Barbara Peterson

Pageant titleholder bio
photo=
title=Miss Minnesota USA 1976
nationalcompetition=Miss USA 1976 (winner)
Miss Universe 1976
location= Edina, Minnesota
birthname= Barbara Peterson
eye color= Brown
hair color= Brown

Barbara Peterson Burwell (born c. 1954) is a beauty queen from Edina, Minnesota who has held the Miss USA title.

Peterson won the Miss Minnesota USA 1976 crown and later represented Minnesota in the Miss USA 1976 pageant held in Niagara Falls, New York in May that year. She won the Miss USA crown, becoming the first titleholder from Minnesota.

Peterson represented the United States at the 1976 Miss Universe pageant in Hong Kong, in which she failed to place in the semi-finals. She was the first Miss USA delegate not to advance to the semi-final round, a distinction later duplicated by Kimberly Pressler (Miss USA 1999) and Shauntay Hinton (Miss USA 2002).

Peterson along with her sister Polly Peterson authored “Becoming a Beauty Queen” based on their experience with pageant work.