Held virtually every year since 1924, Cinderella Ball is a longstanding tradition in the Pittsburgh community. Sponsored by the Cinderella Women’s Committee, the Cinderella Ball represents the culmination of our debutantes’ completion of the Leadership Forum for Young Women program which includes experiences for personal development, service to our primary beneficiary and other community organizations. This Ball is proud to carry the distinction and tradition of being the oldest charity event in Pittsburgh and one of the longest-running debutante balls in America.
Sponsored by the Cinderella Women’s Commitee, Cinderella Ball is a magical evening focused on family, friends and philanthropy. With each ball benefiting a different Pittsburgh-area charitable organization a wide variety of guests are drawn yearly to the event to support both the debutantes and our beneficiary. A scholarship is awarded to the debutante who has completed the highest number of volunteer hours.
In traditional cotillion style, debutantes are presented for recognition on the arms of their fathers or presenter at the Ball, ready to join an alumni network of accomplished women who have been presented before her, and establish lifelong relationships for the future.
During the presentation, those in attendance eagerly await the announcement of the year’s chosen Prince Charming, a young bachelor whose name is a well-kept secret until he makes his formal entrance at the ball. Prince Charming then randomly selects one of the debutantes to be his Cinderella by pulling her name from a beautifully decorated pumpkin before whisking her to the dance floor for a waltz. One of the most notable men to serve as Prince Charming, a young Henry John Heinz III, later served Pennsylvania as a United States Senator. Then after the Father/Daughter Waltz and the Grand March, an elegant seated dinner is followed by dancing until the stroke of midnight.
Cinderella Ball currently supports local civic and charitable organizations in a two-fold manner: financially and through the debutantes’ volunteer efforts. In addition, the CWC awards a scholarship to the debutante who has contributed the most volunteer hours and has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to volunteer leadership.
