She loves languages — she sews her own dresses... and she does not smoke!...

...She is a queen, with all her splendor and her crown — Miss America of Lebanese origin! Dark and

slender, black of hair and eye — and every one of her features Lebanese.

Her father is Salim Farah of Baskinta, and her mother Loris Nasrallah of Hadath, Beirut...

She is twenty-two years old, and her face over-flows with charm and quick intel-ligence; she is well-bred and polished, yet natural and simple — the "fame of queenship" has not scorched her with its fire...

The story of the contest is a genuinely amusing one. The sponsor of the project is the "Lebanese American

Journal," which is published by al-Hoda of New York. Beginning last May it started running publicity and announcing its intention to elect a Miss America of Lebanese origin, and the applications came pouring

in, photographs attached, from within the community only, until they numbered thirty-five. The com-mittee chose ten from among them and fixed "Labor Day" — the first week of September — as the date of the contest.

Every year on "Labor Day," the Lebanese-Syrian com-munity in the United States has been accustomed to hold a great festival stretch-ing over four consecu-tive days, in which it revives the nights of Lebanon, the joys of Lebanon, the feasts of Lebanon and its cos-tumes — all in the old traditional manner, as the first wave knew it, those whose emigra-tion goes back some half a century... At this festival the circles of the "dabke" come to life and throats burst forth in songs and chants: Ya Mijana... 'Al-Yadi al-Yadi... 'Ala al-Dal'ona.

At this festival, in this authentic

Lebanese atmosphere, it was decided that the contest to choose the beauty queen should be held. The panel of judges was made up of eleven members, and some ten thousand spectators attended the celebration...