February 24, 1973

Miss America Heather Whitestone was born in Dothan. Whitestone was first runner-up in the 1992 and 1993 Miss Alabama pageants before winning the title in 1994. Later that year, she won the Miss America pageant after dancing to Sandi Patti’s “Via Dolorosa” and promoting her motivational program, Success Through Action and Realization of Your Dreams (STARS). She became the first disabled person to wear the crown — having lost her hearing at 18 months old — and used her position to continue promoting STARS. Whitestone also launched 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. She later performed professionally with the Alabama Ballet.

Read more at Bhamwiki.

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

Portrait of Heather Whitestone. (Dystopos, Bhamwiki)

Miss America 1995 Heather Whitestone attends the 2016 Miss America Competition at Boardwalk Hall Arena on Sept. 13, 2015 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for dcp)

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