Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As of 2018, there is no longer a swimsuit portion to the contest, or consideration of physical appearance.
Miss America travels about 20,000 miles a month, changing her location every 24 to 48 hours, touring the nation and promoting her particular platform of interest. The winner is crowned by the previous year's titleholder.
The current Miss America is
Grace Stanke
Grace Marie Stanke (born April 30, 2002) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America on December 15, 2022. A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, she is the third Miss Wisconsin to win the national title.
Early life and educa ...
of
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, who was crowned
Miss America 2023
Miss America 2023 was the 95th edition of the Miss America pageant, which occurred at the Mohegan Sun on December 16, 2022. The 2023 calendar year, based on several sources, may be the final year at Mohegan Sun.
Rather than being aired on mai ...
on December 15, 2022.
Overview
![Margaret Gorman 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Margaret_Gorman_4.jpg)
On February 1, 1919, there was a beauty pageant held in the Chu Chin Chow Ball at the Hotel des Artistes in New York City. The winner,
Edith Hyde Robbins Macartney, was called "Miss America." Neither the title nor this pageant were related to the current "Miss America Pageant" which would develop a year later in
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. .
["Deaths: Macartney—Edith Hyde"]
''New York Times'', April 28, 1978.
''New York Times'', Jan. 25, 1920.[Anderson, Susan Heller, and David W. Dunlap]
''New York Times'', Dec. 6, 1984.["The First Real Miss America"]
Greatreporter.com, Feb. 2, 2006[Senn, Bryan. ''Golden Horrors: An Illustrated Critical Filmography of Terror Cinema, 1931-1939'', p. 67.] Rather, the origins of the "Miss America Pageant" lie in an event entitled ''The Fall Frolic'' which was held on September 25, 1920, in Atlantic City. This event was designed to bring business to the Boardwalk: "three hundred and fifty gaily decorated rolling wicker chairs were pushed along the parade route. Three hundred and fifty men pushed the chairs. However, the main attractions were the young 'maidens' who sat in the rolling chairs, headed by a Miss Ernestine Cremona, who was dressed in a flowing white robe and represented 'Peace.'"
The event was so successful that ''The Businessmen's League'' planned to repeat it the following year as a
beauty pageant
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...
or a "bather's revue"
(to capitalize on the popularity of newspaper-based beauty contests that used photo submissions).
The event was scheduled to take place the week-end following Labor Day, to encourage summer visitors to stay in Atlantic City. Thus, "newspapers from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., were asked to sponsor local beauty contests. The winners would participate in the Atlantic City contest. If the local newspaper would pay for the winner's wardrobe, the Atlantic City Businessmen's League would pay for the contestant's travel to compete in the Inter-City Beauty Contest."
Herb Test, a "newspaperman", coined the term for the winner: "Miss America."
On September 8, 1921, 100,000 people gathered at the Boardwalk to watch the contestants from
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
,
Ocean City,
Camden,
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
Out of the nine contestants, the two frontrunners were Virginia Lee and
Margaret Gorman
Margaret Gorman (August 18, 1905 – October 1, 1995) was an American model and beauty queen who was the winner of the first Miss America beauty pageant after being crowned Miss District of Columbia in 1921.
Pageantry
Gorman was a junior at W ...
. A conflict ensued when the judges disqualified 22-year-old Lee at the last minute because she was deemed to be a professional rather than an amateur like the other contestants due to the fact that she was 1) a working actress, 2) married, and 3) a friend of the competition's chief judge.
The 16-year-old winner from Washington, D.C.,
Margaret Gorman
Margaret Gorman (August 18, 1905 – October 1, 1995) was an American model and beauty queen who was the winner of the first Miss America beauty pageant after being crowned Miss District of Columbia in 1921.
Pageantry
Gorman was a junior at W ...
, was crowned the "Golden Mermaid" and won $100.
The pageant continued consistently over the next eight decades except for the years 1928–1932, when it was temporarily shut down due to financial problems associated with the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and suggestions that it promoted "loose morals."
With its revival in 1933, 15-year-old
Marian Bergeron
Marian Bergeron (May 3, 1918 – October 22, 2002) was Miss America in 1933. She went on to a career in big-band singing and public speaking. She was a major supporter of the Miss America Pageant.
Bergeron, from West Haven, Connecticut, won ...
won, prompting future contestants to be between the ages of 18 and 26.
In 1935, Lenora Slaughter was hired to "re-invent" the pageant and served for 32 years as its Director.
By 1938, a talent section was added to the competition, and contestants were required to have a chaperone.
In 1940, the title officially became "The Miss America Pageant" and the pageant was held in Atlantic City's Convention Hall.
In 1944, compensation for "Miss America" switched from "furs and movie contracts" to college scholarships, an idea generally credited to
Jean Bartel
Jean Bartel (born Jean Bartlemeh; October 26, 1923 – March 6, 2011) was Miss California and Miss America 1943.
Early life
Bartel was from Los Angeles, California. She was born Jean Bartlemeh; later her name was shortened to Bartel.
Pageantr ...
, Miss America 1943.
During the early years of the pageant, under the directorship of Lenora Slaughter, it became
racially segregated
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
via rule number seven that stated: "contestants must be of good health and of the
white race
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as " ...
."
Rule number seven was abolished in 1950.
Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
1945,
Bess Myerson
Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model and television actress who in 1945 became the first Miss America who was also Jewish.
Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an af ...
, the only Jewish American winner to date, became
Miss America 1945
Miss America 1945, the 19th Miss America pageant, was held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 8, 1945. Two days prior to the actual selection and coronation, the night of the talent competition, the Army Air Force Veteran ...
and faced
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
during her time as Miss America, leading to a cutback in her official duties.
