Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Records of the Arlington Association Holly Ball, Collection # RG 362, Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Arlington Historical Society in 2006.

Historical Information

The Holly Ball was a debutante ball put on by the Arlington Association. The first ball was held in 1955; the Holly Ball is no longer held, but there are no records to indicate when it officially ended. The ball was typically held on the Tuesday evening before Christmas at the Army Navy Country Club. Girls from across Arlington were invited to be presented at the ball and there were typically between ten and twenty debutantes for each ball, though numbers fluctuated from year to year. No ball was held in 1973 because the Arlington Association could not garner any interest - it is possible that no ball occurred between 1983-1984, but there are no records to confirm or deny either way. In addition to the Holly Ball, the Junior Assembly of Arlington (made up of former debutantes) sponsored a June Ball and a Christmas Assembly Dance.

Scope and Content

Materials in this collection consist largely of correspondence among Arlington Association Board members and with outside vendors to plan the Holly Ball; documents pertaining to the rules for participation in the ball; participant and guest lists; and newspaper articles on the ball and debutantes. The number and breadth of materials decreases for later balls. The collection measures approximately 0.5 linear feet.

The materials on the Junior Assembly of Arlington consist of invitations to the June Ball and Christmas Assembly, membership lists divided by debutante year, constitution and by-laws of the organization, and the address books for the assembly.

This collection contains one file on other debutante balls. Materials in this folder mainly consist of newspaper clippings about other balls. Most interesting is material related to the 1968 European Debutante Holiday.

There are 16 photos in this collection: two from the 1968 Holly Ball and 14 from the 1971 Holly Ball.

Arrangement

Materials in the collection are labeled and arranged in the manner they were received by the Center for Local History. Folder titles in brackets ([ ]) have been added by the archivist for clarification.

There are some oversized materials in this collection, which have been moved to appropriate housing. Separation sheets have been added to mark their original placement. An asterisk (*) at the end of the folder title denotes oversize materials found in this location.

Index Terms

Subjects:

• Arlington (Va.)
• Arlington County (Va.)
• Balls (Parties)
• Christmas
• Debutantes