New Yorkers Remember Their Underground Beauty Queens
- 12 years ago
Once upon a time these ladies were New York's local legends.
Voted by commuters every month they were Miss Subways, local beauty queens who had their faces displayed all over subway cars from 1941 to 1976.
While the city hasn't crowned a Miss Subways in 36 years, New Yorkers today can admire their past queens in a photo exhibit.
Maureen Walsh Rowaldsen was voted Miss Subways in 1968.
[Maureen Walsh Rowaldsen, Former Miss Subways In 1968]:
"It's a part of New York history that shouldn't be forgotten. Not just because I was part of it, but because of what it represented."
What it represented was the city's diversity featuring working class women of different ethnic backgrounds.
New Yorkers chose their first African-American winner in 1947 and the first Asian-American two years later.
Behind the exhibit is photographer Fiona Gardner who spent five years tracking down 41 past winners.
In the process she's learned that the struggles of women in the past weren't much different from the ones we face now.
[Fiona Gardner,Photographer]:
"You know a lot of these ladies are entrepreneurs. A lot of them had multiple careers actually and had to juggle things like how do you have a family and work outside the home?"
The competition ended its 35-year-run as graffiti started to blanket the trains.
But perhaps it's time to revive the tradition to provide a new train of thought for commuters.
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Voted by commuters every month they were Miss Subways, local beauty queens who had their faces displayed all over subway cars from 1941 to 1976.
While the city hasn't crowned a Miss Subways in 36 years, New Yorkers today can admire their past queens in a photo exhibit.
Maureen Walsh Rowaldsen was voted Miss Subways in 1968.
[Maureen Walsh Rowaldsen, Former Miss Subways In 1968]:
"It's a part of New York history that shouldn't be forgotten. Not just because I was part of it, but because of what it represented."
What it represented was the city's diversity featuring working class women of different ethnic backgrounds.
New Yorkers chose their first African-American winner in 1947 and the first Asian-American two years later.
Behind the exhibit is photographer Fiona Gardner who spent five years tracking down 41 past winners.
In the process she's learned that the struggles of women in the past weren't much different from the ones we face now.
[Fiona Gardner,Photographer]:
"You know a lot of these ladies are entrepreneurs. A lot of them had multiple careers actually and had to juggle things like how do you have a family and work outside the home?"
The competition ended its 35-year-run as graffiti started to blanket the trains.
But perhaps it's time to revive the tradition to provide a new train of thought for commuters.
For more news and videos visit ☛ http://ntdtv.org
Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Add us on Facebook ☛ http://on.fb.me/s5KV2C