Although there were Native American, Latina, and Asian-American contestants, there were no African-American contestants for fifty years (African-Americans appeared in musical numbers as far back as 1923, however, when they were cast as slaves).
In 1970,
Cheryl Browne,
Miss Iowa
The Miss Iowa competition is the official preliminary for the state of Iowa in the Miss America Scholarship Competition.
Bailey Hodson of Des Moines was crowned Miss Iowa 2022 on June 11, 2022 at Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa. She compete ...
1970,
competed as the first African-American contestant in the
Miss America 1971
Miss America 1971, the 44th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 12, 1970. The Women's liberation movement, Women's Liberation Front demonstrated at the event and Miss Iowa 1970, Cheryl ...
pageant.
She also participated in one of the last
USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
-Miss America tours in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
A decade later in 1983,
Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
(and Miss Syracuse) 1983,
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resigne ...
(the first African-American woman to win the competition as
Miss America 1984
Miss America 1984, the 57th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 17, 1983 on NBC Network. Debra Maffett (Miss California 1982) crowned her successor, Miss New York 1983, Vanessa Williams at ...
), faced discrimination in response to her win and later resigned under pressure due to a scandal involving nude photographs.
Three decades after these events,
Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
(and Miss Syracuse) 2013,
Nina Davuluri
Nina Davuluri (born April 20, 1989) is an American public speaker, advocate, and beauty queen who hosts the reality show ''Made in America'' on Zee TV America from Manhattan.
As Miss America 2014, she became the first Indian American contest ...
, the first Indian-American woman to win the crown as
Miss America 2014
Miss America 2014, the 87th Miss America pageant was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey Sunday, September 15, 2013. Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan crowned the winner, Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, who served as Miss Am ...
, faced
xenophobic
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
and racist comments in social media when she won.
Two years later at the
Miss America 2016
Miss America 2016, the 89th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 13, 2015. It was broadcast on ABC and streamed to mobile devices and Xbox 360 consoles via the WatchABC app. Ticket ...
pageant, then Miss America
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Sam Haskell apologized to Vanessa Williams (who was serving as head judge) for what was said to her during the events of 1984.
In 2018, the pageant adopted a new format, referred to as "Miss America 2.0", as part of an effort under new chairwoman
Gretchen Carlson
Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (born June 21, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. Carlson appeared as the host of numerous television programs, most notably on the Saturday edition of ''The Early Show'' on ...
to "
volve Miss Americain this cultural revolution." Under the new format, competitors are no longer judged on their physical appearance (resulting in the highly publicized announcement that the event would no longer include a swimsuit competition), and there is a larger focus on the competitors' "talent, passion, and ambition".
History
1921–1967
Margaret Gorman
Margaret Gorman (August 18, 1905 – October 1, 1995) was an American model and beauty queen who was the winner of the first Miss America beauty pageant after being crowned Miss District of Columbia in 1921.
Pageantry
Gorman was a junior at W ...
, Miss District of Columbia, was declared "The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America" in 1921 at the age of 16 and was recognized as the first "Miss America" when she returned to compete the next year. The contest that year was won by
Mary Katherine Campbell
Mary Katherine Campbell (December 18, 1905 – June 7, 1990) was the only person to win the Miss America pageant twice and the second woman in history to win the title.
Early life and education
Campbell's Miss America biography stated she i ...
(
Miss Ohio
The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program selects the representative for the U.S. state of Ohio to compete for the title of Miss America. The pageant is held annually, during the "Miss Ohio Festival" week, at the historic 1,600 seat Renaissance Theatre ...
), who won again in 1923. She returned to compete a third time in 1924 but placed as first runner-up that year, and pageant rules were then amended to prevent anyone from winning more than once.
Alta Sterling, competing as Miss Sioux City, was the first to represent the state of Iowa at the 1924 Miss America pageant. Sterling had the distinction of being the first Jewish contestant to compete for Miss America – one of some very notable "firsts" by Miss Iowa contestants.
Beginning in 1940,
Bob Russell served as the first official host of the pageant.
In 1941, Mifaunwy Shunatona,
Miss Oklahoma
The Miss Oklahoma competition selects a winner to compete on behalf of Oklahoma in the Miss America pageant. Miss Oklahoma has won the Miss America crown on five occasions. Also, in the years when city representatives were common, Norma Smallwo ...
, became the first Native American contestant.
In 1945,
Bess Myerson
Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model and television actress who in 1945 became the first Miss America who was also Jewish.
Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an af ...
became the first Jewish-American and the first
Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
(competing as Miss New York City, a competition organized by a local radio station
) to win the Miss America pageant as
Miss America 1945
Miss America 1945, the 19th Miss America pageant, was held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 8, 1945. Two days prior to the actual selection and coronation, the night of the talent competition, the Army Air Force Veteran ...
.
As the only Jewish contestant, Myerson was encouraged by the pageant directors to change her name to "Bess Meredith"
or "Beth Merrick",
but she refused.
After winning the title (and as a Jewish Miss America), Myerson received few endorsements
and later recalled that "I couldn't even stay in certain hotels
€¦there would be signs that read no coloreds, no Jews, no dogs. I felt so rejected. Here I was chosen to represent American womanhood and then America treated me like this."
She thus cut short her Miss America tour and instead traveled with the
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
. In this capacity, she spoke against discrimination in a talk entitled, "You Can't Be Beautiful and Hate."
