The Miss Oklahoma competition selects a winner to compete on behalf of Oklahoma in the Miss America pageant. Miss Oklahoma has won the Miss America crown on five occasions. Also, in the years when city representatives were common, Norma Smallwood won, competing as Miss Tulsa, giving the state of Oklahoma a total of six crowns. Oklahoma is also one of three states to win back to back Miss America titles.
Sunny Day of Norman was crowned Miss Oklahoma 2023 on June 10, 2023 at the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She will represent Oklahoma and compete for the title of Miss America 2024.
The following is a visual summary of the past results of Miss Oklahoma titleholders at the national Miss America pageants/competitions. The year in parentheses indicates the year of the national competition during which a placement and/or award was garnered, not the year attached to the contestant's state title.
4th runners-up: Donna Briggs (1948), Louise O'Brien (1951), Ann Campbell (1956), Nancy Chapman (1983), DuSharme Carter (1993), Emoly West (2011)
Top 5: Virginia Howard** (1927)
Top 10: Willie Mae Stockton* (1924), Bobby Jene Simmons (1952), Judy Adams (1971), Andrea Hanson (1974), Tamara Marler (1990), Cynthia White (1991), Julie Payne (1999), Kelley Scott (2004), Elizabeth Kinney (2005), Alexandra Eppler (2015), Georgia Frazier (2016)
Top 12: Taylor Treat (2010), Sarah Klein (2017)
Top 15: Ada Martyne Wood (1940), Mifaunwy Dolores Shunatona (1941), Ashley Thompson (2018)
Top 20: Kaci Hundley (2002)
Oklahoma holds a record of 39 placements at Miss America.
Jennifer Berry-Gooden is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America on January 21, 2006. A resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the time of her investment to sovereignty of beauty, she became the fifth Miss America from Oklahoma to have held the title.
The Miss Oklahoma USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Oklahoma in the Miss USA pageant. This pageant is directed by Vanbros and Associates, headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1997, Oklahoma joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system.
The Miss North Carolina competition selects the representative for the state of North Carolina to compete in the annual Miss America competition. The competition has been held in High Point, North Carolina since 2021 and was previously held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in various locales including Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham, Burlington, Wilmington, and Morehead City. Taylor Loyd of Mooresville, North Carolina was crowned Miss North Carolina 2023 on June 24, 2023, at High Point Theatre in High Point, North Carolina. On January 14, 2024, she competed for the title of Miss America 2024 and placed in the Top 11 semi-finalists.
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 Hawaii competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the State of Hawaii in the Miss America pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. Hawaii first competed at Miss America in 1948 and has twice won the Miss America title, in 1992 and 2001.
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 Louisiana competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Louisiana in the Miss America pageant. Although no delegate from Louisiana has ever won the Miss America title, four have placed 1st runner-up. As of 2022, Louisiana is the lone member of the Confederacy during the Civil War which has not produced a Miss America.
Norma Des Cygne Smallwood was the winner of the Miss America 1926 pageant.
Jane Anne Jayroe-Gamble is an American broadcaster, author, public official and former beauty queen from Laverne, Oklahoma, who was Miss Oklahoma in 1966 and Miss America in 1967. Jayroe worked as an anchor in TV news in Oklahoma City and Dallas-Fort Worth broadcast media markets for 16 years. Later, Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating appointed her to serve as his Secretary of Tourism and Recreation in his Cabinet. She served in that position from 1999 until 2003. Jayroe has authored numerous articles and books and was spokesman for The Presbyterian Health Foundation.
Miss America 2007, the 80th Miss America pageant, was held on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Monday, January 29, 2007, making it the first time that the pageant was held on a weekday, rather than the traditional Saturday since 1927's contest.
Lauren Paige Nelson is a beauty queen from Lawton, Oklahoma who holds the Miss America 2007 title. Nelson is the second consecutive Miss America and sixth in the history of Miss America to hail from this state.
For the state pageant affiliated with Miss Teen USA, see Miss Oklahoma Teen USA
Miss America 2012, the 85th Miss America pageant, was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts of Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Saturday, January 14, 2012. Miss America 2011, Teresa Scanlan from Nebraska, crowned her successor Laura Kaeppeler from Wisconsin at the end of this event. It was broadcast live on ABC. All 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico competed for the title.
Georgia Lynn Canady is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was crowned Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen 2009 and Miss Oklahoma 2015. She competed for the Miss America 2016 title in September 2015 and placed in the Top 10.
For the state pageant affiliated with Miss Teen USA, see Miss North Carolina Teen USA
Miss America 2019, the 92nd Miss America pageant, though the Miss America Organization celebrated its 98th anniversary in 2018. This discrepancy is due to national pageants not being held from 1928 to 1932 or in 1934 because of financial problems associated with the Great Depression. The 2019 competition was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On May 23, 2018, it was announced that the pageant would air live on ABC on Sunday, September 9, 2018. This was the last Miss America to be aired on ABC before would be moving to NBC beginning from 2020 pageant.
Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2014 was the 8th Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant held at the Linda Chapin Theater in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on August 17, 2013. At the conclusion of the event, Rachel Wyatt of South Carolina crowned her successor Leah Sykes of Florida. Miss America 2013 Mallory Hytes Hagen was a host of the event.
Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2013 was the 7th Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant held at the Linda Chapin Theater in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on August 18, 2012. At the conclusion of the event, Elizabeth Fechtel of Florida crowned her successor Rachel Wyatt of South Carolina. Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler was a host of the event.
The Miss America 2020 competition was held on Thursday, December 19, 2019. This was the 93rd Miss America pageant/competition, though the Miss America Organization celebrated its 99th anniversary in 2019. This discrepancy is due to national pageants not being held from 1928 to 1932 or in 1934 because of financial problems associated with the Great Depression.
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