Larry writes:

Pageant judge Walter Thornton said the young woman from the Mon Valley "represents the perfect American type." When her name was announced as the pageant's winner, shethrew her arms around a nearby policeman and gasped, "I can't believe it's true." Her grandmother, who accompanied her to Atlantic City as her chaperone, proudly told thepress, "I knew all along that Henrietta was the prettiest girl in Atlantic City!"

For winning, Leaver received a Hollywood screen test, a host of Vaudeville offers and a two-week cruise to Europe on the French luxury liner Normandie. Upon her triumphantreturn to Pittsburgh, the new Miss America was approached by Vittor, who wanted to immortalize her with a statue.

Vittor was Pittsburgh's best known artist. A student of the French master Auguste Rodin, he had sculpted the statue of Honus Wagner outside Forbes Field (later moved to PNCPark) and had decorated the piers of the new Westinghouse Bridge.

Leaver agreed to pose for Vittor. Always chaperoned by her grandmother, Leaver made a number of trips to the artist's Fifth Avenue studio to pose in her black Miss Americaswimsuit.

All went well until the unveiling of the plaster model that was to be used to cast the final bronze sculpture. Accompanied by her grandmother, Leaver went to Vittor's studioagain to inspect the near-life-size sculpture.

According to a full-page story in the Sun-Telegraph, when the drape was removed, Leaver gasped, "Why, I'm all naked!" To which Vittor replied, "Yes, of course."

"But I wore a bathing suit when I posed for you," the embarrassed woman protested.

In a misguided attempt to calm his increasingly irate model, Vittor replied, "I can assure you it is as true to life as if you hadn't."

Leaver stamped her feet and demanded, "You put a bathing suit on that statue before you exhibit it."

Vittor reportedly rejoined: "A bathing suit on a Venus! This is not merely a portrait of you or even of Miss America. It is the Pittsburgh Venus ... the perfect Americanfigure. ... No Venus will ever wear a bathing suit!"

Leaver moved to Hollywood, took acting classes and was given a bit part in the musical "Star Struck." Her dreams of stardom never materialized, but she may haveachieved some measure of Hollywood immortality.

In the late 1930s, she received a photo release form and a check for $250 from Columbia Pictures. The torch-bearing woman that graces Columbia's logo to this day bears aremarkable resemblance to Henrietta's studio publicity shots. Though the studio refused to confirm that Leaver's photo was used for this purpose, many film historians believeshe was the inspiration for the studio's logo.

To read the complete article, see:
TheNext Page: McKeesport's Henrietta Leaver remembered for more than being Miss America 1935(http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2018/08/05/The-Next-Page-Her-biggest-victory-Miss-America-1935-McKeesports-Henrietta-Leaver-Jim-Busch/stories/201808050007)

To read my "Frank Vittor, Pittsburgh Sculptor" article, see:
FRANK VITTOR, PITTSBURGH SCULPTOR (http://www.wpns1878.org/pr/vittor.html)