Georgia school hosts first racially integrated prom | CNN

Making moves toward unity —

Wilcox County High School students Ana Goni and Adrian Dantley attended the students' fist integrated prom on April 27, 2013. When Goni's prom dress didn't arrive in time, a nearby thrift shop opened so she could try one on. A complete stranger paid for it. "God gives blessing to people trying to do the right thing," she said. In March 2014, Wilcox County High School held its first official prom -- one open to all students.

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Making moves toward unity —

Mareshia Rucker was one of several students from Wilcox County High School, Georgia, who helped to organize students' first integrated prom in 2013. For decades, there was no school prom there; parents and students planned private, racially segregated proms.

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Making moves toward unity —

The theme for Wilcox County High School students' first integrated prom was "Masquerade Ball in Paris" in 2013. The decor was a mix of Eiffel Tower images and Mardi Gras colors -- and many students wore masks, at least for a few dances.

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Making moves toward unity —

Family and friends traditionally gather outside Wilcox County students' proms to take photos and see them on their "senior walk," when their plans for the future are announced. More than 150 people gathered to watch the nearly 100 students at the integrated prom in 2013.

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Making moves toward unity —

Mareshia Rucker, one of the 2013 prom organizers, wore a long, red gown and a small tiara in her hair. Her date, Mercer University student Arkel Bennett, wore a matching vest and tie. Mareshia's grandmother has sewn formal dresses for her to wear to the JROTC ball in the past. For the 2013 dance, her dress was donated.

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Making moves toward unity —

In 2013, students danced for hours to music provided by Pete's Mobile DJ Service from Houston. DJ Pete Armendariz read about the integrated prom on CNN.com and offered up his services at no cost.

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Making moves toward unity —

Students at the 2013 prom received T-shirts celebrating the class of 2013 and commemorating their first racially integrated prom. By the end of the night, most students had kicked off their dress shoes and popped on their T-shirts.

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Photos: Making moves toward unity —

Wilcox County High School student Larry Lindsey offered up some music for the 2013 prom. Some county residents said they've hosted black and white proms because students couldn't agree on what music to play, but students said it was just an excuse to stick to old traditions.

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Making moves toward unity —

Wilcox County High School senior Alexis Miller and her boyfriend, Jakeivus Peterson, didn't expect to attend a prom in 2013. Miller wouldn't go to a prom without him, and he likely wouldn't be allowed at the white prom, she said. Miller said she was proud of her classmates for organizing an integrated prom. Peterson said they came to show they weren't afraid.

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Making moves toward unity —

Karen Bloodworth, owner of the Rochelle Florist & Gift Shop in Wilcox County, made wrist corsages ordered by students attending the student-planned integrated prom in 2013.

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Making moves toward unity —

The 2013 prom queen Mikeria Martin and king Larry Munford Jr. danced to "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. Students voted for winners of categories such as "best smile," "most talented" and "nicest person."

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Making moves toward unity —

Many students arrived at the 2013 Wilcox County High School prom in gowns and matching tuxedos -- a few even brought their own masks to match the "Masquerade Ball in Paris" theme.

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Making moves toward unity —

Students at the integrated prom danced till 11 p.m. April 27, 2013, at a community clubhouse in Cordele, Georgia, a city off Interstate 75 near Wilcox County.

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Photos: Making moves toward unity

Story highlights

The high school in Wilcox County, Georgia, held its first prom in late March

Previously, proms were private, white- and black-only events organized by parents

In 2013, Wilcox County students organized a private integrated prom

Superintendent: "Everything went off without a hitch"

CNN —

Last week, for the first time in decades, students from Wilcox County, Georgia, attended a school-sponsored prom that was open to all students rather than a private, racially segregated prom.

For decades, Wilcox County High School hadn’t hosted a prom for its 400 students. Instead, parents and their children organized private, off-site, racially segregated parties known to most as “white prom” and “black prom.” After students planned their own integrated dance last year, school leaders announced they would sponsor the school’s first prom – and it would be open to everyone.

“Everything went off without a hitch,” Wilcox County schools Superintendent Steve Smith said this week – just as he expected.

The last official school proms were held in Wilcox County decades ago, before schools were racially integrated, community members said. Wilcox County and many other schools in the Deep South canceled proms and homecoming dances in the early years of integration, and in some places, private, segregated proms became the local tradition. (The school has long hosted Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps balls, which were racially integrated and open to all JROTC members.)

READ: Segregated prom tradition yields to unity

In 2013, a group of Wilcox County students organized an integrated prom open to white, black, Latino and Asian students. Organizers, both black and white, faced backlash from some community members who disliked the change – or the crush of media attention it brought. The event made Wilcox County the butt of late-night TV jokes, but also drew thousands of supporters on social media, plus donated cash, dresses and DJ services.

Wilcox County is not the only place with a history of racially segregated proms. In the 2009 documentary “Prom Night in Mississippi,” director Paul Saltzman followed the preparations for the first integrated prom in Charleston, Mississippi. Actor Morgan Freeman, a native of the area, offered in 1997 to cover the cost if the school board would hold an integrated prom, but the offer wasn’t accepted till 2008.

READ: Celebrating high school prom, 50 years later

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Last year, many community members said they’d support an integrated prom, or a school-sponsored prom – it’s just that old traditions are tough to change.

Last year, it took a group of students, attention on social media and the support of the NAACP, parents and community members to make it happen.

“If we’re all together and we love each other the way we say we do, then there are no issues,” Wilcox County graduate Mareshia Rucker said last year after helping to organize the student-led integrated prom. “This is something that should have happened a long time ago.”