Irma Nydia Vázquez

Irma Nydia Vázquez, Puerto Rico's representative as Miss Puerto Rico in the 1948 Miss America pageant was one of two contestants to break the so-called "color barrier" in the event. The daughter of an industrialist and sister of a future Puerto Rico Secretary of State, she was the first wife of Puerto Rican singer and composer Bobby Capó, a marriage initially opposed by her family but which lasted 25 years during which they had 5 children. Her parents were Pedro Vázquez, the founder of professional baseball in Puerto Rico, and Genoveva Vázquez, a seamstress who designed former First Lady Ines Maria Mendoza's dress during the White House gala hosted by President Kennedy at which cellist Pablo Casals performed.