INTEGRATED MISS DENTON PAGEANT

Cynthia Haley (1979) and Rhonda Ann Gray (1978)

Most aspects of public life were racially segregated in the United States prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Beauty pageants were no different. It was only after public schools desegregated that the Miss Denton Pageant included African American contestants.

Shown in the art piece left to right are two Miss Denton contestants, post desegregation, Cynthia Haley (left, 1979) and Rhonda Ann Gray (right, 1978).