Bal du Bois

Annual ball in Richmond, Virginia

Bal du Bois

Genre| debutante ball
Date(s)| Friday after Memorial Day
Frequency| annually
Location(s)| Country Club of Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
United States
Inaugurated| 1957
Patron(s)| Junior Board of Sheltering Arms

The Bal du Bois is an annual debutante ball held at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond. The ball serves as a fundraiser for the Junior Board of Sheltering Arms Physical Rehabilitation Hospital. Since its founding in 1957, the ball has raised over $3.8 million for Sheltering Arms. Along with the Richmond German Christmas Dance, it is one of the premier Virginian debutante balls.

## History

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In 1957 the Junior Board of Sheltering Arms created a debutante ball at the Country Club of Virginia to help raise money for their physical rehabilitation hospital.[1][2] The ball was named "Bal du Bois" (French for "Woodland Ball") due to the forest surrounding the country club.[3][4] The first ball was held on June 17, 1957 and raised $8,500 for the hospital.[3] Debutantes, called "sponsors", are traditionally alumnae of St. Catherine's School, an all-girls private, Episcopal school in Richmond.[5][6]

In 1987 the ball took place on the first Friday in June. Since then it has been held on the Friday after Memorial Day. The age requirement for debutantes was raised from eighteen years of age to twenty-one years of age.[3]

Since its inception, the ball has raised over $3.8 million for Sheltering Arms.[3][7]

## Notable debutantes

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* Molly Haskell, American writer and film critic
* Tinsley Mortimer, American socialite, designer, and television personality[8]

## References

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1. ^ "The Junior Board of Sheltering Arms Physical Rehabilitation Hospital Presents the Forty-seventh Annual Bal Du Bois, Honoring the 2003 Sponsors: Friday, the Sixth of June, the Country Club of Virginia". Junior Board of Sheltering Arms. February 21, 2003 - via Google Books.
2. ^ Bois, Content provided by Bal du (30 January 2019). "Bal du Bois sponsors named". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
3. ^ a b c d "Bal du Bois".
4. ^ Slipek, Edwin (June 2016). "Tales From Old Richmond: Ladies Home Journal and Richmond Debutantes". Style Weekly.
5. ^ "Debutante Society". www.wfae.org.
6. ^ "Times-Dispatch: Bal du Bois this year features three co-leaders". St. Catherine's School. May 31, 2009.
7. ^ Garnett, Helen. "Bal du Bois 2019". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
8. ^ "Tinsley Mortimer Rebrands Her Socialite Status". October 20, 2015.