Miss America 1945
Date	September 8, 1945
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Boardwalk Hall,Atlantic City,New Jersey
Entrants	39
Placements	13
Winner	Bess Myerson  New York City
← 1944 1946 →

Miss America 1945, the 19thMiss America pageant, was held atBoardwalk Hall inAtlantic City,New Jersey on September 8, 1945.^[1] Two days prior to the actual selection and coronation, the night of the talent competition, the Army Air Force Veterans voted the eventual winner, MissNew York City (Bess Myerson) as their favorite beauty queen.^[2]

Bess Myerson was the firstJewish-American and the firstMiss New York^[3] (competing as Miss New York City, a competition organized by a local radio station^[4]) to win the Miss America Pageant as Miss America 1945.^{[5][6][7][4][8]} As the only Jewish contestant, Myerson was encouraged by the pageant directors to change her name to "Bess Meredith"^[6] or "Beth Merrick"^[5] but she refused.^[6][5] After winning the title (and as a Jewish Miss America), Myerson received few endorsements^{[6][5][7][8][4]} and later recalled that "I couldn't even stay in certain hotels [...] there would be signs that read no coloreds, no Jews, no dogs. I felt so rejected. Here I was chosen to represent American womanhood and then America treated me like this."^[6] Consequently, she curtailed her Miss America tour and instead embarked on a journey with theAnti-Defamation League. In this capacity, she spoke against discrimination in a talk entitled, "You Can't Be Beautiful and Hate."^{[6][5][7][8][4]}

The Miss America 1945 contestants were:^[9]

• Miss America 1945 -Miss America Organization
• Bess Myerson:Miss America 1945, Bess Myerson Dies At The Age Of 90 -CBS News, January 5, 2015.

• Miss America
• 1945 in the United States
• 1945 in New Jersey
• September 1945 in the United States
• Events in Atlantic City, New Jersey

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