In 1948, Irma Nydia Vasquez, the first
Miss Puerto Rico
Miss Puerto Rico is a national beauty pageant in Puerto Rico. Currently, there are two separate televised pageants held annually: Miss Universe Puerto Rico to select the representative for Miss Universe and Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico to select t ...
, became the first Latina contestant.
In addition, in 1948, Yun Tau Chee, the first
Miss Hawaii
The Miss Hawaii competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the State of Hawaii in the Miss America pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. Hawaii first competed at Miss America in 1948 and has twice won the M ...
, was also the first Asian-American contestant.
Miss America 1949
Miss America 1949, the 23rd Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 10, 1949. The 1949 pageant marked the first time that a public official, New Jersey Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, had taken ...
,
Jacque Mercer
Jacquelyn Joy Mercer (January 7, 1931 – February 2, 1982) was Miss America in 1949.
Biography
Mercer was born in Thatcher, Arizona. In 1949, she won the title of Miss America. She is mentioned (usually by title, once by name) several times ...
, was married and divorced during her reign; after this, a rule was enacted requiring Miss America contestants to sign a certification that they have never been married or pregnant. Starting in 1950, although the pageant continued to be in September, the Miss America title changed to "post-dated", thus that year's pageant winner became Miss America 1951, and there was no Miss America 1950. The pageant was first televised nationally in 1954, hosted by
Bob Russell.
Future television star
Lee Meriwether
Lee Ann Meriwether (born May 27, 1935) is an American actress, former model, and the winner of the Miss America 1955 pageant. She has appeared in many films and television shows, notably as Betty Jones, the title character's secretary and daughte ...
was crowned
Miss America 1955
Miss America 1955, the 28th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 11, 1954, and marked the first live nationally televised broadcast of the competition on ABC.
Crowned the winner was Lee ...
. It would also be the last time Russell served as host. He recommended, and was replaced by,
Bert Parks
Bert Parks (born Bertram Jacobson; December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979.
Early life
Parks was bor ...
, who served as the host for the second televised pageant in 1955 and stayed as host until 1979.
Television viewership peaked during the early 1960s, when it was the highest-rated program on American television.
1968–2016
![Miss America contestants visit Andrews 2003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Miss_America_contestants_visit_Andrews_2003.jpg)
With the rise of
second-wave feminism
Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains.
Wh ...
and the civil rights movement during the 1960s, the Miss America pageant became the subject of a series of protests that attacked it as sexist, racist, and part of U.S. militarism. The
first such demonstration took place during the
Miss America 1969
Miss America 1969, the 42nd Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 7, 1968 on NBC, NBC Network. Miss Illinois was the winner, Judith Ford performing on a trampoline during the talent competi ...
pageant held on September 7, 1968 (won by
Miss Illinois
The Miss Illinois is a pageant program affiliated with Miss America, which is competition for women models representing the state of Illinois.
The first "Miss Illinois" sent to the national pageant was Lois Delander who subsequently won the Mis ...
1968,
Judith Ford
Judith Anne Ford Nash (née Ford; born December 26, 1949) is a retired teacher who was Miss America 1969. Judith Anne Ford moved to Belvidere, Illinois at age three with her parents and brother. In 1968 she won the title of Miss Boone County, held ...
), when about 200 members of the group
New York Radical Women
New York Radical Women (NYRW) was an early second-wave radical feminist group that existed from 1967 to 1969. They drew nationwide media attention when they unfurled a banner inside the 1968 Miss America pageant displaying the words "Women' ...
demonstrated as part of the
Miss America protest
The Miss America protest was a demonstration held at the Miss America 1969 contest on September 7, 1968, attended by about 200 feminists and civil rights advocates. The feminist protest was organized by New York Radical Women and included putting ...
.
Bev Grant
Bev Grant is an American musician, photographer, filmmaker, and activist based in New York City.
Personal life
Grant grew up in Portland, Oregon, and moved to New York with her husband in the 1960s. She later separated from her husband, was rad ...
's photographs of this event have become iconic. In addition, a pamphlet distributed at the protest by
Robin Morgan
Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key radical feminist member of the American Women's Movement, and a leader in the ...
, ''No More Miss America!'', became a source for feminist scholarship.
The protest was co-sponsored by
Florynce Kennedy
Florynce Rae Kennedy (February 11, 1916 – December 21, 2000) was an American lawyer, radical feminist, civil rights advocate, lecturer and activist.
Early life
Kennedy was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to an African-American family. Her fath ...
's Media Workshop, an activist group she founded in 1966 to protest the media's representation of African-Americans, along with the feminist Jeanette Rankin Brigade and the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
. Morgan later stated that the Miss America pageant "was chosen as a target for a number of reasons: it has always been a lily-white, racist contest; the winner tours
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, entertaining the troops as a 'Murder Mascot'; the whole gimmick is one commercial shillgame to sell the sponsor's products. Where else could one find such a perfect combination of American values—racism, militarism, sexism—all packaged in one ‘ideal symbol,’ a woman." The protesters compared the pageant to a county fair where livestock are judged.
They thus crowned a sheep as Miss America and symbolically destroyed a number of feminine products, including false eyelashes, high-heeled shoes, curlers, hairspray, makeup,
girdle
A belt, especially if a cord or rope, is called a girdle if it is worn as part of Christian liturgical vestments, or in certain historical, literary or sports contexts.
