Nia Franklin, a Winston-Salem native, was crowned Miss America 2019 on Sunday night. Although Franklin is originally from North Carolina, she represented the state of New York.
Franklin, 24, attended East Carolina University as an undergrad and received her masters degree in music composition at UNC School of the Arts. She also competed for the title of Miss North Carolina in 2016. Franklin moved to New York after being accepted to the Kenan Fellow program at Lincoln Center Education in Manhattan.
Franklin's pageant platform is "advocating for the arts." On Sunday night, she answered a peer question, a judge question, flaunted a beautiful white gown and performed an opera solo from La Boheme.
According to the Winston-Salem journal, Franklin participated in ArtistCorps at UNCSA, an artist-driven AmeriCorps service program that places accomplished artists in public schools and community-based institutions to work with high-needs students.