Miss America Then and Now

Celebrating the 50th Annual Television Broadcast

Atlantic City, NJ (August 19, 2004) - Most everything was new back in 1954. New homes in the expanding suburbs, new cars, new highways… even a new kind of music, something the kids called "Rock 'n' Roll" as they danced to the beat of Bill Haley and his Comets. Americans had even discovered a new way to eat: the "TV Dinner," a frozen meal that went from oven to TV tray in just 25 minutes.

And the TV they watched from behind their trays of sliced turkey and gravy had a new star. In addition to Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Jack Benny and a New York newspaperman named Ed Sullivan - Lee Ann Meriwether, a 19-year-old budding actress from California, became the first Miss America to receive the honor before a live coast-to-coast television audience. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the annual Miss America finals telecast, airing Saturday, September 18, 2004, 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC.

The Miss America telecast - and the scholarship program itself - is among the most enduring endeavors in modern American history. From humble beginnings as a 'bathing beauty' contest - a gimmick conceived by Atlantic City businessmen to extend the summer season in the 1920s - the Miss America Organization today is the world's largest women's scholarship program. Last year, a total of $45 million was made available to thousands of local, state and national contestants vying for titles and scholarships all over the country.

The Miss America scholarship competition has grown and prospered through war, civil unrest, political turmoil, sponsorship battles, depression, recession and the ever-changing face of American society and culture.

"It's humbling to be part of something truly historic," said Art McMaster, President and CEO of the Miss America Organization.

He continued, "This year we are making history again, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the annual telecast. Miss America has been a constant through the past five decades, in good times and in bad. The finals, the competition, the crowning and the runway walk have become icons. No matter what is going on in the United States and the world, gathering around the TV to watch the pageant is a time-honored September tradition with which I am very proud to be associated."

The Miss America September telecast is officially among the longest-running TV shows, joining other historic titles including:

• Meet the Press, NBC - 1947
• Guiding Light, CBS - 1952
• The Today Show, NBC - 1952
• The Tonight Show, NBC - 1954

Some say it was America's first "Reality TV" show - where dozens become 10, 10 become five and five become one in an exciting culmination of an entire year of local contests and countless millions of man-hours from staff and volunteers in every state, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In the process, thousands of aspiring young women earn millions in scholarship dollars to help make their educational dreams come true.

As women's roles changed over the years, Miss America changed, too. Miss Colorado Rebecca King took the crown in 1974. She was among the first to use her scholarship award for graduate school - today she is a practicing attorney. And her year of service planted seeds of things to come, as she spoke candidly about politically-charged issues, including abortion and reproductive rights.

When Miss Michigan Kaye Lani Rae Rafko won the 1988 title, she used the crown as a "platform" to raise awareness of an issue about which she is passionate. A registered nurse, Rafko wanted to see improvement in the way the health care system treated the terminally ill and she brought attention to the issue wherever she appeared.

Her commitment inspired the organization to revamp the competition to focus on an important social issue. The Miss America Platform has been a keystone of the program since. From AIDS to education, bullying, domestic violence and diversity - Miss America titleholders have used the power of the crown to make a difference, shepherding real change and encouraging important national programs and legislation.

"Today, 50 years later, Miss America is relevant, important and remains the largest women's scholarship program," McMaster said.

And the annual Miss America telecast enjoys solid performance in a drastically changed TV environment.

"In the heyday of the Miss America broadcast, most American families had two or three channels to choose from," said McMaster. "It is encouraging that we continue to dominate our Saturday night in September, even with competition from hundreds of cable channels, videotape and DVD."

He continued, "It's not just tradition. There is something very gratifying in seeing a group of 52 attractive, smart, talented and ambitious young women working hard for a chance to become a true positive role model for women around the world."

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. For more information, go to www.MissAmerica.org.

