Women Who Paved the Way: Carole Gist - First Black Miss USA

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It's almost unbelievable to think that before 1990, no African American woman had ever won Miss USA. The Texas streak of 5 winners in a row was blazing hot and everyone was wondering if they would keep winning. But the 'universe' had other plans. Carole Gist won Miss Michigan USA and traveled to Wichita, Kansas to represent her state at Miss USA 1990. 


Carole won the preliminary evening gown round and went into the final night as one of the favourites. She had tough competition though but she kept her composure throughout. Carole edged out a fantastic competitor and future Miss World from South Carolina, Gina Tolleson, to give Michigan their first ever Miss USA title. And at the same time, she also broke the Texas streak. 


A lot of attention was given to her victory as she was the first African American woman to win the title and was and still is seen as a trailblazer. Next, she would represent the USA at Miss Universe 1990. Carole was called into the top 10 on the night in 3rd place after the preliminaries. She made the top 6 in 6th place but after that round, she nailed her final question and finished as 1RU to Mona Grudt from Norway. 


Shortly before handing over her title, Carole filed a multi-million dollar court case against the Miss Universe Organization - the first Miss USA to do that. She claimed that the working conditions were unfair, that she worked 7 days a week and on top of that, it was long hours. She also claimed there was no holiday pay or overtime. Furthermore, she claimed that she had to pay for her own expenses for pageant related appearances, such as make-up. She also stipulated that she had not received all her prizes and that some of the prizes were overvalued.  



Not only was Carole Gist the first African American Miss USA, she also stood up for the rights of title holders. In late 1991, a settlement was reached and it was settled out of court. Carole showed tremendous care and proved that if you don't stand for something, you fall for everything. And on top of that, she remained on good terms with MUO. She even returned as a preliminary judge for Miss USA 2014.

Carole Gist will always carry the torch as the first African American woman to have won Miss USA and a woman that paved the way for others. 

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