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

NPR | By Tonya Mosley
Published August 3, 2026 at 3:45 PM EDT

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.

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Tonya Mosley
Tonya Mosley is a co-host of Fresh Air.