Yolande Betbeze was a college student at Mobile’s Spring Hill College when she saw an opportunity to help her get out of the South. She won the Miss Torch contest, which sent her to Miss Alabama and then to the Miss America Pageant, which she won in 1951. Miss America was just the start for Betbeze, as her reign created controversy and helped create a competing pageant that exists today. Listen to her story and hear what happened to her once her reign was over.
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