Prom Rewind: Untold Stories of Class, Glamour, and Broken Traditions
It’s that time of year again.
Maybe you have a daughter who’ll be wearing an ultra glamorous dress as she poses with her friends (whose outfits are equally glam) to capture the perfect photos worthy of living on social media.
Or perhaps your son will be wearing a sleek suit with sneakers or impeccably shined shoes when he arrives in an even shinier car to pick up his date and whisk her off to the festivities.
Maybe those days are behind you (or have yet to arrive), and you delight in seeing the aforementioned scenarios play out across your timeline.
Proms have become quite the production since I attended mine in May 1985, even down to the way one goes about asking someone to be their date.
I first heard the term “promposal “ when my son was a high school senior. The young lady he was dating at the time put on an elaborate display to ask him to her school’s prom. It seemed like a bit much to me, but hey. What do I know?
Most of us would agree that attending prom is a time-honored tradition, and for many students, it serves as that last big hurrah before leaving high school. But when and how these ritzy dance parties first emerged, is quite an interesting story unto itself.
Proms are more than just a spring right of passage. In fact, the word “prom” is short for “promenade,” which refers to an age-old formal event.
Beginning in the late nineteenth century, proms were originally held at elite colleges as end-of-the-year celebrations rooted in high-class pageantry. The events allowed students to showcase their social status with a heavy dose of pomp and circumstance thrown in for good measure. Very similar to debutante balls.
By the 1920s, high schools began hosting similar events, using proms as a way to introduce young people to proper etiquette, while providing them with an opportunity to refine their social skills and practice good manners before leaving home to attend college.
High school proms have evolved over the past several decades-from being held in the school gym to being hosted in banquet halls; from strict protocol to footloose and fancy free dances-probably as a result of students insisting on having events that were less structured and more reflective of youthful merriment.
What’s often overlooked is that, proms remained segregated for many years, even after public schools were integrated following Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.
At integrated schools, particularly in the South, administrators either held separate Black and White proms, excluded the Black students altogether, or just canceled the event outright. Consequently, parents often hosted separate events for their children.
This had been the case at Wilcox County High School in Rochelle, Georgia until 2013.
That’s when the students were like, Wait! Why are we still doing this?
So, just eleven years ago, thanks to young people who decided it was time to break with their school’s divisive tradition, the high school hosted a prom that included all the students for the first time since the Jim Crow era.
In these modern days, proms are lavish events filled with competition and over-the-top style. After all, everyone wants to go viral on TikTok or become locally famous for having the best outfit or for pulling up in the swankiest sports car.
Looking back in time, however, I believe that one of the most heartfelt years for the high school prom was in 1946, the spring after WWII had ended.
I’m not by any means romanticizing this time period for obvious reasons. But I can only imagine the exuberance among Americans of all colors, when scores of young men and women had just returned home, many of whom resumed their high school education.
Keep in mind that, even though Japan surrendered in August 1945 which signaled the war’s end, numerous veterans didn’t return home permanently until later the following year.
They had post-war duties to fulfill. My dad, who served in the Navy, had shipyard duty in San Diego, California. He wasn’t officially discharged until April 1946. Other vets didn’t receive their separation papers until later that summer.
One of the first things my father did upon returning home to Washington, DC, was ask the young lady he’d met before being drafted, if he could escort her to her senior prom. That young lady said, ‘yes.’ And she would one day become his wife and my mother.
As a war veteran, my father wore his formal Navy uniform, as was customary. Mom wore an ivory dress that was gifted to her from her older sister’s friend. Her parents were very dismissive of the whole prom thing (long story), so she had to be resourceful.
What made the 1946 prom season so significant was that America’s young people had a renewed sense of hope for their futures, even as the air was bittersweet. Sadly, not every young veteran returned home, and Black service members, who’d fought so valiantly for freedom abroad, were still denied complete freedom at home.
It was, however, a time when tens of thousands of veterans were finally able to reunite with loved ones. And when it came to prom season, even the smallest things had a much larger meaning.
Like wearing pantyhose.
During the war, certain materials weren’t available to consumers, including nylon. That meant women couldn’t find pantyhose in the stores because nylon was being reserved to make military parachutes, cords and ropes. But finally, in 1946, young women could once again purchase pantyhose to wear with their prom dresses.
Shoes, cars (and gasoline), and tires were also rationed during the war. Without a doubt, that also affected prom season. Sugar and butter were on the list, too. I can only imagine that impacted the refreshments.
These stories never cease to remind me of the sacrifices the previous generation was willing to make, and it points to the resilience of the American spirit, regardless of race. It’s these moments in history that let us know the country does, indeed, have the capacity to be unified.
The high school prom, with its ability to bring people together, as in the case of Wilcox County High School, is an example of that.
Kelly’s debut book, THE WEATHER OFFICER, will be available in Summer/Fall 2024.
