Miss America: the origins and the race
The Miss America beauty pageant was born in 1921 , and it is a competition that unfolds in parades (in costume and evening dress) and culture and talent tests which the participants must preside over.
The first edition of the contest takes place in Atlantic City, New Jersey and the event was repeated in the same city every September until 2004. Since 2006 the beauty contest has moved to Las Vegas, in the state of Nevada.
If you dig deep into the origins of this beauty contest , however, it turns out that this began two years earlier: we are in 1919 when a beauty contest is held at the Hotel des Artistes in New York, whose winner Edith Hyde Robbins Macartney is crowned Miss America.
But this festival is not linked to today’s competition, whose origins date back to an event entitled The Fall Frolic which was held on September 25, 1920 in Atlantic City. Given the success of this competition, it was decided to repeat it every year with the name of Miss America.
The first official Miss America winner is Margaret Gorman, Miss District of Columbia, declared “America’s Most Beautiful Girl” aged just 16.
First Miss America in history
Since then, thousands of girls from all over the United States have taken part in this beauty pageant every year, ready to battle it out for the title. Furthermore, as we will see, the competition is not only marked by aesthetic beauty but has also acquired a cultural connotation over the years.
The motto of the event is in fact:
“The other parades are looking for a model. Miss America is looking for a model of professionalism. “
The main prizes for the winner and the competitors who arrive in the top positions consist of scholarships to hone their knowledge or complete their studies.
In this Miss America, with its federal, state and local structure, has over time become the largest financial support program in the world for the study of young women: every year it awards over 45 million dollars in cash and scholarships!
Miss America: the contest
The competition for the award of the title of the most beautiful in America takes place through local preselections which then lead the winners to compete at national level.
The aspirants for the title of Miss America and the various state and local titles are selected by five separate juries for as many competitions, which are divided into competitions of beauty and talent, as well as of culture.
Specifically, the competitions are:
- The Private Interview;
- The talent contest;
- The competition in a bathing suit;
- The evening dress challenge;
- The question on stage;
In the interview, the competitor discusses with the jury on a series of topics of culture and current affairs, and is assigned a score based on how she answered the questions (which accounts for 25% of the final score).
The talent contest, on the other hand, includes a personal performance by the competitor: dancing, singing, acting, sleight of hand and so on, to which a score is assigned that is worth 35% of the total.
Then we have the parade in swimsuit and evening dress , where physical fit, elegance, poise are evaluated and together they are worth another 35% of the total vote.
Finally, the last competition concerns the question on the stage , which takes place during the rehearsal in evening dress and serves to evaluate the candidate’s ability to respond to a specific question posed on a topic related to the news or social media. The latter is valid for 5% of the total.
The winners of Miss America
Here are all the winners of the Miss America pageant:
Anno
Miss America
Provenienza
1921
Margaret Gorman
Washington (DC)
1922
Mary Campbell
Columbus (Ohio)
1923
Mary Campbell
Columbus (Ohio)
1924
Ruth Malcomson
Filadelfia (Pennsylvania)
1925
Fay Lanphier
