Results
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Placements
| Placement | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss America 1951 | |
| 1st Runner-Up |
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| 2nd Runner-Up |
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| 3rd Runner-Up |
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| 4th Runner-Up |
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| Top 16 |
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Awards
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Preliminary awards
| Awards | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Lifestyle and Fitness |
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| Talent |
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Other awards
| Awards | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss Congeniality |
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| Miss America 1951 | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 9, 1950 |
| Presenters | Bob Russell |
| Venue | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Entrants | 54 |
| Placements | 16 |
| Winner | Yolande Betbeze Alabama |
Miss America 1951, the 24th Miss America pageant, was held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 9, 1950. Traditionally, since a majority of Miss America's reign occurred during the year following her coronation, the pageant referred to her title with the upcoming year. Thus, Yolande Betbeze, who was crowned in September 1950, was called Miss America 1951. This practice continued until 2006, when pageant activities moved from September to January. From that point, the title year aligned with the year in which the titleholder won. This change also occurred recently in 2024, and it marked the transition from Atlantic City, the pageant's long-time base, to its new home in Las Vegas, Nevada. [1] [2] [3] [4]
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| Placement | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss America 1951 | |
| 1st Runner-Up |
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| 2nd Runner-Up |
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| 3rd Runner-Up |
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| 4th Runner-Up |
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| Top 16 |
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| Awards | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Lifestyle and Fitness |
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| Talent |
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| Awards | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss Congeniality |
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| Title | Name | Hometown | Age | Talent | Placement | Awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alabama | Yolande Betbeze | Mobile | 21 | Classical Vocal, "Caro Nome" from Rigoletto | Winner | Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness Award | Betbeze's refusal to pose in a swimsuit after her win lead to the pull-out of swimsuit sponsor Catalina & ultimately the creation of the Miss USA pageant |
 Alaska | Maxine Cothern | Fairbanks | Speech, "Alaska" | ||||
 Arizona | Kathryn Lunsford | Phoenix | Modern Dance | ||||
 Arkansas | Mary Jennings | Hot Springs | Classical Vocal, "Un Bel Dì" from Madama Butterfly | 3rd Runner-up | Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness Award | Was a featured soprano with the New York City Opera
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 California | Joanne Durant | San Diego | Vocal/Poetry Recitation, "Alice Blue Gown" | Top 16 | Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness Award | ||
 Canada | Margaret Eleanore Bradford | Windsor | |||||
 Chicago | Marjorie Adams | Chicago | Monologue, "To the Lovely Margaret" | Top 16 | |||
 Colorado | Barbara Norrish | Longmont | Violin | ||||
 Connecticut | Renee Roy | Hartford | Comedy Sketch of a Cosmetic Demonstration and Vocal/Dance, "Charley, My Boy" | Top 16 | Preliminary Talent Award | Later Miss New York City USA 1954 | |
 Delaware | Lorna Edwardson | Dover | Classical Vocal, "Un Bel Dì" from Madama Butterfly | ||||
 District of Columbia | Sandra Stahl | 21 | Classical Vocal, "The Bell Song" from Lakmé | Top 16 | Preliminary Talent Award | ||
 Florida | Janet Ruth Crockett | St. Petersburg | Vocal & Pantomime from The Perils of Pauline | 2nd Runner-up | |||
 Georgia | Louise Thomas | Fitzgerald | |||||
| Greater Philadelphia | Janice Murray | Philadelphia | Classical Vocal, '''O Don Fatale" from Don Carlos | Top 16 | |||
 Hawaii | Dell'Finn Kala'upaona Po'aha | Honolulu | Miss Congeniality | ||||
 Idaho | Barbara Norton | Burley | Vocal, "A Heart That's Free" from Two Weeks with Love | ||||
 Illinois | Catherine Kleinschmidt | Granite City | Vocal, "Come to the Fair" | ||||
 Indiana | Pat Berry | Indianapolis | Vocal, "I'm Falling in Love with Someone" from Naughty Marietta | ||||
 Iowa | Mary Virginia Lines | Clarinda | 18 | Piano/Marimba, "Stardust" | |||
 Kansas | Anabel Baker | Wichita | Dramatic Monologue from Macbeth | ||||
 Kentucky | Mary Louise Osborne | Wheelwright | Drama | ||||
 Louisiana | Rowena Taliaferro | Winnsboro | |||||
 Maine | Jane Harragan | Millinocket | Dramatic Monologue, "The Corn is Green" | ||||
 Maryland | Ann Uri | Baltimore | Vocal/Piano | ||||
 Massachusetts | Britta Berg | Boston | |||||
 Michigan | Bette Lou Pittman | Owosso | Monologue, "I Like Americans" | ||||
 Minnesota | Jeanne Traun | Minneapolis | Vocal | ||||
 Mississippi | Annie Roberts | Hattiesburg | |||||
 Missouri | Beverly Rotroff | Kansas City | Vocal/Piano | ||||
 Montana | Donna Marie Buls | Missoula | |||||
 Nebraska | Jinx Burrus | Crete | Baton Twirling | ||||
 Nevada | Tosca Masini | Sparks | Comedy Characterization | Top 16 | |||
 New Hampshire | Betty Laurie | Concord | |||||
 New Jersey | June Stephens | Ship Bottom | Comic Sketch, "The Older Set" | Top 16 | |||
 New Mexico | Martha Rose Wilson | Santa Fe | |||||
 New York | Marilyn Reynolds | Syracuse | Vocal, "I'll Take Romance" | ||||
