Toe pads used in the ballet shoes worn by Heather Whitestone McCallum during the 1995 Miss America competition: Museum Object and Cultural History
Toe pads used in the ballet shoes worn by Heather Whitestone McCallum during the 1995 Miss America competition: user: McCallum, Heather Whitestone. Object Name: toe pads. Physical Description: plastic (overall material).
The object in the museum catalogue
Toe pads used in the ballet shoes worn by Heather Whitestone McCallum during the 1995 Miss America competition. They are light pink plastic and conform to the toe of the ballet slippers for added comfort. The ballet costume, swimsuit, and hearing aid microphone used by Heather Whitestone McCallum in the Miss America 1995 competition, help illustrate the pageant's history and influence on conversations about gender, disability, adaptive technology, and fashion in American life. McCallum, who is deaf, was the first Miss America titleholder with a disability. She was criticized by some in the Deaf community for her reliance on her hearing aid, lip reading, and speaking in vocal English rather than American Sign Language. Whitestone made advocacy for the deaf community her platform during her reign and has continued to work as a motivational speaker and author in the years afterward.
Materials, dates and provenance
- user: McCallum, Heather Whitestone
- Object Name: toe pads
- Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 4 3/4 in x 4 in; 12.065 cm x 10.16 cm
- ID Number: 2021.0164.04.1
- accession number: 2021.0164
- catalog number: 2021.0164.04.1
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
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