Miss Michigan USA, Carole Anne Marie Gist

Carole Anne-Marie Gist, the first African-American woman to win the Miss USA title, was born on May 8, 1969 in Detroit, Michigan.

Gist first won the tile of Miss Michigan USA in 1989 and went on to win the title of Miss USA on March 2, 1990 in Wichita, Kansas. She was the first contestant from Michigan to win the Miss USA (not Miss America) title and she also broke the five year streak of winners from the state of Texas. At 5'11" Gist was also the tallest Miss USA. At the time of her crowning, she was a junior majoring in marketing and management at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan, from which she eventually received her B.A. degree.

Winning the title brought Gist over $200,000 in cash and prizes and automatically earned her the opportunity to represent the United States in the Miss Universe Pageant.