Girdles are used to close a cassock in Christian denominations, including th ...
s,
corset
A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or with a more lasting effe ...
s, and bras. Burning the contents of a trash can was suggested, but a permit was unobtainable; news media seized on the similarity between
draft resisters burning draft cards and women burning their bras. In fact, there was no bra burning, nor did anyone remove her bra. The
Women's Liberation Front
The Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) is an American self-described radical feminist organization that opposes transgender rights and gender identity legislation. It has engaged in litigation on transgender topics, working against the Obama administ ...
later demonstrated at the
Miss America 1971
Miss America 1971, the 44th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 12, 1970. The Women's liberation movement, Women's Liberation Front demonstrated at the event and Miss Iowa 1970, Cheryl ...
pageant.
Miss Iowa
The Miss Iowa competition is the official preliminary for the state of Iowa in the Miss America Scholarship Competition.
Bailey Hodson of Des Moines was crowned Miss Iowa 2022 on June 11, 2022 at Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa. She compete ...
1970,
Cheryl Browne, became the first African-American contestant in the competition's history during the
Miss America 1971
Miss America 1971, the 44th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 12, 1970. The Women's liberation movement, Women's Liberation Front demonstrated at the event and Miss Iowa 1970, Cheryl ...
pageant (September 12, 1970).
She drew attention from reporters and from security personnel in Atlantic City who maintained a visible presence during pageant rehearsals.
Browne was not a finalist, however,
losing to future media personality,
Miss Texas
The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America (but none since 1975).
To become Miss Texas ...
1970,
Phyllis George
Phyllis Ann George (June 25, 1949 – May 14, 2020) was an American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster. In 1975, George was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show ''The NFL Today'', becoming one of the first women ...
. In August 1971, Browne traveled to
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
with George;
Miss Nevada
The Miss Nevada competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Nevada in the Miss America competition, and the name of the title held by that winner. The first Nevadan to compete at Miss America was Carol Lampe in 19 ...
1970, Vicky Jo Todd;
Miss New Jersey
The Miss New Jersey competition is an annual pageant held to select the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss America pageant.
Two Miss New Jersey winners have gone on to hold the title of Miss America: Bette Cooper who won in ...
1970,
Hela Yungst
Hela Yungst Hochman (January 15, 1950 - February 24, 2002), also known as Hela Young, was an American television entertainer and beauty pageant winner. She was a promoter of Holocaust awareness and a former president of the New Jersey Commission ...
;
Miss Arizona
The Miss Arizona competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arizona in the Miss America pageant. Arizona has twice won the Miss America title. The first Miss Arizona, Anna Marie Barnett, was crowned in 1938.
...
1970, Karen Shields;
Miss Arkansas
The Miss Arkansas competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss America pageant. Arkansas has won the Miss America title three times (1964, 1982, 2017).
Ebony Mitchell of Harrison was crowned Mi ...
1970, Donna Connelly; and
Miss Texas
The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America (but none since 1975).
To become Miss Texas ...
1970 (George's replacement), Belinda Myrick.
They participated in a 22-day
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
tour for
American troops
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
that began in
Saigon
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
.
Browne later commented that she thought "it was one of the last Miss America groups to go to Vietnam."
Miss Arkansas
The Miss Arkansas competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss America pageant. Arkansas has won the Miss America title three times (1964, 1982, 2017).
Ebony Mitchell of Harrison was crowned Mi ...
1980,
Lencola Sullivan, finished the
Miss America 1981 pageant (September 6, 1980) as fourth runner-up, making her the first African American contestant to place in the top five.
A few years later,
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resigne ...
(
Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
1983) won the title of
Miss America 1984
Miss America 1984, the 57th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 17, 1983 on NBC Network. Debra Maffett (Miss California 1982) crowned her successor, Miss New York 1983, Vanessa Williams at ...
on September 17, 1983, making her the first African American woman to wear the crown.
Williams later commented that she was one of five minority contestants that year, noting that ballet dancer
Deneen Graham
Deneen Zezell Graham Kernsis a dance teacher and pageant contestant from North Carolina. In 1983 she became the first African-American to win the Miss North Carolina beauty pageant; she remained the only African-American to have won the Miss North ...
"had already had a cross burned on her front yard because she was the first black
Miss North Carolina
The Miss North Carolina competition selects the representative for the state of North Carolina to compete in the annual Miss America competition. The competition has been held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in vario ...
983
Year 983 ( CMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – Diet of Verona: Emperor Otto II (the Red) declares war against the Byza ...
"
She also pointed out that "
Suzette Charles
Suzette Charles (born Suzette DeGaetano, March 2, 1963) is an American singer, entertainer, and actress. She was Miss New Jersey in 1983, and served as Miss America 1984 for seven weeks after Vanessa L. Williams resigned from the position that Ju ...
was the first runner-up, and she was biracial. But when the press started, when I would go out on the – on the tour and do my appearances, and people would come up and say they never thought they'd see the day that it would happen; when people would want to shake my hand, and you'd see tears in their eyes, and they'd say, I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime – that's when, you know, it was definitely a very special honor."
[ Williams' reign as Miss America was not without its challenges and controversies, however. For the first time in pageant history, a reigning Miss America was the target of death threats and hate mail.][ Williams was forced to resign seven weeks prior to the end of her time as Miss America, however, after the unauthorized publication of nude photos in '']Penthouse
Penthouse most often refers to:
*Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building
*Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine
*Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...
.'' First runner-up, Miss New Jersey
The Miss New Jersey competition is an annual pageant held to select the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss America pageant.
Two Miss New Jersey winners have gone on to hold the title of Miss America: Bette Cooper who won in ...
