Myerson was the Miss New York entry in the 1945 Miss America pageant, and she competed in the talent portion of the contest by performing the music of Edvard Grieg and George Gershwin. Prior to the competition, she was pressured to use a pseudonym that "sounded less Jewish." Despite revelations of the Holocaust in the previous months, America was still widely perceived as a Anglo-Saxon Protestant society which manifested hostility towards people of Catholic faith and Jewish ancestry. Myerson refused and was subjected to substantial antisemitism. After she won the title on September 8, 1945, three of the pageant's five sponsors withdrew from having her represent their companies as Miss America.