Williams was the first black woman to become Miss America. Ten months into her reign as Miss America, she received an anonymous phone call stating that nude photos of her taken by a photographer prior to her pageant days had surfaced. Williams believed the photographs were private and had been destroyed; she claims she never signed a release permitting the photos to be used. The photographs depicted mild overtones of simulated lesbian sex, which was quite controversial for its time. This controversy made her resign .
