The Rev. Cheryl Beard has a lifetime of fond memories associated with the annual Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club’s cotillion, which celebrates 60 years on March 29.
“I lived with and grew up with it. I was 4 years old when the first cotillion happened,” said Beard, CEO of the organization founded by her mother, who was a teacher at AR Johnson when she started the club in 1963.
Read more from the archives October 2023: Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club turns 60 .
Those first debutantes and club members have held a special place in Cheryl Beard’s life and heart.
They were more than just members of the club her mother founded to mentor young women.
“They were in our lives not just for cotillion,” she said.
Rosa T. Beard lived in the community where she taught school. Her students would often be at her home. They were a big part of the Beards’ lives.
“When my father died, they wrote ‘thank you’ notes,” said Cheryl Beard.
She was introduced to cotillion planning early in life. A group dance to the “Minuet in G Minor” is a traditional part of the event. Beard learned it long before she would become a debutante, teaching it to one of the early choreographers as well as learning to play it on the piano and making a recording to be used during rehearsals.
And then came her turn to be presented at the cotillion in 1979.
She remembers the nervous excitement she felt.
“Russell Joel Brown was my escort,” she said. “He was talented. He could dance. He was tall. He was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the experience of him being my escort.”
Her mother missed Cheryl Beard’s curtsey and introduction that night. Although she was nearby, Rosa T. Beard was behind-the-scenes making sure everything went as planned.
But the photographer captured the once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Now that she’s over the organization, Cheryl Beard knows better the sacrifices her mother made, and in the end, it’s all worth it, she said.
“There’s such a joy of the occasion and the community coming together,” she said. “It’s a special time.”
While this year’s class of debutantes will dance the minuet and be presented in their white ball gowns at the March 29 cotillion, there will be a time to honor the debutantes who’ve come before, she said.
Also, in conjunction with the 60th anniversary, there are special exhibits at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History and the Georgia room of the Augusta Public Library. The Laney Museum exhibition will be available until June. The exhibit expands on one from 2024.
On March 30, a historical marker will be unveiled and dedicated to Rosa T. Beard at AR Johnson.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
