ATLANTIC CITY — As the tramcar passed Kennedy Plaza on the Boardwalk Wednesday afternoon, a tour guide pointed out the bronze Miss America statue — a popular selfie spot where anyone can be "crowned" a pageant queen.
Several visitors to the city stopped for a photo, and shared their thoughts on the recently announced elimination of the swimsuit category that’s been part of the Miss America Competition since its inception in 1921.
“I enjoyed the swimsuit part of the pageant,” said Francis Robinson, 69, of Birmingham, Alabama. "It’s something they’ve always done. You don’t need to change it."
The last swimsuit competition at Miss America 2018

Top 12 Swim Suit comp. Miss America Pageant 2018 held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Sunday Sept 10, 2017. (Vern Ogrodnek / Press of Atlantic City)
-- HIDE VERTICAL GALLERY ASSET TITLES --
Miss America Protests 1968

Women protesting the Miss America pageant on Sept. 8, 1968, toss their bras, girdles, high-heeled shoes, fake eyelashes and other items into a ‘Freedom Trash can.’ While the symbolic action sparked the term ‘bra burners,’ no bras were actually burned during the protest.
S12 Miss America Finale

Miss America swimsuit finals, Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall, Sunday Sept. 11, 2016. (Ben Fogletto/Press of City)
S12 Miss America Finale

Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields. Miss America swimsuit finals, Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall, Sunday Sept. 11, 2016. (Ben Fogletto/Press of City)
s08 miss a prelim 2

Swimsuit contestants from the MU Group. Wednesday September 7 2016 Miss America Pageant Preliminaries night two at Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall. (The Press of Atlantic City / Ben Fogletto)
Miss America 2018

Top 12 Swim Suit comp. Miss America Pageant 2018 held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Sunday Sept 10, 2017. Vern Ogrodnek / Press of Atlantic City)
Miss America 2018

Top 12 Swim Suit comp. Miss America Pageant 2018 held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Sunday Sept 10, 2017. (Vern Ogrodnek / Press of Atlantic City)
MISS FINAL SWIMSUIT

Sunday, Sept. 13, 1997. Miss America pageant at convention hall in AC. Top Ten in swimsuits.
Look back at Miss America 1922

Miss America pageant 1922. Center is Miss America 1922, Miss Columbus Ohio Mary Katherine Campbell. On the right is the pageant’s first winner, Margaret Gorman.
Look back at Miss America 1922

Miss America pageant 1922. Miss Greater Camden Eleanor Lindley with Miss America 1921 Margaret Gorman.
Look back at Miss America 1965

Miss America pageant 1965. Two contestants wave to onlookers.
Look back at Miss America 1965

Miss America pageant 1965.
Miss A 1971

Miss America 1971 contestants. Presss file photo.
Miss A 1971

Miss Ohio 1971 waves to the crowd on the boardwalk. Press file photo.
Miss A 1971

Miss North Carolina and Miss South Carolina 1971. Press file photo.
Miss A 1971

Miss America 1971 contestants. Presss file photo.
Miss America Pageant 1967

Miss America pageant 1967. Miss Idaho, left and Miss Florida, right, were two winners in the preliminary competitions.
Look back at Miss America 1924

Miss America pageant 1924. Miss Oklahoma Willie Mae Stockton.
Miss A Original talent

Miss Illinois and Miss Kansas 1985 contestants on the Atlantic City beach. Press file photo.
Miss America 1987

Miss America contestants 1987
Miss America 1987

Miss America 1987 contestants
MISSA04 CROWN

Swimsuit competition during the final night of the Miss America Pageant at Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, Saturday 9/20/03
MISSA04 CROWN

Nicole Lemarche, Miss California, wins the Swimsuit competition during the final night of the Miss America Pageant at Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, Saturday 9/20/03
MISSA03_CROWN.84324

Camille Lewis, Miss Maryland, competes in the swimsuit competition during the Miss America Pageant final night telecast from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
MISSA03CROWN.84325

Laura Lawless, Miss Arizona, competes in the swimsuit competition during the Miss America Pageant final night telecast from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Miss America 1942 004_5552802