1983, Suzette Charles
Suzette Charles (born Suzette DeGaetano, March 2, 1963) is an American singer, entertainer, and actress. She was Miss New Jersey in 1983, and served as Miss America 1984 for seven weeks after Vanessa L. Williams resigned from the position that Ju ...
replaced her for the final weeks of Williams' reign. Thirty-two years after she resigned however, Vanessa Williams returned to the Miss America stage on September 13, 2015, for the Miss America 2016
Miss America 2016, the 89th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 13, 2015. It was broadcast on ABC and streamed to mobile devices and Xbox 360 consoles via the WatchABC app. Ticket ...
pageant as head judge (where Miss Georgia 2015, Betty Cantrell
Baciliky Andris "Betty" Maxwell (née Cantrell; born September 1, 1994) is an American singer, actress, model, author, and beauty pageant titleholder from Warner Robins, Georgia, who was crowned Miss Georgia 2015. On September 13, 2015, she wa ...
, won the crown). The pageant began with former Miss America CEO Sam Haskell issuing an apology to Williams, telling her that although "none of us currently in the organization were involved then, on behalf of today's organization, I want to apologize to you and to your mother, Miss Helen Williams. I want to apologize for anything that was said or done that made you feel any less the Miss America you are and the Miss America you always will be."[ ]Suzette Charles
Suzette Charles (born Suzette DeGaetano, March 2, 1963) is an American singer, entertainer, and actress. She was Miss New Jersey in 1983, and served as Miss America 1984 for seven weeks after Vanessa L. Williams resigned from the position that Ju ...
(Williams' replacement) said in an interview with ''Inside Edition
''Inside Edition'' is an American news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed in first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine program that is n ...
'' that she was perplexed over the apology and suggested that it was given for the purpose of ratings.
In 1985, Miss Utah
The Miss Utah competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Utah in the Miss America pageant. Two Miss Utah titleholders have won the Miss America pageant.
Lindsey Larsen of Lehi was crowned Miss Utah 2021 on Jun ...
1984, Sharlene Wells Hawkes
Sharlene Wells (born 16 March 1964) is a Paraguayan-American author, singer, and reporter from Salt Lake City, Utah who was Miss America 1985. She worked with ESPN from 1987 to 2002 and was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Defense to the Defens ...
, became the first foreign-born, bilingual Miss America, as she was born in Asunción
Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay.
The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
, Paraguay. Miss Alabama
The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition.
Alabama has won three Miss America titles: Deidre Downs in 2005, Heather Whitestone (the first deaf ...
1994, Heather Whitestone
Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum (born February 24, 1973) is a former beauty queen and conservative activist who was the first deaf Miss America title holder, having lost most of her hearing at 18 months.
Early life
Whitestone was born in Doth ...
, won the 1995 pageant becoming the first deaf Miss America (she lost most of her hearing at the age of 18 months). At the Miss America 1999
Miss America 1999, the 72nd Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 19, 1998 on ABC Network.
Results Placements
Order of announcements
Top 10
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
Top 5
# ...
pageant held on September 19, 1998, Nicole Johnson (Miss Virginia
The Miss Virginia competition is a scholarship pageant for women, with the titleholder representing Virginia in the Miss America pageant. The competition was founded in 1953 as a scholarship contest for young women, although women had represente ...
1998) became the first Miss America with diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
and the first contestant to publicize an insulin pump. Around the same time, Miss America officials announced they had lifted the ban on contestants who were divorced or had had an abortion. This rule change, however, was rescinded and Miss America CEO Robert L. Beck, who had suggested it, was fired. Angela Perez Baraquio
Angela Perez Baraquio Grey (born June 1, 1976), known professionally by her birth name of Angela Perez Baraquio, is an American educator. She was crowned Miss America 2001 on October 14, 2000 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, becoming the first ...
, Miss Hawaii
The Miss Hawaii competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the State of Hawaii in the Miss America pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. Hawaii first competed at Miss America in 1948 and has twice won the M ...
2000, was crowned Miss America 2001, thereby becoming the first Asian-American, the first Filipino-American
Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New S ...
, as well as the first teacher ever to win the pageant.[Miss America 2001](_blank)
A few years later, the Miss America 2005
Miss America 2005, the 78th Miss America pageant, was held in Atlantic City on Saturday, September 18, 2004, following a week of events including the preliminary competition.
The pageant was broadcast live on ABC from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic ...
pageant held on September 18, 2004, would be the last one televised live on ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
(which dropped the pageant after this broadcast, as it "drew a record-low 9.8 million viewers") and the last one held in Atlantic City
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
for ten years. Miss Alabama
The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition.
Alabama has won three Miss America titles: Deidre Downs in 2005, Heather Whitestone (the first deaf ...
2004, Deidre Downs
Deidre Downs Gunn (born July 7, 1980) is an American physician and former beauty pageant titleholder. Downs was Miss Alabama 2004 and later was crowned Miss America 2005.
Education
After graduating from Pelham High School in 1998, Downs attended ...
, reigned as Miss America four months longer than usual as the Miss America 2006
Miss America 2006, the 79th Miss America pageant, was held on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Saturday, January 21, 2006.
The pageant was broadcast live on CMT from the Theatre for the Performing Arts at the Aladdin Resort and Casin ...
pageant was moved to a January broadcast at the Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...
's Theatre for the Performing Arts
The Zappos Theater, originally known as Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, is a mid-sized auditorium located at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. The venue hosts a variety of events, including charity benefits, concerts and ...
(Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino
Planet Hollywood Las Vegas (formerly the Aladdin) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. The property was previously the site of an earlier resort known ...
). It was broadcast live on Country Music Television
Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...
. After two years, the pageant moved to the TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
network. The Miss America 2011
Miss America 2011 was the 84th Miss America pageant. Since the first Miss America pageant was held years ago, in 1921, the Miss America Organization was celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2011.
