Plaque used to identify the ballet shoes worn by Heather Whitestone McCallum during the 1995 Miss America competition
name: label: user
content: McCallum, Heather Whitestone
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Gold colored metal plaque with black printing, "Competition Ballet Shoes [/] Courtesy of Heather Whitestone, Miss America 1995." This was used to identify the ballet shoes worn by Heather Whitestone McCallum during the1995 Miss America competition. The ballet costume, swimsuit, and hearing aid microphone used by Heather Whitestone McCallum in the Miss America 1995 competition, help illustrate the pageant's history and influence on conversations about gender, disability, adaptive technology, and fashion in American life. McCallum, who is deaf, was the first Miss America titleholder with a disability. She was criticized by some in the Deaf community for her reliance on her hearing aid, lip reading, and speaking in vocal English rather than American Sign Language. Whitestone made advocacy for the deaf community her platform during her reign and has continued to work as a motivational speaker and author in the years afterward.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2021.0164.04.3
label: accession number
content: 2021.0164
label: catalog number
content: 2021.0164.04.3
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plaque
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 in x 5 1/2 in; 2.54 cm x 13.97 cm