SAN FRANCISCO — "Miss Chinatown USA" permeated Chinese American society in the early part of its 50 years, according to a Chinese Historical Society of America exhibition that debuted last week.
The pageant organized by merchants and the Chamber of Commerce is a cornerstone of the community, according to curator Marisa Louie. "It’s interesting to see how everyone in the community had a Miss Chinatown story or knows a contestant," Louie said. "You can see how the contest used to be and still has become part of people’s lives."
Sue Lee, executive director of the CHSA, remembers "sitting with my grandparents, looking over the Chinese Times Newspapers insert. They would argue over who was going to win. It was a big thing for them. They would wait for the Miss Chinatown and they would watch the Miss America pageant. For us, we could see somebody who would look like us and be a beauty queen, who wasn’t white, blonde and long-legged. We were just legitimate like Miss America. So that really strikes a chord with Chinese Americans."
"The pageant used to be the social event in Chinatown," Louie said. "They had it at a larger venue that would sell out. They would have it simulcast over Chinese radio here in Chinatown and to people across the country. Nowadays, even though the Miss Chinatown is still an exciting thing that happens during Chinese New Year. It doesn’t meet with the same anticipation that it used to."
TKPN
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