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Belles and Rebels Masquerade Ball

First-ever home school Civil War ball is big success in Fort Worth, Texas.

by Leah G. Driggers

Texas Home School Coalition Association REVIEW © November 2000

     Home school senior Ginger Lane, 18, spends some of her weekends in a hoop skirt. Her parents decided not only to teach their four children about the Civil War but also to re-enact Civil War times. The Lanes, an Arlington home school family, began Civil War reenacting four years ago. Civil War reenactors educate the public nationwide by recreating the times and battles of the Civil War. Reenacting is attractive to home educators looking for a fun, family activity in an educational setting. The Lanes are currently members of the 9th Texas Infantry, a local Civil War reenacting unit. Several other home school families have followed suit.

Many home school families have never heard of Civil War reenacting, and even if they have, the cost for sewing or buying dresses, uniforms, tents, and period correct dishware can be overwhelming for those wanting to just try it out. That is why two other home school graduates and I decided to introduce the home school community to Civil War times through a first-time-ever, home school Civil War ball. Guests could step back in time to the world of 1865 and experience Civil War manners and the finer side of reenacting, at a fraction of the cost of a normal ball.

We dreamed big and sent invitations to five local Civil War reenacting units and 23 home school groups, cordially inviting ladies and gentlemen to the Belles and Rebels Masquerade Ball on Saturday, the 31^st  of March, from six o’clock until midnight, at the historic, beautifully ornate, restored Texas and Pacific Train Station Waiting Room, located in downtown Fort Worth. Ladies would be treated like ladies, and gentlemen would be expected to act like gentlemen, we advertised. Families were welcome; guests could dance solely with family members; and tickets were $25 per guest (ball tickets normally run double that price).

A week before our deadline, we had sold only 80 tickets. We thought about canceling, but during the last few days, our phone rang off the hook, and checks and even FedEx packages flooded our mailbox. I soon got a call from our money manager, Jennifer Tankersly. “Leah.” She paused. “We have a problem. We sold too many.”

Attendance was initially limited to the first 240 guests, but by the time of the ball, we had received checks for a grand total of 300 guests from around the nation. We hauled in more tables and chairs so everyone could come. Entire families, home school graduating seniors, married couples, and even guests from California, Wyoming, Arizona, and Kansas came for clean, old-time festivities.

Gloves were mandatory, and dress was formal attire prior to 1865. Two local costume shops agreed to special discounts on costume rental. Otherwise, creative home school mothers and daughters sewed up a storm of authentic uniforms and ball gowns.

At 6 p.m., young soldiers pulled back glass doors to white tablecloths, glimmering candles and lanterns, glass goblets, and glistening chandeliers towering 35 feet above shining marble floors. Twenty-five waiters served a seated, chicken dinner to the music of a high school string quartet–three members were home school students. Janelle Tankersly, an 18-year-old home school graduate, surprised guests with her luscious, detailed chocolate cakes. Stuart and Kathy Lane, dance masters for the evening, gave an invocation and greeting, then explained Civil War dance etiquette. Dancers must be first formally introduced through a mutual acquaintance, and gentlemen must ask for the honor of a dance, Stuart explained. If the young lady consents, he signs her dance card, bows, and escorts her to the dance floor, she said.

The ladies slipped dance cards around their wrists, and gentlemen pulled on white gloves, while the 16-piece Heritage Brass Band tuned up. Two home school couples taught and demonstrated each dance. Unlike the sensual nature of many modern dances, Civil War dancing is very formal and proper, easy to learn, and has little physical contact. The dances were usually large group dances, like the Virginia Reel. They began with the famous Grand March and ended with a traditional closing waltz. Smart gray uniforms slipped through swaying, colorful hoop skirts. One girl sighed, “It’s like a dream.” Unlike most Civil War reenacting balls, the home school guests danced every dance for four hours straight. “We have attended several expensive Civil War balls,” dance master Stuart Lane told guests at the end of the evening. “Once the evening is half over, the number of dancers drops off dramatically. I have never seen a group that danced every dance from the beginning to the end!”

Guests are lobbying hard for next year’s ball. Anyone interested in organizing?

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