"Pride Without Prejudice" - Debutante Cotillions of the The Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World, 2024.
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CH_CA_2024_SH_2024_002
Institutional Collections
On display at Sumner Hall, the "Pride Without Prejudice" Debutante Cotillion exhibit showcases a more than four-century-old tradition. In the article "Yes, Young Black Women Make Their Debuts Too: Examining the History and Impact of Black Debutante Balls," unbeknownst to many Americans, "Black American debutante balls can be traced back to 1778 in New York, when the first debutante was recorded by a newspaper, with the first official ball occurring in 1895 in New Orleans. Like their White counterparts, Black debutante balls present young girls from Black communities to society" according to Karla Mendez at the Black Women Radicals website. Kent County debutantes were sponsored by the Tri-State Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World. According to their website, "The Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World was granted a copyright as an organization on September 28, 1898, in Cincinnati, Ohio. A Pullman porter, Arthur James Riggs, and Benjamin Franklin Howard, who were both members of another fraternal organization discovered they both had dreams of forming an Elks organization for people of color. Their dreams and plans were realized when the first Lodge, Alpha Lodge No. 1, was organized in Cincinnati as a result of their efforts. As the Elks prevailed, the organization struggled against many racist attitudes and legal efforts to deny the existence of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World." The Tri-State IPBOEW sponsored Cotillions throughout the 20th and 21st centuries with their events being held at the Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. July 19 2024
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Debutantes, Cotillions, Prom Courts, Social Clubs, Lodges, Fraternity/Sororities, Legacy Day - 2024, Sumner Hall
DebutantesMaryland--Kent County