Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: Private Interview (30%) – a 10-minute press conference-style interview with a panel of judges, On Stage Question (10%) – answering a judge's question onstage, Talent or HER Story (20%) – a performance talent or 90-second speech, Health and Fitness (20%) – demonstrated physical fitness onstage dressed in athletic wear, and Evening Gown (20%) – modeling evening-wear onstage.
Miss America 2027 is Regan Hutsell of Texas, who was crowned on September 6, 2026, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Overview
On February 1, 1919, a beauty pageant was held at 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 was related to the current "Miss America Pageant" which would develop a year later in Atlantic City, New Jersey."Deaths: Macartney—Edith Hyde". New York Times, April 28, 1978."Miss Acheson Weds Canadian Captain" New York Times, January 25, 1920.Anderson, Susan Heller, and David W. Dunlap. "See-Through Pantaloons, Circa 1919". New York Times, December 6, 1984."The First Real Miss America". Greatreporter.com, February 2, 2006Senn, 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 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 Head Maiden 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 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 weekend 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., Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Ocean City, Camden, Newark, New York City, and Philadelphia. Out of the nine contestants, the two frontrunners were Virginia Lee and Margaret Gorman. A conflict ensued when the judges disqualified 22-year-old Lee at the last minute because she was deemed a professional rather than an amateur like the other contestants because 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, 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 and suggestions that it promoted "loose morals." With its revival in 1933, 15-year-old Marian Bergeron 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, Miss America 1943.
During the early years of the pageant, under the directorship of Lenora Slaughter, it became racially segregated via rule number seven that stated: "contestants must be of good health and of the white race." Rule seven was abolished in 1950. Miss New York 1945, Bess Myerson, the only Jewish American winner to date, became Miss America 1945 and faced antisemitism 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 1970, competed as the first African-American contestant in the Miss America 1971 pageant. She also participated in one of the last USO-Miss America tours in Vietnam. A decade later in 1983, Miss New York (and Miss Syracuse) 1983, Vanessa Williams (the first African-American woman to win the competition as Miss America 1984), resigned under pressure due to a scandal involving nude photographs. Three decades after these events, Miss New York (and Miss Syracuse) 2013, Nina Davuluri, the first Indian-American woman to win the crown as Miss America 2014, faced xenophobic and racist comments on social media when she won. Two years later, at the Miss America 2016 pageant, then Miss America CEO 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 to "[evolve Miss America] in this cultural revolution." Under the new format, competitors were no longer judged on their physical appearance (resulting in the highly publicized announcement that the event would no longer include a swimsuit competition). In 2023, many of the "Miss America 2.0" changes (including the ban on judging personal appearance) were reversed under the advent of new leadership.
History 1921–1967 Margaret Gorman, 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 (Miss Ohio), who won again in 1923.Mary Katherine Campbell 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, became the first Native American contestant.
In 1945, Bess Myerson became the first Jewish-American and the first Miss New York (competing as Miss New York City, a competition organized by a local radio station) to win the Miss America pageant as Miss America 1945. 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. 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, became the first Latina contestant. In addition, in 1948, Yun Tau Chee, the first Miss Hawaii, was also the first Asian-American contestant. Miss America 1949, Jacque Mercer, 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 organization that hosted the pageant changed the Miss America title to "post-dated"; thus, that year's pageant winner, Yolande Betbeze, became Miss America 1951, and there was no Miss America 1950.Mifflin, Margot. Looking for Miss America: A Pageant's 100-Year Quest to Define Womanhood, (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press, 2020), p. 97. The pageant was first televised nationally in 1954, hosted by Bob Russell. Future television star Lee Meriwether was crowned Miss America 1955. It would also be the last time Russell served as host. He recommended, and was replaced by, Bert Parks, 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.
The 1965 pageant was the second major event in less than a month to take place at Boardwalk Hall; less than two weeks before, it played host to the Democratic National Convention.
1968–2016