Anita E As Debutantes How To Use Each

I dont have any sisters, just one little brother, said Shantelle Bonham, 17, a senior at Sexton High School and a 2015 debutante.

It was 1962 and nine Lansing mothers Esther Abrams, Hortense Canady, Lela Eaton, Mattie Foxall, Robbie Harris, Catherine Harrison, Estella Saunders, Shirley Wills and Dorothy Wilson knew they did not want their children to face the difficulties in life that they had faced.

Barbara Johnson Davis says her mother only finished the eighth grade because back then, down south, some black women didnt go past the eighth grade.

Anita E As Debutantes How To Use Each

They wanted us to be able to eat with the president of the United States, to know how to use each utensil, to be able to speak before any crowd.

What our mothers missed, they didnt want us to miss, Davis said tearing up.

Hortense Canady, a graduate of Fisk University, who went on to become the first black person elected to the Lansing school board, came to hers.

It was a formal invitation as far as they were concerned, and you had to be invited.

The first Cotillion Ball, to introduce the debutantes into society, was held in 1965.

Davis was a member of the second class of debutantes in 1966.

Like the other 13 high school senior debutantes, she wore a bouffant white ballgown and long white gloves and was formally presented in the ballroom of the Jack Tar Hotel.

Thats why the cotillion books were not that thick, because the only people that put ads in were the sponsors.

They had it at the Jack Tar, just to say, look at our daughters, look what you can become.

All the girls wore the same dresses, wedding dresses with the sleeves cut off, purchased at the Style Shop for 100, more than an average weeks wage.

Each was escorted by her father across the ballroom floor, ringed by seats for 700 spectators, up the red-carpeted ramp, and presented formally.

After a curtsey from her and a courtly bow from her father, the debutante would promenade around the ballroom on his arm, dancing the first waltz with him, preceding her first dance with her escort.

The Club celebrated its 50th Cotillion Ball earlier this month at the Lansing Center.

More than 500 young ladies have made their debut in those 50 years.

And though Davis says some things have changed, the values have remained the same.

Mothers and daughters must be invited into the club by a sponsor who is a current or post Les Meres or post debutante.

After attending a membership tea with the sponsor, mothers and daughters can apply for membership.

The debutantes begin their journey in seventh grade and continue through 12th grade.

They are encouraged to pursue their career goals and build character.