Identification badge used by Nicole Johnson in the Miss America 1999 pageant
date: label: date made
content: 1998
label: used date
content: September 19, 1998
notes: label: Description
content: This identification badge was used by Nicole Johnson while competing in the Miss America 1999 pageant. The laminated paper badge is printed with Johnson's name and title as Miss Virginia. The badge reads "Miss America Pageant 1998", as the pageant was held in Atlantic City, NJ on September 19, 1998. At this pageant, Nicole Johnson was crowned Miss America 1999. The first Miss America titleholder with diabetes, and she used her platform to bring awareness to the disease and the community of those who live with diabetes.
label: Description
content: Born in St. Petersburg, Florida January 9, 1974, Nicole Johnson was a pageant contestant from an early age. When she fainted on stage at the 1993 Miss Sarasota/Manatee County pageant, doctors diagnosed her with type 1 diabetes. They recommended she give up the stressful competition schedule and its potentially unhealthy demands on Nicole's sleep and eating schedule. Undaunted, she continued to compete while working hard to control her blood sugar and insulin levels. After she slipped into a diabetic coma in her sleep while competing in the Miss Virginia contest in 1997, Johnson was fitted for a new medical device, a relatively compact and discrete insulin pump. Although she had to overcome her anxiety and self-consciousness about appearing with the pump at pageants obsessively focused on appearance and body image conformity, Johnson proudly displayed her pump at the 1998 Miss Virginia pageant, which she won. “It keeps me alive,” she told reporters at the pageant. “You are welcome to ask me anything about it.”
label: Description
content: As a competitor at the 1999 Miss America pageant, Johnson earned national media attention as the first contestant to compete while wearing an insulin pump. She wore a two-piece blue bathing suit as a top ten competitor in the event during the telecast (although for the swimsuit portion she disconnected her insulin pump) and sang "That's Life" for her talent offering. After winning the title, Johnson undertook a national tour to speak about diabetes awareness and earned over $65,000 in scholarships that allowed her to pursue secondary education in Public Health and Communication – she now holds a Doctor of Public Health degree.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
label: used
content: United States: New Jersey, Atlantic City
topic: label: Subject
content: Beauty Contests & Pageants
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2021.0195.02
label: accession number
content: 2021.0195
label: catalog number
content: 2021.0195.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: badge
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic, paper (badge material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, fabric, plastic (lanyard material)
label: Measurements
content: badge: 5 3/4 in x 3 1/4 in; 14.605 cm x 8.255 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall (with lanyard): 20 in x 3 1/4 in; 50.8 cm x 8.255 cm