It was held at the Theatre for the Performing Art ...
pageant held on January 15, 2011, showcased Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
2010, Claire Buffie, (the first Miss America contestant to advocate a gay-rights platform) and Miss Delaware
The Miss Delaware competition is the pageant that selects the representative of Delaware in the Miss America pageant. The event takes place annually in the month of June and has previously been held in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware at Convention H ...
2010, Kayla Martell
Kayla Martell (born June 27, 1989) is an American beauty queen from Milford, Delaware and the winner of the Miss Delaware 2010 pageant. Martell placed in the Top 10 at the Miss America 2011 pageant. In the fifth grade, Martell was diagnosed wi ...
, (the first bald contestant). ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
also resumed broadcasting the pageant with the 2011 competition. The Miss America 2013
Miss America 2013, the 86th Miss America pageant, was held at the PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Saturday, January 12, 2013.
Results
Placements
* - America's Choice
** - Saved b ...
pageant, held on January 12, 2013, was the last one to take place in Las Vegas. Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
2012, Mallory Hagan
Mallory Hytes Hagan (born December 23, 1988) is an American politician and former beauty pageant queen, former news anchor and Business Consultant for Sysco Systems. She had won Miss America 2013 as Miss New York 2012 and is running for a seat i ...
, won the competition but only served for eight months as the pageant moved back to its former broadcast slot in September 2013 Miss Montana
The Miss Montana competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of Montana in the Miss America pageant.
Unlike most state pageants in the Miss America system, Montana does not use preliminary local pageants t ...
2012, Alexis Wineman, ("America's Choice" winner) was the pageant's first autistic
The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
contestant.
With the Miss America 2014
Miss America 2014, the 87th Miss America pageant was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey Sunday, September 15, 2013. Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan crowned the winner, Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, who served as Miss Am ...
pageant, held on September 15, 2013, the competition returned to Boardwalk Hall
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlanti ...
, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. . Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
(Nina Davuluri
Nina Davuluri (born April 20, 1989) is an American public speaker, advocate, and beauty queen who hosts the reality show ''Made in America'' on Zee TV America from Manhattan.
As Miss America 2014, she became the first Indian American contest ...
) won the title of Miss America. Davuluri was also the first Indian-American and second Asian-American to win the crown. Shortly after her win, however, Davuluri became the target of xenophobic
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
and racist comments in social media relating the proximity of the event date to the 9/11 anniversary and to anti-Indian sentiment
Anti-Indian sentiment, also known as Indophobia or anti-Indianism, is a modern term referring to negative feelings and hatred towards the Republic of India, Indian people, and Indian culture. Indophobia is formally defined in the context of ant ...
. News agencies cited tweets that misidentified her as Muslim or Arab, associated her with groups such as Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
, and questioned why she was chosen over Miss Kansas
The Miss Kansas competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the US state of Kansas in the Miss America pageant. Kansas has won the Miss America crown on three occasions.
Ayanna Hensley of Dodge City was crowned Miss Kansas 2 ...
2013, Theresa Vail (a soldier who won the "America's Choice" award and was the first contestant to display tattoos during the swimsuit competition). Davuluri said that she was prepared for this backlash because "as Miss New York, I was called a terrorist and very similar remarks", and Vail denounced the social media backlash, offering her support to Davuluri. In addition, a torn ACL and MCL forced Miss Florida 2013, Myrrhanda Jones, to perform her baton routine with a decorated leg brace, while Nicole Kelly (Miss Iowa
The Miss Iowa competition is the official preliminary for the state of Iowa in the Miss America Scholarship Competition.
Bailey Hodson of Des Moines was crowned Miss Iowa 2022 on June 11, 2022 at Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa. She compete ...
2013) was the first contestant without a forearm to compete in the pageant.
Amanda Longacre, who was crowned Miss Delaware
The Miss Delaware competition is the pageant that selects the representative of Delaware in the Miss America pageant. The event takes place annually in the month of June and has previously been held in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware at Convention H ...
2014 and was preparing to compete in Miss America 2015, was stripped of the title and the crown because she was deemed to be too old. Longacre filed a $3 million lawsuit, and Miss America officials later blamed the error on state pageant officials whom, they said, "missed the age discrepancy in Longacre's submitted paperwork." Miss New York
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...
2014 (Kira Kazantsev) eventually won the title of Miss America 2015, making New York the first state to produce a winner for three consecutive years.
In September 2014, comedian John Oliver ran a segment on his show, ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Last Week Tonight'', that investigated the Miss America Organization's claim that it is "the world's largest provider of scholarships for women." Oliver's team, which included four researchers with journalism backgrounds, collected and analyzed the organization's state and federal tax forms to find that the organization's scholarship program only distributes a small fraction of its claimed "$45 million made available annually". Oliver said that at the national level, the Miss America Organization and Miss America Foundation together spent only $482,000 in cash scholarships in 2012. Oliver found that at the state level, the Miss Alabama
The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition.
Alabama has won three Miss America titles: Deidre Downs in 2005, Heather Whitestone (the first deaf ...
pageant claimed that it had provided $2,592,000 in scholarships to Troy University despite not actually distributing any such scholarships. The pageant appeared to multiply the value of a single available scholarship by the number of contestants theoretically eligible for it, while using the term "provided" in a way that did not mean "distributed." The Miss America Organization responded by stating that Oliver affirmed that it provides the most scholarships to women and that the $45 million figure was based on all scholarships made available whether or not they are accepted. In February 2015, Sharon Pearce announced that she was stepping down from her role as President of the Miss America Organization. At that time, former CEO Sam Haskell was named Executive Chairman of the Miss America Organization, retained the title of CEO, and assumed all of Pearce's responsibilities. In addition, Miss America 2014
Miss America 2014, the 87th Miss America pageant was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey Sunday, September 15, 2013. Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan crowned the winner, Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, who served as Miss Am ...
