Jul 23, 1984: Vanessa Williams resigned as Miss America, becoming the 1st titleholder in the pageant's history to do so. She stepped down at the request of pageant officials after Penthouse magazine announced plans to publish unauthorized nude photographs of her.
#VanessaWilliams #MissAmericaPagaent #BlackBeauty
Cite this blog:
"Vanessa Williams, 1st Black Miss America." Historianspeaks, July 24, 2026. https://historianspeaks.org/blog/vanessa-williams-1st-black-miss-america.
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