Just months after the revelations of the Holocaust's devastation, Bess Myerson was crowned

[elleng]

the first (and only) Jewish Miss America #OnThisDay in 1945.

Myerson refused to adopt a suggested less-ethnic pseudonym, and her victory was seen as a symbol of America's rejection of the crimes and prejudices that ravaged Europe as well as a representation of the vitality of the American Jewish community.

Myerson's win did not receive automatic acceptance. When an invitation to speak at a country club was revoked because of her Judaism, Myerson distanced herself from the pageant scene, and instead began lecturing about discrimination and the consequences of prejudice.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3QQ1jjj

[rsdsharp]

1. I was today years old when I found out Beth Meyerson was Jewish.

She was ubiquitous on TV game shows when I was a kid. I never knew, and wouldn’t have found it important if I had, although I understand that others do — for good or ill — especially given when she was crowned Miss America.

[mopinko]

4. me too. have a lot of jewish friends

who like to play- who's a jew? but dont think her name ever came up. all too young to remember her, tho.

[brush]

2. Good for her. She moved on past those anti-Semitic creeps...

in country clubs and forged a successful career for herself.

[erronis]

3. And thankfully most of those exclusive clubs are relics. Not all, and many are still subtly

very discriminatory. Even to rich members who happen to belong to the wrong cult/caste.

I actually feel sorry for people who limit their exposure - they're trapped in an ancestral/tribal hole.