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Arts & Life

How the Miss America pageant ignited a battle over beauty, race and power

NPR | By Tonya Mosley

Published August 3, 2026 at 2:45 PM CDT

Historian Micki McElya revisits one September afternoon in 1968, Atlantic City, when the Miss America pageant collided with a changing country. Her new book is Liberation Summer.

Arts & Life

Tonya Mosley

Tonya Mosley is a co-host of Fresh Air.

See stories by Tonya Mosley

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