of my school life as well as to meet other young ladies throughout the city from other schools and other communities. For us to just share this special time together for two year our last two years of high school,” she remembered.
The women agree that being a part of the Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club impacted them throughout their lives.
“I was able to partake in a lot of things that probably I wouldn’t have thought of if it had not been for the Debutante Club and especially being in a leadership role,” explained Dee. “I learned how to conduct meetings and also stand out as a leader for others and to be that guiding light for others. Because we had advisors who really led the way with grace and class and intelligence, and so they wanted us to be the same way.”
“It showed me structure. It showed me order. It showed me the power of a vision,” Dean said.
Mrs. Beard had a big impact on them as well.
“I remember how I wanted to be like these women and be like Rose T Beard and be a leader. And being someone that not just the youth, but people looked up to and wanted to emulate or learn from,” said Corbin.
Rev. Beard took over as CEO of the Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club after her mother stepped away.
“She felt that she was ready to let things go. She knew the work that I was doing in Memphis. And so she asked if I would just for even long distance, just kind of be her presence with the club, not necessarily move back,” she laughed. “But I felt a calling in my life and actually knew before that, that at some point I would come back to Augusta.”
The Debutante Club has played such a big role in lives of hundreds of young women in the CSRA, that the Lucy C. Laney Museum of Black History created an exhibit to honor it, which runs until April 30th.
The museum put out a call to former debutantes to collect memorabilia for the display.
“We have young ladies coming by to bring gowns and gloves and tiaras and shoes. And then we will also have an interactive piece, so you’ll be able to look at footage of cotillion and lots and lots of images,” Corbin explained.
Many traditions that are hundreds of years old, are now considered out dated and old fashioned. But debutante balls are still thriving, especially for upper class young women.
The women all believe that there is still a place for them in society and that the confidence and values they instill in necessary.
“It’s everything from learning the next steps to if you’re going to school and learning finances and learning business and learning how to be productive people in society, that also go out and volunteer and help their community. So I think there’s always a need for groups that do that,” said Corbin.
“Showing girls that they’re special and they’re unique and showing girls that they do have a place in the world,” said Dee. “You deserve the best. You deserve to be honored. You deserve the white ball gown and the white satin gloves and the beautiful hairstyles and the tiaras.”
“It’s about being a good citizen. It’s about living a full, balanced life. It’s about, like I said, giving back to your community, being able to develop your skills and talents. It’s being able to learn what success and achievements are in this world that are not just connected to money and class,” Dean explained.
For Rev. Beard, the Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club is all about the work the young women do during the year and the confidence and connections they gain.
“The debutante club is not just about a cotillion. That’s our annual culminating event,” she said. “The fact that we celebrate that rite of passage in a cotillion ball is just a little icing on the cake.”
The official opening of the Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club Exhibit is on Saturday, March 17 at 3 p.m. at the Lucy C. Laney Museum of Black History.
That’s just part of your Hometown History.
Photojournalist: Dania Alawir.
