American Experience · SEASON 14
Miss America
Episode 7 · 2002-01-27
- Documentary
Episode overview
Recalling the 80-year history of the Miss America Pageant and what narrator Cherry Jones calls "a barometer of America's shifting ideas of American womanhood." Included: eight former Miss Americas recall their runway strolls -- and the world beyond Atlantic City during their reigns. Also: comments from historians and social observers, including Gloria Steinem, a beauty-pageant contestant herself as a teen. "It was glamorous," she says, perhaps surprisingly. Also surprising is Miss America 1998 Kate Shindle's view of the swimsuit competition. "It's empowering," she says. "If you can do that, you can do anything."
55 minutes
Season 14 episodes
1. New York (6): The City of Tomorrow2001-09-10
2. New York (7): The City and the World2001-09-17
3. War Letters2001-11-01
4. Woodrow Wilson (1): A Passionate Man2002-01-06
5. Woodrow Wilson (2): The Redemption of the World2002-01-13
6. Mount Rushmore2002-01-20
7. Miss America2002-01-27
8. Zoot Suit Riots2002-03-01
9. Monkey Trial2002-02-23
10. Public Enemy #12002-02-17
11. Ansel Adams2002-04-21
12. A Brilliant Madness2002-04-28
13. Ulysses S. Grant (1): The Warrior2002-04-01
14. Ulysses S. Grant (2): The President2002-04-02