Additional information about the Miss America Organization can be found at http://www.MissAmerica.org. Media who wish to cover the 2004 Miss America Competition can download a Press Credential package online at http://www.MissAmerica.org/news/presscred.asp. For up-to-the-minute competition news and information as well as downloadable high resolution images of Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap and the 2004 Contestants, visit the 24-hour access online pressroom at http://www.MissAmericaPressRoom.com.

Miss America TV Timeline

1954: Miss California Lee Ann Meriwether becomes the first Miss America to earn the honor before a live nationwide television audience, launching an impressive TV career. Lee plays Ruth Martin on All My Children. Previous TV credits include: The Today Show, Barnaby Jones, Time Tunnel, Mission: Impossible, The F.B.I., 12 O'Clock High and Dr. Kildare. She played Catwoman in the original Batman movie and has been nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

1955: Johnny Desmond sings "There She Is" to Lee Meriwether on Philco Playhouse. The song is an instant hit and becomes part of the national telecast in subsequent years.

1955: Game show host Bert Parks becomes the telecast emcee. In 1979, when he is dismissed in favor of younger talent, a tidal wave of support is unleashed and the Miss America organization is deluged with letters and telegrams demanding his reinstatement. The flames are fanned when Johnny Carson launches a "We Want Bert" campaign from his highly-rated Tonight Show. Bert did return to the Miss America stage as a special guest to help celebrate the 70th anniversary in 1990. He died in 1992 at age 77.

1957: Marilyn Van Derber becomes the first Phi Beta Kappa Miss America. In 1991, she announces that she is an incest survivor, devoting herself to incest awareness. Her book "Miss America By Day" is a best seller in 2003 and 2004 and wins national awards.

1958: Miss America reaches new levels of popular celebrity when Miss Mississippi Mary Ann Mobley takes the 1959 title. Her talent entry is memorable, as she transforms herself from a classical singer performing Puccini to a blues wailer belting "There'll Be Some Changes Made." She alters her costume three times during her appearance, to wild applause.

1959: For the first time, women from every U.S. state compete in Atlantic City.

1966: The finals night is first broadcast in color.

1968: A group of 400 women's rights activists travel to Atlantic City to protest the pageant. A "positive protest," the Miss Black America Pageant makes its debut on finals night in an Atlantic City Hotel.

1970: Miss America 1971 Phyllis George will later become the first female national sportscaster, forever breaking down barriers in a male-dominated profession.

1974: Miss Colorado Rebecca King uses her Miss America scholarship money for law school. She becomes the first Miss America to speak candidly about political issues and women's rights.

1982: Due to a royalty dispute, "There She Is" is not heard in the 1982 pageant. Public opinion encourages the organization to settle its differences with composer Bernie Wayne and the song is reinstated the following year.

1984: Ten months into her year of service, former Miss New York Vanessa Williams resigns as Miss America after sexually explicit photos of her are published. First runner-up Suzette Charles becomes Miss America for the remainder of the year. The frenzy of national media attention helps Williams launch a successful career as a singer and actress.

1988: A registered nurse, former Miss Michigan Kaye Lani Rae Rafko uses her Miss America title as a platform to increase awareness of hospice care and medical issues related to the terminally ill. The Miss America Platform becomes a standard program element the following year.

1993: Former Miss Florida Leanza Cornett becomes among the most successful Miss America titleholders - forging new avenues of awareness of the AIDS epidemic. Her efforts play a major role in the passing in congress of the AIDS Prevention Act of 1993.

1994: Deaf since childhood, Miss Alabama Heather Whitestone becomes the first physically disabled Miss America. A successful author and lecturer, her hearing is largely restored by cochlear implant surgery in 2002.

1994: Under perennial attack from feminists and other groups, the organization asks viewers to weigh in on the swimsuit segment by calling a toll-free phone number. The 'ayes' have it, 73 percent in favor.

2004: The Miss America annual telecast turns 50. The U.S. Virgin Islands sends a finalist to Atlantic City for the first time.

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