Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota

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Miss USA 1976

Barbara Elaine Peterson

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Barbara Elaine Peterson Burwell (née Peterson; born November 25, 1953) is an American model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 1976.

Born in Edina, Minnesota, to former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Carl Donald Peterson and mother Gretchen Elaine Palen Peterson, Burwell grew up in Edina, Minnesota with four brothers: Todd Douglas, Scott Jeffrey, Craig Donald, Mark Bradley; and one sister, Polly Suzanne.

She graduated from Edina High School and was a junior of speech communication, political science and American studies at St. Olaf College in Northfield when she decided to participate in Miss USA.

Burwell won the title of Miss Minnesota USA and represented her state in the 1976 Miss USA pageant broadcast live from Niagara Falls in May that year, winning the title and becoming the first Miss USA from Minnesota in the history of the pageant.

As the official representative of her country to the 1976 Miss Universe pageant in Hong Kong, Burwell would become the first Miss USA titleholder not to advance to the semifinal round of the Miss Universe pageant, which did not happen again until 1999.

In 1987, Burwell and sister Polly Peterson Bowles authored Becoming a Beauty Queen: the Complete Guide, based on their experience with pageants. Burwell was also a judge at the 1990 Miss USA pageant and resides in the Minneapolis metropolitan area.

Burwell is married to businessman Rodney P. Burwell, with whom she has three sons: Rodney Peter, Blake Palmer, and Michael Craig, and makes donations to educational and charitable institutions along with her husband through the Rodney and Barbara Burwell Family Foundation.

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Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota

Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota

Re: Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota

Re: Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota

Re: Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota

Re: Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota

Re: Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota

Re: Miss USA 1976: Barbara Elaine Peterson from Minnesota