September 17, 1994

Miss Alabama Heather Whitestone McCallum won the Miss America pageant in 1995. A Dothan native, Whitestone, who lost her hearing when she was 18 months old, was the first disabled Miss America. She won the pageant after dancing to Sandi Patti’s “Via Dolorosa” and promoting her motivational program, Success Through Action and Realization of Your Dreams (STARS). As Miss America, she continued to endorse STARS, helped launch a program to diagnose early hearing loss and served on the executive board of the President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities. McCallum later performed with Alabama Ballet and, in 2002, underwent a cochlear implant surgery to partially restore her hearing.

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Heather Whitestone in 1995 as reigning Miss America (Miss America)

Former Miss America Heather Whitestone McCallum was the keynote speaker at a USAID-sponsored event marking National Disability Employment Awareness Month, 2004. (USAID, Wikipedia)

Former Miss America Heather Whitestone McCallum, Philippines, 1997. (Photograph taken by her sign language interpreter, Jomanila, Wikipedia)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.