The above photo was taken during the 1950’s for Life magazine of a cotillion in Harlem.
The photographs are a rare look at a Harlem society that vanished in the following decades along with an interior view of a once prominent building in Harlem.
Young ladies of distinguished backgrounds would be presented at a debutante ball dressed in the most formal of attire.

The formal classical balconies and accoutrements in the historic Renaissance Ballroom in Central Harlem on the corner of 138th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. and 7th Avenue.
