Catch up with the most famous contestants to participate in the Miss USA pageant Vic Verbalaitis is an editorial intern at PEOPLE. He has been working at PEOPLE since 2024. His work has previously ...

The first African Americans to appear in the Miss America Pageant came onstage as 'slaves' for a musical number in 1923. It was not until 1970 that a black woman, Iowa's Cheryl Brown, won a ...

The popularity of the Miss America pageant led to a variety of beauty contests — many during the 1950s, a golden age for pageants. Some events were more important, politically and socially ...

The Miss America pageant has never been a progressive event, but in 1968, it sparked a feminist revolution. As women organized the first protest against Miss America, they were responding not only ...