This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.

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The Miss America pageant has been around for over a century, but through these many years,

the pageant has had to conquer a seemingly endless battle time and again

to stay accepted and to stay current. Up next, you'll hear from Amy Argettsinger, author of

There She Was, The Secret History of Miss America, telling us all about this cultural icon

that's been written into the American story and the

American heart. Here's Amy with a full untold story of Miss America from its beginnings,

years of backlash, and the events and winners who've helped shape it along the way.

The Miss America pageant, which they didn't even call the Miss America pageant the first year, started in 1921.

There wasn't really any grand scheme here. It was just a side show. Atlantic City wanted to keep the tourists coming after Labor Day, and they decided to have a great big fall frolic festival.

They had dancing, they had parades, and one of the publicity stunts to get people from other cities to come to this was having a beauty contest.

Their trick was to get a bunch of cities, newspapers and cities that were essentially a train ride away,

to send their most beautiful girls.

And these newspapers in different cities, Pittsburgh, Camden, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, they would have their most beautiful

girl contests where people would vote, judges would decide which girl who had sent their

photo in was most beautiful and send her to Atlantic City.

There had been beauty pageants before.

It was the kind of thing you might see at the seashore,

but the idea of having women who are representing different cities,

...