Lencola Sullivan

Lencola Sullivan being crowned Miss Arkansas in August 1980. Sullivan was the first African American to place among the top five of the Miss America Pageant.

Black woman in white dress with bouquets being crowned by two white women also crowned

Photo by Clay Carson, courtesy of the Arkansas State Archives

Media

Time Period

Divergent Prosperity and the Arc of Reform (1968–2022)

Category

Civil Rights and Social Change / Modern Era / Race

Type

Person

Race & Ethnicity

African American

Gender

Female

Related Entries

Black woman in white dress with bouquets being crowned by two white women also crowned Sullivan, Orean Lencola Young white woman with long blonde hair and crown holding a microphone Miss Arkansas Pageant Group of white men and women sitting in chairs indoors Divergent Prosperity and the Arc of Reform, 1968–2022 African-American women in formal dresses with a child sitting in chairs while men in suits stand behind them African Americans White women in uniform wearing bandanas pose with an American flag Women