 New York City | Phyllis Battleson | New York City | Classical Vocal, "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" | Top 16 | |||
 North Carolina | Carolyn Edwards | Leaksville | Monologue, "Rumba" by Dorothy Parker | Top 16 | |||
 North Dakota | Joan Teets | Minot | Comedy Monologue, "Touch of Norway" | Non-finalist Talent Award | |||
 Ohio | Irene Farren | Grand River | Fashion Design | ||||
 Oklahoma | Louise O'Brien | Tulsa | Vocal, "'Twas Only an Irishman's Dream" | 4th Runner-up | |||
 Oregon | Elizabeth Ann Baker | Monmouth | Classical Piano, Clair de Lune | ||||
 Pennsylvania | Emilie Longacre | Phoenixville | Vocal, "You're My Everything" | ||||
 Puerto Rico | Evangelina Moragón | ||||||
 South Carolina | Carolyn Fowler | Lyman | 17 | Vocal, "Why Don't You Fall in Love with Me" | |||
 South Dakota | Irene O'Connor | Burbank | Dramatic Monologue, "Dedication of the White Armor" from Saint Joan | 1st Runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | ||
 Tennessee | Greta Graham | Memphis | Organ, "Tico-Tico no Fubá" | ||||
 Texas | Margaret Sommers | Dallas | Classical Vocal, "Jealousy" | Top 16 | |||
 Utah | Joanne Hinard | Provo | East Indian Dance | ||||
 Vermont | Eleanor Kangas | Springfield | |||||
 Virginia | Gloria Fenderson | Petersburg | |||||
 Washington | Karlyne Abele | Des Moines | Dramatic Reading, "The Flag" | Top 16 | |||
 Wisconsin | Gloria Lange | Milwaukee | 20 | Operatic Vocal, "Donkey Serenade" from The Firefly | |||
 Wyoming | Lenore Hoffman | Cheyenne |
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: Private Interview (30%) – a 10-minute press conference-style interview with a panel of judges, On Stage Question (10%) – answering a judge's question onstage, Talent or HER Story (20%) – a performance talent or 90 second speech, Health and Fitness (20%) – demonstrated physical fitness onstage dressed in athletic wear, and Evening Gown (20%) – modeling evening-wear onstage.
Yolande Margaret Betbeze Fox was an American singer, feminist, activist and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America 1951.
The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition.
The Miss Minnesota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss America pageant. Women from Minnesota have won the Miss America crown on three occasions. The most recent winner was Gretchen Carlson in 1989.
The Miss Washington competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Washington in the Miss America pageant.
The Miss Virginia competition is a scholarship pageant for women, with the titleholder representing Virginia in the Miss America pageant. The competition was founded in 1953 as a scholarship contest for young women, although women had represented Virginia in the Miss America pageant since the 1930s. Four Miss Virginia winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America, including former national titleholder Caressa Cameron.
The Miss Florida competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss America pageant. Florida has twice won the Miss America crown.
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
The Miss Maryland competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Maryland in the Miss America pageant.
The Miss Vermont competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Vermont in the Miss America pageant. While Vermont is the only state to have never had a contestant advance to the semi-finals of the Miss America pageant, their representatives have won numerous non-finalist awards.
The Miss Idaho scholarship program is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Idaho in the Miss America pageant. The current titleholder receives a $4,000 cash scholarship to any accredited institution of her choice. She also represents the state of Idaho for the live ABC broadcast of the Miss America pageant.
The Miss New Jersey competition is an annual pageant held to select the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss America pageant.
Henrietta Leaver, Miss Pittsburgh, was crowned Miss America on September 7, 1935, at Atlantic City in New Jersey. She was 19 years old.
The Miss Pennsylvania competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the Miss America pageant. Pennsylvania, including early years' city representatives, has won the Miss America crown on five occasions.
Miss Universe 1952 was the first Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 28 June 1952.
Miss America 1935, the ninth Miss America pageant, was held at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 7, 1935, following a one-year hiatus. Upon arrival in Atlantic City, contestants were strongly encouraged to exhibit some form of talent during the pageant, which was a first for the pageant. Aside from Henrietta Leaver, Miss Pittsburgh winning the Miss America crown, entrants from Pennsylvania placed as three of the nine semi-finalists.
Miss America 1941, the 15th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 6, 1941. Shortly after the crowning of Miss California, Rosemary LaPlanche, who had been first runner-up in 1940, the pageant committee adopted this rule: "No contestant can compete in Atlantic City for the title of Miss America more than once", thus eliminating future state winners with more than one attempt at the national title.
Miss America 1947, the 21st Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 6, 1947. Barbara Jo Walker was the last Miss America to be crowned in her swimsuit, as well as the last contestant to represent just a city, rather than her state. Margaret Marshall, representing Canada, captured the swimsuit competition and placed third overall in the pageant. The judges for the Miss America pagenat were Win Barron, Vincent Trotta, Walter Thornton, and Arthur William Brown.
Kimberly Marie "Kim" Wimmer is an American actress, singer, and educator from Mobile, Alabama, who was crowned Miss Alabama 1992. She competed for the Miss America 1993 title and won the pageant's Quality of Life Award. She co-starred in the Comedy Central series Strip Mall.