Cheryl Adrienne Browne Hollingsworth , Miss Iowa 1970 , is a former ballet dancer who was the first African American contestant in the history of the Miss America pageant ( Miss America 1971 ) following the abolition of the pageant 's rule number seven , instituted during the 1930s , which read : " contestants must be of good health and of the white race "
Miss America 1971
Miss America 1971
Cheryl Browne