Oakland (California)
1926
Norma Smallwood
Tulsa (Oklahoma)
1927
Lois Delander
Joliet (Illinois)
1932
Dorothy Hann
Camden (New Jersey)
1933
Marian Bergeron
West Haven (Connecticut)
1935
Henrietta Leaver
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania)
1936
Rose Coyle
Filadelfia (Pennsylvania)
1937
Bette Cooper
Bertrand Island (New Jersey)
1938
Marilyn Meseke
Marion (Ohio)
1939
Patricia Donnelly
Detroit (Michigan)
1940
Frances Marie Burke
Filadelfia (Pennsylvania)
1941
Rosemary LaPlanche
Los Angeles (California)
1942
Jo-Carroll Dennison
Tyler (Texas)
1943
Jean Bartel
Los Angeles (California)
1944
Venus Ramey
Washington (DC)
1945
Bess Myerson
New York (New York)
1946
Marilyn Buferd
Los Angeles (California)
1947
Barbara Jo Walker
Memphis (Tennessee)
1948
BeBe Shopp
Hopkins, Minnesota
1949
Jacque Mercer
Litchfield Park (Arizona)
1951
Yolande Betbeze
Mobile (Alabama)
1952
Colleen Kay Hutchins
Salt Lake City (Utah)
1953
Neva Jane Langley
Macon (Georgia)
1954
Evelyn Margaret Ay
Ephrata (Pennsylvania)
1955
Lee Meriwether
San Francisco (California)
1956
Sharon Ritchie
Denver (Colorado)
1957
Marian McKnight
Manning (Carolina del Sud)
1958
Marilyn Van Derbur
Denver (Colorado)
1959
Mary Ann Mobley
Brandon (Mississippi)
1960
Lynda Lee Mead
Natchez (Mississippi)
1961
Nancy Fleming
Montague (Michigan)
1962
Maria Fletcher
Asheville (North Carolina)
1963
Jacquelyn Mayer
Sandusky (Ohio)
1964
Donna Axum
El Dorado (Arkansas)
1965
Vonda Kay Van Dyke
Phoenix (Arizona)
1966
Deborah Irene Bryant
Overland Park (Kansas)
1967
Jane Anne Jayroe
Laverne (Oklahoma)
1968
Debra Dene Barnes
Moran (Kansas)
1969
Judith Anne Ford
Belvidere (Illinois)
1970
Pamela Anne Eldred
Birmingham (Michigan)
1971
Phyllis Ann George
Denton (Texas)
1972
Laurie Lea Schaefer
Columbus (Ohio)
1973
Terry Anne Meeuwsen
De Pere (Wisconsin)
1974
Rebecca Ann King
Denver (Colorado)
1975
Shirley Cothran
Fort Worth (Texas)
1976
Tawny Elaine Godin
Yonkers (New York)
1977
Dorothy Kathleen Benham
Edina (Minnesota)
1978
Susan Perkins
Columbus (Ohio)
1979
Kylene Barker
Galax (Virginia)
1980
Cheryl Prewitt
Ackerman (Mississippi)
1981
Susan Powell
Elk City (Oklahoma)
1982
Elizabeth Ward
Russellville (Arkansas)
1983
Debra Maffett
Anaheim (California)
1984
Vanessa L. Williams,
Millwood (New York)
Suzette Charles
Mays Landing (New Jersey)
1985
Sharlene Wells
Salt Lake City, Utah
1986
Susan Akin
Meridian (Mississippi)
1987
Kellye Cash
Memphis (Tennessee)
1988
Kaye Lani Rae Rafko
Monroe (Michigan)
1989
Gretchen Carlson
Anoka (Minnesota)
1990
Debbye Turner
Mexico (Missouri)
1991
Marjorie Judith Vincent
Oak Park (Illinois)
1992
Carolyn Suzanne Sapp
Kona (Hawaii)
1993
Leanza Cornett
Jacksonville (Florida)
1994
Kimberly Clarice Aiken
Columbia (Carolina del Sud)
1995
Heather Whitestone
Birmingham (Alabama)
1996
Shawntel Smith
Muldrow (Oklahoma)
1997
Tara Dawn Holland
Overland Park (Kansas)
1997
Teresa Azeredo
Los Angeles (California)
1998
Katherine Shindle
Evanston (Illinois)
1999
Nicole Johnson
Roanoke (Virginia)
2000
Heather French
Augusta (Kentucky)
2001
Angela Perez Baraquio
Honolulu (Hawaii)
2002
Katie Harman
Gresham (Oregon)
2003
Erika Harold
Urbana (Illinois)
2004
Ericka Dunlap
Orlando (Florida)
2005
Deidre Downs
Birmingham (Alabama)
2006
Jennifer Berry
Tulsa (Oklahoma)
2007
Lauren Nelson
Lawton (Oklahoma)
2008
Kirsten Haglund
Farmington Hills (Michigan)
2009
Katie Tribe
Seymour (Indiana)
2010
Caressa Cameron
Fredericksburg (Virginia)
2011
Teresa Scanlan
Ill (Nebraska)
2012
Laura Kaeppeler
Kenosha (Wisconsin)
2013
Mallory Hagan
New York
2014
Nina Davuluri
New York
2015
Kira Kazantsev
New York
2016
Betty Cantrell
Warner Robins (Georgia)
2017
Savvy Shields
Fayetteville (Arkansas)
2018
Cara Mund
Bismarck (Dakota del Nord)
2019
Near Franklin
New York
2020
Camille Schrier
Uncasville.
