Edith Norman Hyde Robbins Macartney (1895 – April 1978) became the first-ever "Miss America" in 1919 in a contest held in New York City.
[1] Hyde was chosen as Miss America at the Chu Chin Chow Ball at the Hotel des Artistes in New York on the evening of February 1, 1919, the year before the start of the better-known Miss America pageant centered in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
[1][5] The ball's beauty contest had been promoted beforehand, and the event drew socialites, artists, and several hundred young women.
[5][6] The jury consisted of noted artists Charles Dana Gibson, Harrison Fisher, Howard Chandler Christy, Penrhyn Stanlaws, and James Montgomery Flagg, who afterwards painted Hyde's portrait.
[5] Some sources claim that Hyde's photograph as contest winner was the first to be transmitted via the brand-new technology of wirephoto.