, Nina Davuluri
Nina Davuluri (born April 20, 1989) is an American public speaker, advocate, and beauty queen who hosts the reality show ''Made in America'' on Zee TV America from Manhattan.
As Miss America 2014, she became the first Indian American contest ...
, was appointed one of the new trustees to the Miss America Foundation. In September 2015, Miss America officials announced that the organization grants $5.5 million in scholarships, a number which still includes adding together offers of in-kind tuition waivers from multiple schools when a contestant could accept one at most.
On March 24, 2016, the Miss America Organization announced a contract renewal with ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
to continue carrying the pageant for the next three years to the 2019 edition.
In June 2016, Erin O'Flaherty was crowned Miss Missouri, becoming the first openly lesbian Miss America contestant.
2017–present
In late December 2017, ''HuffPost'' published an article exposing derogatory emails sent and received by CEO Sam Haskell, board members Tammy Haddad and Lynn Weidner, and lead writer Lewis Friedman. The emails, sent between 2014 and 2017, featured instances of expletive name-calling and unprofessional comments. The comments were often sexual or violent in nature and targeted former Miss America winners, notably Mallory Hagan
Mallory Hytes Hagan (born December 23, 1988) is an American politician and former beauty pageant queen, former news anchor and Business Consultant for Sysco Systems. She had won Miss America 2013 as Miss New York 2012 and is running for a seat i ...
and Katherine Shindle, both of whom joined 47 other former Miss Americas (including all Miss Americas from 1988 to 2017) in signing a joint open letter calling for the firing or resignation of all involved. On December 22, the Miss America Organization (MAO) released statements to ''USA Today'', saying that it was made aware of concerns several months prior. They stated that the organization does not "condone the use of inappropriate language" and reported that its investigation had determined that Haskell was under "unreasonable distress resulting from intense attacks on his family from disgruntled stakeholders". The organization also reported that its relationship with Friedman had been terminated. Haskell explained that attacks on his character impaired his judgment when responding to the emails. Miss America's board of directors also suspended Haskell, who released a statement labeling the HuffPost article "unkind and untrue". Hagan and Shindle criticized the decision to suspend Haskell, rather than fire him, as inadequate. The following day, the President of Miss America, Josh Randle; executive chairwoman Lynn Weidner; and Haskell all resigned. The scandal prompted the pageant's producer, Dick Clark Productions, to cut ties, and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) announced that it was reconsidering its contract with Miss America, with its executive director Chris Howard describing the scandal as "troubling", and both Frank Gilliam, incoming mayor of Atlantic City, and State Senator Colin Bell (American politician), Colin Bell called for CRDA to end its relationship with Miss America. On December 24, Haddad also resigned.
In January 2018, Gretchen Carlson
Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (born June 21, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. Carlson appeared as the host of numerous television programs, most notably on the Saturday edition of ''The Early Show'' on ...
, who won the Miss America pageant in 1989, was elected as the new chairwoman of the organization, becoming the first former Miss America to serve as its leader. Katherine Shindle, Miss America 1998, was also appointed to the board alongside fellow Miss America winners, Heather French Henry (Miss America 2000, 2000) and Laura Kaeppeler (Miss America 2012, 2012). This move led to a number of changes. In June 2018, there was an announcement that Miss America contestants would no longer be judged based on their physical appearance. Thus, the national Miss America event would be considered a competition, rather than a beauty pageant, and the titleholders would now be candidates, rather than contestants. The swimsuit competition was replaced with state titleholders participating in a live interactive session with the judges. The evening gown competition was dropped; the contestants chose clothing "that makes them feel confident, expresses their personal style, and shows how they hope to advance the role of Miss America." In interviews, Carlson emphasized the organization's desire to be more welcoming, "open, transparent, [and] inclusive to women," and to prioritize displaying the talent and scholarship in the contestants. The new board of directors increased the maximum age of titleholders to 25 years old, from 24. Therefore, contestants cannot be older than 25 years old on December 31 in the calendar year of their state competition.
In August 2018, Miss America 2018 Cara Mund gave an interview to The Press of Atlantic City in which she stated that it had "been a tough year." She then wrote an open letter to former Miss Americas a few weeks later, in order to explain her comments. In the letter she states that the current leadership had "silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America." She also stated that her "voice is not heard nor wanted by our current leadership …nor do they have any interest in knowing who I am and how my experiences relate to positioning the organization for the future." Carlson denied Mund's claims. However, at the time the Miss America 2019 competition began, 46 of 51 state organizations (as well as 23 former Miss America winners) had signed a petition calling for the resignation of Carlson and CEO, Regina Hopper, from the Miss America Organization. The states who had not signed were Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, and Vermont.
On September 5, 2018, Fox Rothschild LLP, a law firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, filed a breach-of-contract suit against the MAO for failing to pay nearly $100,000 for legal services. Court fillings from October 26, 2018 ordered MAO to pay Fox Rothschild LLP $98,206.90 with interest for their unpaid legal bills. The Miss America Organization reported in December 2018 that a settlement had been made with Fox Rothschild LLP. From 2011 to 2016 (with the exception of 2014), MAO's tax fillings reveal that the organization was operating with a negative net income.