1939 Miss Rachel Reed, Mr. E. Trudeau Thomas
1940 Miss Suzanne Swan, Mr. Thomas S. Robinson
1941 Miss Mary Fields, Mr. Rowland Erving
1942 Miss Jean Eddy, Mr. J. Porter Gillespie
1945 Miss Catherine Hays , Mr. Herbert A. May Jr.
1946 Miss Billie Hodge, Mr. Thomas J. Hilliard
1947 Miss Jean Luke, Mr. John H. Hillman III
1948 Miss Burd Blair Stevenson, Mr. George C. Burgwin III
1949 Miss Marian McCargo, Mr. John K. Gile
1950 Miss Lyde Arrott, Mr. S. Davidson Herron Jr.
1951 Miss Joan Franklin, Mr. Thoman M. H. Nimick Jr.
1952 Miss Elizabeth Ann Kirkpatrick, Mr. Melville C. Blair
1953 Miss Jessie Thorp, Mr. Arthur M. Scully
1954 Miss Margaret Watson, Mr. Fletcher Hedges III
1955 Miss Ann Ewing, Mr. Paul B. Dickey Jr.
1956 Miss Barbara Close, The Reverend Mr. Hugh Magee
1957 Miss Margaret Adams, Mr. Rowland Erving Jr.
1958 Miss Mary Bragdon, Mr. Edmund S. Ruffin III
1959 Miss Margaret Evans, Mr. John G. Zimmerman Jr.
1960 Miss Margaret Aiken Fisher, Mr. Gordon Gordon
1961 Miss Elizabeth Cappeau Brooks, Mr. Henry J. Heinz III
1962 Miss Laurie Elizabeth Batchelar, Mr. Frank E. Richardson III
1963 Miss Annette Willock, Mr. John M. Duff Jr.
1964 Miss Louise Hickox, Mr. Robert M. Willock
1965 Miss Machaele Quinn, Mr. David S. Hackett
1966 Miss Margaretta Wood Schroeder, Mr. Erl G. Purnell
1967 Miss Martha Elizabeth Close, Mr. John Tedford Bachman
1968 Miss Madelaine Laughlin Alexander, Mr. David Marshall Nix
1969 Miss Mary Carroll Schroeder, Mr. Anthony Kenny McCague
1970 Miss Margery Grahame Orr, Mr. Joshua Clyde Whetzel III
1971 Miss Suzanne Wilson Curry, Mr. Richard Gregg Hillman
1972 Miss Helen Holland Clay, Mr. Henry St. George Tucker
1973 Miss Luceille Murray Egan, Mr. Thomas Bostwick McConnon
1974 Miss Margo Reed Kennedy, Mr. Michael Slocum McKay
1975 Miss Mary Patricia Macgovern, Mr. James L. Widdoes
1976 Miss Nancy Baton Scheetz, Mr. Charles Prescott Stewart III
1977 Miss Lora Stevenson, Mr. William Talbott Hillman
1978 Miss Susan Lea Herzog, Mr. C. Prentiss Orr Jr.
1979 Miss Mary Ellen Friend, Mr. Thomas P. Whetzel
1980 Miss Joan Eileen Totten, Mr. John Titzel Creighton
1981 Miss Carolyn Walker Agnew, Mr. Paul Welles Orr
1982 Miss Lorilee Huizenga , Mr. Allen Gordon Steele
1983 Miss Victoria Marshall Howe Nimick, Mr. Peter Singleton Austin
1984 Miss Patricia Ann Poppenberg, Mr. David Nichols Sheehan
1985 Miss Janet Laura Scott, Mr. William Wallace Danforth
1986 Miss Tracey Jeanne Baker, Mr. David Whitehead Hobbs
1987 Miss Helen Shoemaker McKean, Mr. Taylor Gordon Abbett
1988 Miss Susan Kimberly Beard, Mr. Kevin McKenna Lynch
1989 Miss Jennifer Hulme Curry, Mr. Robert Thomas Woodings III
1990 Miss Kate Armstrong Sphar, Mr. Andrew Throckmorton Thompson
1991 Miss Nancy Frank Brand, Mr. Gustave George Howland Rieck
1992 Miss Katherine Byrnes McSorley, Mr. George Peter Bolanis
1993 Miss Courtney Lockhart, Mr. Robert Stuart Jamison III
1994 Miss Jennifer Beth Reddinger, Mr. George Bart Berger Messer
1996 Miss Kate McClure Spencer Straccia, Mr. Robert Doyle Ferguson
1997 Miss Morgan Katherine Demase, Mr. Hunter Rombauer Brown
1999 Miss Stephanie Lynn McKinney, Mr. Edmond Miles Watters
2000 Miss MacDara Carr Loftus, Mr. Vance McClelland Smith IV
2001 Miss Rachel Johnston Puda, Mr. Joseph Francis John
2002 Miss Julia Ann Reddinger, Mr. Philip Brennan Hart III
2003 Miss Taylor Harris Sakey, Mr. James Michael Gleason
2004 Miss Caitlin Rooney Miller, Mr. Jameson Lee Keevican
2005 Miss Lauren Brooke Robertshaw, Mr. John McCune Edwards
2006 Miss Brittany Margherita Pasay, Mr. Patrick Sawyer Fisher
2007 Miss Sarah Robinson Dieffenbach, Mr. Walter Alexander Baker III
2008 Miss Linda Elaine Flaherty, Mr. Stephen Haywood McKnight Jr
2009 Miss Mary Katherine Sasinoski, Mr. Eric William Hellberg
2010 Miss Taylor Judith Linaburg, Mr. David John Egan Jr.
2011 Miss Stella Eleanor Sotereanos, Mr. Chase Winslow Fisher
2012 Miss Danika Lane Baum, Mr. Jeffrey Davies Broad
2013 Miss Rose Jamison Egan, Mr. Sean Patrick Hannon
2014 Miss Olivia Stuart Cochran, Mr. Andrew Michael Waldman
2015 Miss Mackenzie Lynn Haney, Mr. Henry James Fiedler
2016 Miss Phoebe Jane Thompson, Mr. David Whitehead Hobbs Jr.
2017 Miss Lilah Kathryn Hilliard, Mr. Christoper Duff Rudolf
2018 Miss Kennedy Alexis Wilson, Mr. Connor Thompson Jones
2019 Miss Margaret Elizabeth Maglio, Mr. Joseph Anthony Katarincic III
2020 Miss Adeline Morrow Todd, Mr. Robert William Cochran
2021 Miss Cealy Kate Fryncko, Mr. Chester Scheetz Todd