Miss Deaf America
A platform to promote the images and talents of deaf women.
With more than 30 contestants, the Miss Deaf America pageant has come a long way since its beginnings.
The Miss Deaf America Pageant began in 1966 as the brainchild of Douglas Burke. With the goal of finding the hidden talents of the deaf in the fields of visual and performing arts, Burke established a National Cultural Program with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). After seeing the rapid growth of state contests held within the structure of the Cultural Program and with the blessing of the NAD, Burke established the Miss Deaf America Talent Pageant. According to the Utah Association for the Deaf, the pageant was “a new concept to help us elevate the image and self-concept of deaf ladies throughout the United States. This is not an ordinary contest…beauty, poise, gracefulness are desirable qualities, but the biggest point is one’s cultural talent performance.”
The first Miss Deaf America Talent Pageant was held in 1972 in Miami Beach, FL, at the biannual NAD Convention. The pageant featured just five contestants and has undergone significant changes since that first year, including the omission of the word “talent” from the title in 1976 and the requirement of contestants to give a three-minute platform presentation in 1998.
The Miss Deaf America pageant follows, remarkably closely, the structure of the Miss America Pageant. Young women, between the ages of 18 and 28 and with deafness or significant hearing loss, must compete at local and state levels first. These state and local pageants afford many contestants the opportunity to test the waters, so to speak, with their stage presence, poise, ability to handle the pressure, etc., before going on to national competition. With the dropping of “talent,” it became clear that talent was no longer the main criteria the contestants were judged on. Community service, academic performance, knowledge of deaf culture and knowledge of current events round out the judging criteria.
In a move that was, at the time, seen as somewhat of a slap in the face by the deaf community, 21-year-old Heather Whitestone, who had just 5% hearing in her left ear, chose to forgo competing in the Miss Deaf America pageant and, in September of 1994, was crowned the first deaf Miss America. Heather won in much the same way that any other contestant wins – by (clearly) verbally conveying the messages of her platform, answering questions, looking stunning in a bathing suit and a formal gown and performing a talent. That talent was a classical ballet dance set to music that she could not hear. She (more than) successfully completed the beautiful number by feeling the vibrations of the music in her body.
Whether you are deaf or just know someone who is deaf, the Miss Deaf America Pageant and the story of Heather Whitestone (McCallum) show that anything is possible.
