In 1945 , Bess Myerson became the first Jewish-American and the first Miss New York ( competing as Miss New York City , a competition organized by a local radio station ) to win the Miss America pageant as Miss America 1945 . As the only Jewish contestant , Myerson was encouraged by the pageant directors to change her name to " Bess Meredith " or " Beth Merrick " , but she refused . After winning the title ( and as a Jewish Miss America ) , Myerson received few endorsements and later recalled that " I could n't even stay in certain hotels … there would be signs that read no coloreds , no Jews , no dogs . I felt so rejected . Here I was chosen to represent American womanhood and then America treated me like this . " She thus cut short her Miss America tour and instead traveled with the Anti-Defamation League . In this capacity , she spoke against discrimination in a talk entitled , " You Ca n't Be Beautiful and Hate . " In 1948 , Irma Nydia Vasquez , the first Miss Puerto Rico , became the first Latina contestant . In addition , in 1948 , Yun Tau Chee , the first Miss Hawaii , was also the first Asian-American contestant . Miss America 1949 , Jacque Mercer , was married and divorced during her reign ; after this , a rule was enacted requiring Miss America contestants to sign a certification that they have never been married or pregnant . Starting in 1950 , although the pageant continued to be in September , the Miss America title changed to " post-dated " , thus that year 's pageant winner became Miss America 1951 , and there was no Miss America 1950 . The pageant was first televised nationally in 1954 , hosted by Bob Russell . Future television star Lee Meriwether was crowned Miss America 1955 . It would also be the last time Russell served as host . He recommended , and was replaced by , Bert Parks , who served as the host for the second televised pageant in 1955 and stayed as host until 1979 . Television viewership peaked during the early 1960s , when it was the highest-rated program on American television
Miss America 1945
Miss America 1945
Miss America