A young Bermudian model who went overnight from secretarial school to Miss Bermuda captivated photographers with her Afro hairstyle at the 1970 Miss Universe beauty pageant in Miami, breaking down barriers for Black women in fashion.

Margaret Hill was a student at the Skinner Secretarial College when she was sponsored by Hamilton Parish Workman’s Club to take part in the Miss Bermuda Pageant at the Rosebank Theatre in Hamilton. She had been the runner-up to Maxine Bean the previous year.

The next day’s headline in The Royal Gazette on May 30 proclaimed her Miss Bermuda.

“Amid a galaxy of lights, popping flashbulbs and uproarious applause, 21-year-old Margaret Hill of Hamilton Parish last night became Miss Bermuda 1970 and won herself a trip to Miami,” it reported.

Ms Hill’s appeal soared from there, with Miss Bermuda heading to the Expo 70 in Osaka in the build-up to Miss World, and garnering further interest as a model.

On July 10, 1970, on the eve of the pageant, the late Ira Philip, a member of the Miss Bermuda Pageant Committee, told the Gazette: “This girl can only be described as a star. It is impossible to give her enough praise.”

The Royal Gazette reported how “hordes of news photographers” were taken with Ms Hill’s Afro hairdo. She was bombarded with interviews by the international press.

Ultimately, although she did not win the crown, she was proclaimed Miss Photogenic out of the entrants in Miami Miss Universe — one of the first Black women to be recognised.

Ms Hill’s rise earned her modelling contracts, riveted readers back home and brought praise in the House of Assembly

She rode high on the attention and was next in New York for a slew of interviews and modelling assignments.

Ms Hill headed to Australia for an eight-week stint later in the year, where gigs included the Melbourne Carnival.

She travelled next to Hawaii, followed by Los Angeles, with her long absence even alarming pageant officials until she could be tracked down.

Bermuda received its first invitation, courtesy of her high-profile achievements, to the Miss World contest, held in London in 1971.

Ms Hill was wrapped up in a modelling contract, so Miss Bermuda, Rana Furbert, flew to London instead.

Other trophies collected by Ms Hill included Miss Tourism International for promoting the island.

Wentworth Christopher, who ran the Miss Bermuda Pageant for decades, said Ms Hill’s Afro hairstyle “made a huge impact” at a time when Eurocentric standards still overshadowed the emerging Black is Beautiful movement.

“She popularised it. There were photographers from around the world and her unusual hairstyle attracted their attention. It was unique, and the international coverage helped propel it into the mainstream.”

Mr Christopher said it was unprecedented for Miss World officials to contact Bermuda with the invitation. He added: “Margaret had prior obligations to model in Australia and it was not possible. Ms Furbert became our first to participate in the Miss World contest.

“In 1979, Gina Swainson was crowned Miss World.”

Mr Christopher said weeks of rigorous training for the Miss Bermuda pageant had polished Ms Hill as a model.

“She was great. She was very poised, with a very pleasant personality. She ramped up our enthusiasm to believe we could achieve something internationally in the beauty pageant realm.

“I had considerable admiration for Margaret — she inspired us.”

Philip Perinchief, a former Attorney-General under the Progressive Labour Party, was a former partner of Ms Hill’s. The pair have a daughter, Tichaona.

“She was very open, very personable, easy to approach,” Mr Perinchief said.

“During her competition years, other contestants liked her and they had a good camaraderie.”

He said Ms Hill volunteered her time fundraising with charities. The two met on Front Street, where Ms Hill was selling charity tags.

The couple went on to live in Nova Scotia, where Ms Hill studied business administration at Mount Saint Vincent University.

Ms Hill garnered a bachelor of arts degree in economics at York University.

Mr Perinchief said she later married Richard Brown, who predeceased her.

A keen traveller, Ms Hill-Brown spent many years in South Africa and ultimately moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she died with family at her side.

Mr Perinchief said that a memorial in Bermuda was planned for March 22 at Holy Trinity Church in Hamilton Parish.

• Eloise Margaret Rose Hill-Brown, a Miss Bermuda winner who broke barriers as the winner of Miss Photogenic in the 1970 Miss Universe Pageant, was born on April 10, 1949. She died on March 7, 2024, aged 74.