Photos: Miss America through the years
As Miss America turns 100, a major question remains unanswered: Is she still relevant? The glitzy competition was born from a 1921 Atlantic City beauty contest, just a year after women were given the right to vote, and maintains a complicated presence in an American culture that has since undergone multiple waves of feminism.
FILE - Contestants in the first Miss America pageant line up for the judges in Atlantic City, N.J., in September 1921. The competition is marking its 100th anniversary on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, having managed to maintain a complicated spot in American culture with a questionable relevancy. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Contenders for the title of Miss America line up on the Boardwalk at Atlantic City, N.J., on Sept. 2, 1952. In the late 1930s, 40s and 50s, minority women were excluded from competition by "rule number seven," which stated that contestants had to be "of good health and of the white race." Having managed to maintain a complicated spot in American culture, the competition is marking its 100th anniversary, on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Saundra Williams, 19, center, of Philadelphia, is crowned the first Miss Black America at ceremonies in Atlantic City, N.J., flanked by first runner-up Theresa Claytor, 20, right, and second runner-up Linda Johnson, 21, left, Sept. 8, 1968. The contest was held to revolt against the lack of diversity in the Miss America competition, which is marking its 100th anniversary on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, having managed to maintain a controversial spot in American culture. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Miss America 1989 Gretchen Carlson, left, and first runner up, Maryland's Virginia Cha, center, watch as Missouri's Debbye Turner throws her arms up in jubilation after winning Miss America 1990 in Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 16, 1989. Carlson was part of an all-female leadership team that took over the Miss America organization after a 2018 email scandal in which male leaders insulted former Miss Americas, and helped to eliminate judging on physical appearance. (AP photo/Tom Patrick, File)
FILE - Miss Florida Ericka Dunlap, center, reacts as outgoing Miss America Erika Harold, right, crowns her Miss America 2004, while host Tom Bergeron holds onto her during the Miss America Competition in Atlantic City, N.J., Saturday, Sept. 20, 2003. Dunlap, who graduated from college debt-free, founded her own public relations firm and became a TV personality said, "I think that people have the wrong idea about what Miss America is all about, because it's not just about getting dressed up and being prim and proper and being perfect on stage." (AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer, File)
FILE - Shawntel Smith Wuerch, left, Miss America 1996, shows the organization's homepage with help from student Quinesha Farr, 11, during a visit to showcase advance internet technology at Fuller Elementary School in Little Rock, Ark., Feb. 8, 1996. A donation from Smith Wuerch and her husband made it possible to award a top scholarship of $100,000 to this year's winner of the Miss America crown, marking 100 years of the competition, on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Spencer Tirey, File)
FILE - In this file photo, 2016 Miss America pageant contestants show themselves in swimsuits as they compete in Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 13, 2015. In 2018, the pageant announced it would no longer judge contestants in their appearance. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)
FILE - Virginia's Camille Schrier, left, walks the stage after winning the Miss America competition at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn., Dec. 19, 2019. The Miss America competition is marking its 100th anniversary on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, managing to maintain a complicated spot in American culture. With viewership down, the event now held at the Mohegan Sun casino in southeastern Connecticut, is moving from broadcast television to NBC's streaming Peacock service this year. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
FILE - Vanessa Williams, the first Black woman to win the Miss America crown, in 1984, speaks at a news conference to announce she would relinquish her title over a nude photo scandal, July 23, 1984. The Miss America organization, which apologized to Williams in 2015 over the resignation, is marking its 100th anniversary on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, having managed to maintain a complicated spot in American culture. (AP Photo/File)
As Miss America turns 100, a major question remains unanswered: Is she still relevant?
Grace Stanke, 20, is an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, studying nuclear engineering. See photos from the competition.