Yolanda Fox captured her first crown in 1949
when she won Mobile's "Miss Torch" pageant;
In 1950, Fox (then Betbeze) entered Miss Alabama
for the scholarship opportunities;
As Miss Alabama, she traveled to Atlantic City,
New Jersey, to compete in the Miss America
1951 pageant. Having been educated in
a convent school, she was reluctant to pose
in a swimsuit and refused to do so after
she won Miss America. That led the
swimsuit company Catalina, to withdraw
their sponsorship of the Miss America pageant,
bringing about the creation
of the rival Miss USA pageant
Fox's Miss America title, although won in 1950,
was for 1951 & is the first Miss America
to be "postdated" in this manner. Due to the change,
there was no Miss America 1950. The Miss America
Organization has claimed that Fox's (then Betbeze's)
actions were pivotal in directing pageant
progress towards recognizing intellect,
values, & leadership abilities, rather than focusing
on [conventional] beauty alone; from then on Miss America
concentrated more on scholarships than beauty
Fox was active in the feminist movement &
after her one-year reign as Miss America
was active in the NAACP, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality),
& SANE (The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy);
& studied philosophy at the New School
for Social Research in New York City.
Fox was an opera singer, gaining a reputation in that field
Jul 26, 2018
Jul 26, 2018 at 2:59 PM UTC
Yolanda Fox captured her first crown in 1949
when she won Mobile's "Miss Torch" pageant;
In 1950, Fox (then Betbeze) entered Miss Alabama
for the scholarship opportunities;
As Miss Alabama, she traveled to Atlantic City,
New Jersey, to compete in the Miss America
1951 pageant. Having been educated in
a convent school, she was reluctant to pose
in a swimsuit and refused to do so after
she won Miss America. That led the
swimsuit company Catalina, to withdraw
their sponsorship of the Miss America pageant,
bringing about the creation
of the rival Miss USA pageant
Fox's Miss America title, although won in 1950,
was for 1951 & is the first Miss America
to be "postdated" in this manner. Due to the change,
there was no Miss America 1950. The Miss America
Organization has claimed that Fox's (then Betbeze's)
actions were pivotal in directing pageant
progress towards recognizing intellect,
values, & leadership abilities, rather than focusing
on [conventional] beauty alone; from then on Miss America
concentrated more on scholarships than beauty
Fox was active in the feminist movement &
after her one-year reign as Miss America
was active in the NAACP, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality),
& SANE (The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy);
& studied philosophy at the New School
for Social Research in New York City.
Fox was an opera singer, gaining a reputation in that field
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