Actress Ellie Kemper apologizes for participating in gala with ‘racist’ and 'elitist’ past - The Washington Post
Louis’s elite society, marking a celebration of her social debut as well as social status, power and wealth.
In 1999, 19-year-old Princeton University student Ellie Kemper participated in the century-old tradition and was crowned as the queen of love and beauty in the debutante ball hosted by the Veiled Prophet Organization — a secretive and exclusive society run for decades by wealthy White families.There is no evidence that the Veiled Prophet Organization has ties to the white supremacist group.
Part of a Missouri family that includes wealthy bankers and prominent business leaders, Kemper had the traditional social credentials to become queen of the Veiled Prophet Ball.The website depicts the traditional ball as a celebration that “has represented for St.Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power On Parade 1877-1995,†the primary goal of events such as the gala and an accompanying parade was less benevolent.
The Veiled Prophet Organization did not admit Black members until 1979 — more than 100 years after it was founded — and it did not admit Jews for many years, according to Beauchamp.A representative for the Veiled Prophet Organization told the St?