Miss Black Austin Pageant Collection

The Miss Black Austin Pageant collection features pageant photographs, headshots of contestants, judges, and other pageant officials, pageant program booklets, news clippings, sponsor business cards, along with photos of community events.

In 1976, Dr. Ella Mae Pease (1927–2022) began directing the Miss Black Austin Pageant. That year, Dr. Pease and her husband Mr. M. M. Pease (1906–1986) accepted a franchise of the Miss Black Texas Pageant as a special activity of the Hair Designers Guild of Austin. The Hair Designers Guild of Austin was an organization founded in 1960, and co-organized by Pease, that brought together licensed beauty operators interested in advancing their level of service to the public. The first Miss Black Austin Pageant took place in 1977 with more than 500 people in attendance.

Held annually, the pageant was made possible through sponsorships made by local Black community members and businesses like Cal’s Beauty Enterprises and the House of Elegance, which was owned and operated by Pease. Many pageant contestants were also students at UT Austin, including 1985 pageant winner Barbara Dugas, who was also the first Black UT Sweetheart in 1981-82 and the first Black woman to be selected as Cotton Bowl Queen in 1982.

The Miss Black Austin Pageant celebrated the beauty, talent, accolades, and intelligence of Black women. Winners not only won local recognition but scholarships as well. Organizing each pageant was a large endeavor that involved multiple community events and reaching out to community members to raise money for the pageant. The pageant included categories such as talent, swimsuits, business wear, and evening wear.