There is hardly an American tradition more “apple-pie” than the Miss America Pageant.
Starting with the “Inter-City Beauty Contest” held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1921, the competition has been held – with a few exceptions during the Great Depression and a couple of other years – for more than one hundred years and has been one of the nation’s most popular annual events.
Not without controversy, criticism, even scandals, the pageant has reflected the evolving nature of American society, for better and for worse — but mostly for the better.
The pageant has – within and without its own movement and organization– inspired and contributed to diversity, inclusiveness, respect and empowerment of young women.
Just consider that during the early days of the pageant only white, unmarried women who had never been divorced or had an abortion were allowed to compete.
Over the years, the role and importance of physical appearance of contestants has been increasingly downplayed. On the other hand, talent, intellect, scholarship, skills, personality and social causes have been emphasized.
As a result of these progressive changes, the pageant has seen several firsts. Among them:
• 1945: Bess Myerson, first Jewish American Miss America.
• 1984: Vanessa Williams, first African American Miss America.
• 1985: Sharlene Wells, first foreign-born Miss America.
• 1991: Marjorie Vincent, first Miss America of Haitian descent.
• 1995: Heather Whitestone, first Miss America with a disability (hearing).
• 2001: Angela Perez Baraquio, first Filipino American and Asian American Miss America.
• 2014: Nina Davuluri, first Indian American Miss America.
• 2022: Emma Broyles, first Korean American Miss America.
After capturing the title of Miss Colorado in 2023, U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh became the first active-duty military service member to be crowned Miss America in January 2024.
The 22-year-old Air Force Academy graduate, from an early age, has had her sights set high, including wanting to be an astronaut and a pilot.
In “From Pilot to Pageantry: Meet the 1st Active-Duty Miss America,” Katie Lange at DoD News gives us some background on Miss America 2024:
When she was 13, Marsh attended NASA’s Space Camp. At 15 years of age, she started taking flying lessons, earning her civilian pilot’s license two years later. She then began to work towards her goal of entering the Air Force Academy.
“In 2018, Marsh lost her mother, Whitney, to pancreatic cancer. In her honor, the family started the Whitney Marsh Foundation, which raises funds for research and awareness to increase patients’ chances of early detection. Marsh took on the role of co-founder and president,” Lange writes.
Her community service would play a key role in her beauty pageant pursuits.
In 2019, she was admitted to the U.S. Air Force Academy where she graduated (and was commissioned) with a degree in physics in the spring of 2023.
Although Marsh received a pilot’s billing upon graduation, she “decided to defer her pilot training to pursue a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School through the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Civilian Institution Programs.”
“[Marsh is] also a graduate intern at Harvard Medical School and is working with experts from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute on early cancer detection research — continuing her work for the foundation dedicated to her mom,” writes Lange.
Of interest is Katie Lange’s observation that “Marsh’s national platform may help dispel the lingering assumption that military roles are too masculine for the average woman.”
Lange adds, “Marsh said young women can make any position their own.”
On the other hand, regarding a service member’s ability to juggle both military and “women’s” roles, Marsh has this advice, according to Lange:
I hope that women are able to see that they can define their own role in the military — whether they want to take it in the more feminine path or not — knowing that they are empowered to make that decision… Whether I’m in a crown and sash or whether I’m in my uniform, I serve as 2nd Lt. Marsh and I serve as Miss America simultaneously, and they do not take away from one another.
Finally, Marsh’s advice for service members considering pageantry:
“Just do it,” [Marsh] said, mentioning all the different opportunities that have opened up for her. “Without pageants, I never would have had this giant platform for community service…The Miss America opportunity has also enabled me to practice so much on public speaking, and that is a skill that you need throughout the military and throughout the rest of your life.”
CODA:
It would be incomplete if we did not mention a similar first in another popular beauty contest: the Miss USA pageant.
On June 5, 2016, Army. Lt. Deshauna Barber, representing the District of Columbia, was the first member of the military to win the Miss USA title.
She has gone on to advocate veterans’ issues and women empowerment as a motivational speaker, an author and Vice Chair of Service Women ‘s Action Network (SWAN), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for all service women and women veterans in the US.
