Return of the Crown

For the first time since 2017, Miss Puerto Rico will grace the Miss America stage.

Puerto Rico has a rich history of celebrating pageants, with roots tracing back over 200 years to early carnival festivities across the island. However, it wasn’t until 1930 that San Juan’s high society organized the first official pageant, naming it Miss Borinquen, or Miss Puerto Rico in Spanish. This event gathered queens from various carnivals to compete for the crown. In 1937, Malén Pietrantoni, the reigning queen of the Juan Ponce de León Carnival, was crowned Miss Puerto Rico. That same year, she was invited to represent Puerto Rico in the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. However, coming from a conservative household, Ms. Pietrantoni refused to participate in the swimsuit competition, making headlines across the nation.

Nearly a decade later, in 1948, the Miss Puerto Rico Pageant was officially established, and Puerto Rico sent Irma Nydia Vázquez to compete, making her the first Latina to participate in Miss America. From 1948 to 1956, and again in 1958 and 1962, Puerto Rico sent representatives to the national competition. The founding of the Puerto Rican Beauty Corporation further encouraged women to participate in a national pageant rather than a state pageant, reflecting the island’s growing international presence and the reality that 90% of the population did not speak or understand English. During these early competitions, only women from San Juan’s high society, who had access to higher education and English language training, could fully participate. It took 49 years for Puerto Rico to return to the Miss America stage, with Miriam “Mimi” Pabón representing the island in 2010. The organization continued sending candidates up to 2017.

Now, after an eight-year hiatus, Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Puerto Rico’s Teen have returned to their rightful place. Under the leadership of Luis Hernandez-Martinez and the Miss Puerto Rico Scholarship Foundation, young women in Puerto Rico were given the opportunity to achieve their professional ambitions and create opportunities for their academic futures in the July competition. Beyond being a pageant, this platform aims to empower women, transforming not only the lives of participants but also their communities, heralding a new beginning and renewed purpose for lasting impact.