Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum (born February 24, 1973) is an American conservative activist and beauty queen who was the first deaf
Miss America
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...
title holder, having lost most of her hearing at 18 months.
Early life and education
Whitestone was born in
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan is a city in and the county seat of Houston County, Alabama, Houston County in the U.S. state of Alabama. A slight portion of the city extends into Dale County, Alabama, Dale and Henry County, Alabama, Henry counties. It had a population ...
, to Bill Whitestone and Daphne Gray. When she was 18 months old, she lost her hearing due to a serious ear infection. In fourth grade, she learned about the story of
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when ...
, who would forever change her life. Keller became her role model. She was unable to keep up with her classwork and began to fall behind her peers. She asked her family to send her to a special school that would enable her to catch up with other students in her class. While at the
Central Institute for the Deaf in
St. Louis, Missouri, she learned two grade levels per year. After three years, she caught up with her peers and returned to Alabama to graduate from public high school with a 3.6-grade point average (GPA).
Whitestone moved to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
at age sixteen, following her parents' divorce. She attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts for a year and graduated from Berry High School (now Hoover High School) in 1991. Her passion was
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
, and she had spent most of her time developing her ballet skills, especially after hearing loss. She then went on to study at
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville State University (JSU or Jax State) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, mas ...
.
Pageant record
Whitestone first participated in the
Shelby County Junior Miss program. While not actually a beauty pageant, the experience gave her the confidence to begin entering pageants. Her first year in the Miss America system, she won the Miss
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville State University (JSU or Jax State) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, mas ...
title, and went on to be
Miss Alabama. She stood next to
Miss Virginia (Cullen Johnson) in the finals of the
Miss America 1995 pageant. When the first runner-up was announced, she could not hear the host,
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin ( ; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest-working man in show business", he held th ...
, but could read his lips. Surprised, she looked to her fellow contestant for confirmation that she had won.
As Miss America, Whitestone showcased her S.T.A.R.S. program around the country. S.T.A.R.S. stands for "Success Through Action and Realization of your dreams". It has five points: positive attitude, belief in a dream, the willingness to work hard, facing obstacles, and building a strong support team.
Whitestone also served as an executive member on the President's Committee on Employment of People Disabilities. She has written four books.
After Miss America

Since her Miss America win, Whitestone has completed her studies at
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville State University (JSU or Jax State) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, mas ...
and continued to promote awareness of deaf issues. She has also spoken out in detail about her close relationship with God, one that she has had ever since she rediscovered church as a teenager. She wrote about her life experiences in her third book, ''Let God Surprise You: Trust God with Your Dreams''.
A volunteer for
Republican causes, she spoke at the party's National Conventions of
1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
and
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, for GOP presidential nominees
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Leader of th ...
and
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
.
In 2002, Whitestone elected to have a
cochlear implant
A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted Neuroprosthetics, neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for imp ...
operation in order to hear to an extent in her right ear, the hearing of which she had lost at 18 months. It was implanted by Dr.
John Niparko on August 6 at
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
and activated on September 19. She said the primary motivation for electing the surgery was an incident when she did not hear her son's cries for help. She said that she had not regretted her decision, thanking her family for supporting her.
Whitestone is a
motivational speaker
A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...
and lives in
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 ...
with her husband, John McCallum, whom she met when he served as a
Congressional aide to Speaker
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...
. They have four children named John Jr., James, Wilson, and William.
Whitestone was appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the US Senate to the
National Council on Disability, but she resigned in 2010. She was also a board member of the
Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education from 1995 to 2002.
Whitestone was appointed to the Advisory Council for the
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...
on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, in 2002.
Whitestone has appeared on CNN, ABC's ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' and ''
The View''. She has also been in print articles for ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' and ''
People Magazine
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...
''.
In 2003, Whitestone filmed two public service announcements to bring awareness about "Dogs for the Deaf", which is a hearing-dog organization.
Whitestone became a spokesperson for the
Starkey Hearing Aid Foundation and
Cochlear America.
Whitestone has written four books called ''Listening with My Heart'', ''Believing in the Promise'', ''Let God Surprise You'', and ''Heavenly Crowns''. She has also spearheaded the nation's largest multimedia public service campaign to identify early hearing loss, which was created by the
Miss America Organization and the
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.
[Miss America Organization. "Miss America 1995: Heather Whitestone." Miss America Organization. Miss America Organization, 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.]
Bibliography
* ''Listening with My Heart'' (1997)
* ''Believing the Promise'' (1999)
* ''Let God Surprise You'' (2003)
* ''Heavenly Crowns'' (2004)
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Miss Alabama official website–
MCCID Special Tribute Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitestone, Heather
1973 births
Alabama Republicans
American Christian writers
Deaf beauty pageant contestants
Living people
Miss Alabama winners
Miss America 1995 delegates
Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners
Miss America Preliminary Talent winners
Miss America winners
People from Dothan, Alabama
People from St. Simons, Georgia
American deaf people
American activists with disabilities
20th-century American people
Deaf writers