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Garris, a Connecticut high school senior, was crowned Sunday and plans to attend college to pursue her dreams of becoming a nurse.

Franklin, who won her competition in September, is a classically trained opera singer who represented New York in the pageant.

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Black women pageant winners are fairly new to the historically elite competitions. The first Miss America pageant was in 1921, but women of color were barred from competing until the 1940s due to a rule that said contestants must be of \"the white race.\"

Vanessa Williams became the first black pageant winner when she was crowned Miss America in 1983.

The Miss USA contest was created in 1952, but it wasn't until 1990 that they crowned their first black contestant, Carole Anne-Marie Gis, as winner. The following year, Janel Bishop became the first black Miss Teen USA.

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