The Miss Black Teenage Pageant, a Mother's Day tradition for 36 years, took it's final bow yesterday.

More than 1,830 young women have participated in the pageant, which has awarded more than $400,000 in scholarships and prizes over the years.

In her goodbye address founder Jean Bryant acknowledged the hard work of all her volunteers, many of whom were previous contestants. In subsequent years, Ms. Bryant added a Miss Princess contest for younger girls and held a Mr. African American contest for young men.

Wining the crown of Miss Black Teenage 2008 was Charmaine Clark of the Hill District. Taking the title of Miss Princess was Jasmine Williams, 12, of Penn Hills.