In the midst of what may be the last gasps of beauty pageants, the NY Times ran this article on “Miss Subways” in New York, which was the first integrated beauty contest. The winner’s photo would appear all over the subway, with the first black winner in 1948 and the first Asian in 1949. The photos are delicious, but my favorite is Enid Berkowitz, who had no shame in saying she was gunning for a B.A. but would settle for an M.R.S. What would Linda Hirshman say?!
-Darren Rosenblum
