Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss America are all black – a first in the history of the pageant

When Cheslie Kryst was crowned Miss USA on Thursday, she helped strengthen her position as part of a historic trio.

For the first time in history, black women wear at the same time the winning crowns of the three major contests of America: Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss America.

Frank Micelotta / FOX / PictureGroup / REX via Shutterstock

Kryst, a civil litigation lawyer in North Carolina, completes the trio with 2019 Miss US USA Kaliegh Garris and 2019 Miss America's Nia Franklin.

Garris, a Connecticut high school student, was crowned Sunday and plans to go to college to pursue her nursing dreams.

Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin, who won her competition in September, is a classically-styled opera singer who has represented the state of New York in the contest.

The winners of the Black Women's Contest are pretty new to the elite historical competitions. The first Miss America contest was held in 1921, but women of color were banned from competition until the 1940s because of a rule stating that the candidates had to be "Caucasian". Vanessa Williams was the first winner of the black contest and was crowned Miss America in 1983.

The Miss USA contest was created in 1952 and it was not until 1990 that they crowned their first black candidate, Carole Anne-Marie Gis. The following year, Janel Bishop became the first Black American Teen Miss.