In the fall of 2018, MAO terminated licenses from Miss Florida, Florida, Miss Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Miss New Jersey, New Jersey, Miss New York, New York, Miss Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Miss Tennessee, Tennessee, and Miss West Virginia, West Virginia. The leadership of the Miss Colorado organization quit in protest. With license termination the state organization cannot "claim to be affiliated with the Miss America Organization and must...turn over bank accounts with scholarship money to the national organization." On December 22, 2018; MAO awarded the license for the Miss Georgia organization to Trina Pruitt. On December 26, 2018; MAO also reinstated the license for the Miss New Jersey organization for one year, contingent on leadership changes and recruitment of new sponsors and board members.
In December 2018, state organizations from Miss Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Miss Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Miss Tennessee, Tennessee, and Miss West Virginia, West Virginia, along with Jennifer Vaden Barth (former titleholder and former MAO board member), filed a lawsuit requesting the actions of Carlson and Hopper be voided, citing an "illegal and bad-faith takeover of the MAO, beginning in January 2018." The court date for this suit is set for January 25, 2019.
On June 5, 2019, Miss South Dakota 1997 and former South Dakota Secretary of State, Shantel Krebs, was unanimously elected to chairwoman of the Miss America Organization Board of Directors, succeeding Carlson. Krebs had been a member of the organization's board since October 2018. Carlson will "remain involved as an advisor to the Miss America Organization Board."
In Summer 2019, Miss America announced the contest would move out of Atlantic City. The December 19, 2019 event took place at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The broadcast moved from ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
to NBC, and was Live streaming, live streamed for the first time. On May 8, 2020, the organization announced its next competition, originally slated for December 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The postponement will also include revised eligibility to be coordinated with state qualifying organizations to allow competitors who would usually age out to remain in consideration.
Winners
Recent titleholders
Hosts
Present
* Laura Rutledge: 2023
Past
* Nina Davuluri
Nina Davuluri (born April 20, 1989) is an American public speaker, advocate, and beauty queen who hosts the reality show ''Made in America'' on Zee TV America from Manhattan.
As Miss America 2014, she became the first Indian American contest ...
: 2022
* Ericka Dunlap: 2022
* Kit Hoover: 2020
* Mario Lopez: 2007, 2009–2010, 2020
* Carrie Ann Inaba: 2019
* Ross Mathews: 2019
* Chris Harrison: 2004–2005, 2011–2018[Chris Harrison Will Return to Host the Miss America Competition with First-Time Host Sage Steele of ESPN]
/ref>
*Sage Steele: 2017–2018[
* Brooke Burke: 2011–2013, 2016]
* Lara Spencer: 2014–2015
* Mark Steines: 2008
* James Denton: 2006
* Tom Bergeron: 2003
* Wayne Brady: 2002
* Tony Danza: 2001
* Donny Osmond, Donny and Marie Osmond: 1999–2000 (known collectively as "Donny & Marie (1976 TV series), Donny & Marie")
* Boomer Esiason and Meredith Vieira: 1998
* Eva LaRue and John Callahan (actor), John Callahan: 1997
* Regis Philbin: 1996
* Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford: 1991–1995 (known collectively as "Live with Kelly and Ryan#1988–2000: Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Regis and Kathie Lee")
* Phyllis George
Phyllis Ann George (June 25, 1949 – May 14, 2020) was an American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster. In 1975, George was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show ''The NFL Today'', becoming one of the first women ...
: 1989–1990
* Gary Collins (actor), Gary Collins: 1982–1990
* Ron Ely: 1980–1981[Miss America: FAQ]
/ref>
* Bert Parks
Bert Parks (born Bertram Jacobson; December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979.
Early life
Parks was bor ...
: 1955–1979
* Bob Russell: 1940–1954
See also
* Miss America award winners
* Miss America's Outstanding Teen
Further reading and viewing
Archives and collections
Finding Aid to Beauty Pageant Collection
at Browne Popular Culture Library, University Libraries at Bowling Green State University, University Libraries, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, Bowling Green, Ohio.
What Beauty Pageant Queens Looked Like the Year You Were Born
Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan, May 31, 2016.
It Happened Here in New Jersey: Miss America
– Photographs of various Miss America pageants.
It Happened Here in New Jersey- Here She is: Miss America and the Protest of 1968
Books
* Banet-Weiser, Sarah. ''The Most Beautiful Girl in the World:Beauty Pageants and National Identity.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
* Gretchen Carlson, Carlson, Gretchen (Miss America 1989). ''Getting Real.'' New York: Viking Press, 2015.
* Mifflin, Margot. ''Looking for Miss America: A Pageant's 100-Year Quest to Define Womanhood''. Berkeley: Counterpoint Press, 2020.
* Riverol, A.R. ''Live from Atlantic City: A History of the Miss America Pageant.'' Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1992.
* Katherine Shindle, Shindle, Kate (Miss America 1998). ''Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain.'' University of Texas Press, 2014.
* Vanessa Williams, Williams, Vanessa (Miss America 1984
Miss America 1984, the 57th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 17, 1983 on NBC Network. Debra Maffett (Miss California 1982) crowned her successor, Miss New York 1983, Vanessa Williams at ...
) and Helen Williams. ''You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss (and Each Other).'' New York: Penguin Group, Gotham/Penguin Group, 2012.
Documentaries
The American Experience: Miss America
– American Experience, PBS (2001, 90 min)
References
External links
*
Miss America Foundation
{{Authority control
Miss America,
American awards
Beauty pageants in the United States, America
History of women in the United States
Scholarships in the United States
Atlantic City, New Jersey
1921 establishments in New Jersey
Recurring events established in 1921