Miss America 1942 Jo-Carroll Dennison from Texas.
Miss America 1942 002_5552799

Miss America 1942 Jo-Carroll Dennison from Texas.
Miss America 1942_5552794

Miss America 1942 Jo-Carroll Dennison from Texas.
Miss America 1942 005_5552803

Miss America 1942 Jo-Carroll Dennison from Texas.
Miss America 1942 003_5552801

Miss America 1942 Jo-Carroll Dennison from Texas.
Miss America 1947

21-year-old Miss Memphis, Barbara Jo Walker, wins the Miss America crown on September 6, 1947. She was the last Miss America to be crowned in a swimsuit. Historical photo archive
Miss America Board of Trustees Chairwoman Gretchen Carlson announced Tuesday morning that the competition would be doing away with the swimsuit category and would revamp its evening gown section.
Candidates will now have the freedom to wear the attire of their choice while discussing how they will advance their platforms, and will participate in a live interactive session with the judges, highlighting their achievements and goals in life, she said.
Some see the changes as drastic.
“I don’t think they know what it’s going to be,” said Marilyn Cocozza Trillo, Miss Rhode Island 1968. “I think there could be unforeseen, bad consequences. I may be wrong; I hope I am.”
Author Michael Callahan, of Philadelphia, said the changes could affect the show's ratings. He's been covering the Miss America Competition for 30 years and wrote the novel “The Night She Won Miss America.”
“There are very, very few things in American culture that last 100 years,” Callahan said. “Some things shouldn’t be messed with.”
ATLANTIC CITY — In the nine months that Cara Mund has been Miss America, not once has she ev…
He said he knew there would be significant changes after hearing about the new leadership, but didn’t know it would be cutting entire segments.
Carlson took over as chairwoman of the Miss America board in January after an email scandal in December in which previous Miss America officials mocked winners’ intelligence, looks and sex lives.
Former CEO Sam Haskell, Chief Operating Officer Josh Randle, board Chairwoman Lynn Weidner and several other board members later resigned.
Carlson on Tuesday said the organization will no longer judge contestants on their physical appearances.
Lindsey Sikel, a nine-year volunteer with local pageants in Washington and for the Miss Washington state competition, said the swimsuit component wasn't about being judged on appearance. It was about body appreciation, confidence and getting out of a comfort zone.
A former Miss America has won the Democratic nomination for the 3rd District congressional r…
“It’s pretty amazing that they can get up there and be in front of everybody,” Sikel said, adding she felt the changes came too soon. "The girls aren’t going to get as much out of this as they have in the past.”
Back at the statue Wednesday, Christina Nichilo, 28, of Long Island, said Miss America should keep the swimsuits, but suggested a more classic look.
“I think the style has gone too far. I watch old-school movies and see the beautiful bathing suits they used to wear, and they look just as nice.”
Two-piece swimsuits have been in fashion since the 1940s, but the Miss America Organization didn’t allow bikinis until 1997, giving the contestants the option to choose their swimwear.
Pat Reiley, 68, of Philadelphia, said she used to watch the pageants on TV, but hasn’t followed Miss America in many years.
GALLERY: Look back at Miss America 1920s and 30s
Miss America 1926, Norma Smallwood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Smallwood, the mother of a 4-year-old daughter, De Cygne L'Amour, lost custody of her daughter to her husband, Oklahoma oil magnate Thomas Gilcrease, in a divorce battle. The child remained with her father until a settlement was reached in the suit.Sensational charges were made by Gilcrease's counsel, but vigorously denied by the Smallwood. Historical photo archive
Miss America 1926, Norma Smallwood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Smallwood, the mother of a 4-year-old daughter, De Cygne L'Amour, lost custody of her daughter to her husband, Oklahoma oil magnate Thomas Gilcrease, in a divorce battle. The child remained with her father until a settlement was reached in the suit.Sensational charges were made by Gilcrease's counsel, but vigorously denied by the Smallwood. Historical photo archive
Lou Off, Sept. 10, 1981, with a photo of Miss America 1937 Betty Cooper. A shy, 17-year-old blonde from Hackettstown, N.J., Cooper disappeared the night she won the Miss America crown. It was later discovered that Cooper - shocked at winning and unwilling to leave school to fulfill the duties required of Miss America - had spent the night hiding out on a boat owned by her Atlantic City chaperone, Lou Off.
“I’m in between,” she said. “For today, it should be based on personality and talent. And I never really liked the girls wearing the bikinis and showing all that ... but the bathing suits are tradition.”
Callahan, while skeptical of the changes, said it’s not so much about the swimsuit competition as it is about changing tradition “that people have embraced for almost a century." He wasn’t sure people would tune in specifically because there’s no swimsuit component.
“I want it to survive. I’m rooting for them, and I always will,” Callahan said. “I’ll tune in in September, and maybe it will surprise me.”
The Miss America Competition will return to Boardwalk Hall Sept. 6-9. It will be broadcast on ABC starting at 9 p.m. Sept. 9, with the crowning shortly before 11 p.m.
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