Carole Anne-Marie Gist (born May 8, 1969) is an American tv host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss USA 1990 Miss USA 1990 was the 39th Miss USA pageant, televised live from the Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas on March 2, 1990. At the conclusion of the final competition, Carole Gist of Miss Michigan USA, Michigan was crowned by outgoing ...

. Gist was the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

woman to win the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

title. Gist first won the title of

Miss Michigan USA The Miss Michigan USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Michigan in the Miss USA pageant. It is currently directed by Proctor Productions. Their first Miss USA victory was in 1990, and notable because ...

and went on to win the Miss USA crown on March 2, 1990, in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

. The 1990 pageant had representatives from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

( Brenda Leithleiter),

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

(Karin Elizabeth Meyer),

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

(Tiffany Tenfelde),

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

(

Gina Tolleson Gina Marie Tolleson (born March 26, 1969) is an American model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World America, Miss World America 1990 and also Miss World 1990. Miss World 1990 Gina won the title of Miss South Carolina USA 1990 and was the ...

, who as first runner-up then went on to represent the country at the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

pageant, winning the title) and Karin Hartz of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

making up with Gist the Top 6 finalists. Gist, a

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

native, 20 years old at the time, eventually became first runner-up to Mona Grudt of Norway in the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

pageant of that same year. She was also the first contestant from Michigan to win Miss USA, and broke the five-year streak of winners from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Personal life

Gist is a graduate of

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a four-year Public magnet high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. from the University Cultural Center Association, retrieved June 9, 1001 It was established in 19 ...

in Detroit. At the time of her coronation, she was a junior marketing and management major at

Northwood University Northwood University (NU) is a private university focused on business education with its main campus in Midland, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1959, more than 33,000 people have graduated from the institution. History Northwood Universit ...

Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in Midland County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 42,547 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland metropolitan statistical area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City ...

References

1969 births Cass Technical High School alumni Living people Miss Universe 1990 contestants Miss USA 1990 delegates Miss USA winners People from Midland, Michigan Television personalities from Detroit Northwood University alumni African-American beauty pageant winners 20th-century American people 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people {{US-pageant-bio-stub