Miss America 1937, the 11th Miss America pageant, was held at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 11, 1937.[1] Shortly after being presented as Miss America, the newly crowned 17-year-old winner, Bette Cooper, left Atlantic City and returned home. Once there, she missed scheduled appointments on her first day as Miss America, as well as a theater appearance and a trip to Hollywood.[2] Her father cited illness as the reason.[3] Though not placing in the top five, representatives from different areas of New York captured three of the semi-finalist positions.
| Miss America 1937 | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 11, 1937 |
| Presenters | King Neptune |
| Venue | Steel Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Entrants | 49 |
| Placements | 16 |
| Winner | Bette Cooper Bertrand Island |
Results edit
Placements edit
| Placement | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss America 1937 | |
| 1st Runner-Up |
|
| 2nd Runner-Up |
|
| 3rd Runner-Up | |
| 4th Runner-Up |
|
| Top 16 |
|
Awards edit
Best Evening Gown
Preliminary awards edit
| Awards | Contestant | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Talent | Phyllis Randall |  California
|
| Claire Jean Nevulis |  Massachusetts
| |
| Grace Travis |  New York City
|
Contestants edit
| Name | Title | Hometown | Age | Talent | Placement | Awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorraine Mayfield |  Atlanta |
Atlanta | |||||
| Olga Strickland |  Augusta |
||||||
| May Vivian Miller |  Baltimore |
Baltimore | |||||
| Bette Cooper | Bertrand Island |
Hackettstown | 17 | Vocal, "When the Poppies Bloom Again" | Winner | Best Evening Gown Award | |
| Josephine Beall |  Birmingham |
||||||
| Helen Fleiss |  Bronx |
The Bronx | Top 16 | ||||
| Evelyn Townley | Buckeye Lake |
Top 16 | |||||
| Phyllis Randall | California |
Hollywood | 20 | Vocal/Dance | 3rd Runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | Sister of Miss North Carolina 1941, Joey Augusta Paxton |
| Betty Hunneycutt | Charlotte |
Charlotte | Top 16 | ||||
| Sally Lillian Frank |  Cincinnati |
Cincinnati | |||||
| Frances Greene |  Connecticut |
Milford | |||||
| Nickey Harriet |  Delaware |
Harrington | |||||
| Mary P. Hollran | Delray Beach |
Delray Beach | |||||
| Helen Greene |  District of Columbia |
24 | Blues Vocal & Piano | ||||
| Beryl Kober | Eastern Pennsylvania |
Chalfont | |||||
| Margaret Myers | Eastern Shores |
Rock Hall | |||||
| Dorothy Armstrong | Empire State |
Whitesboro | |||||
| Frances Powell |  Jacksonville |
||||||
| Lucia Benton |  Kansas |
Norton | Top 16 | ||||
| Audrey Catherine Flaig |  Kentucky |
Bellevue | |||||
| Gertrude Rissie Miller |  Louisiana |
Winnsboro | Top 16 | ||||
| Cornelia Campbell |  Maine |
South Portland | |||||
| Claire Nevulis |  Massachusetts |
South Boston | Vocal/Tap Dance | Top 16 | Preliminary Talent Award | ||
| Irmigard Dietel |  Miami |
Vocal | 4th Runner-up | ||||
| Cecelia Rodge |  Minnesota |
Minneapolis | |||||
| Virginia Riley |  Mississippi |
West Point | |||||
| Mary Sue Klein | Moberly |
Moberly | |||||
| Ingram Starkey |  Montgomery |
Montgomery | |||||
| Ruth Lenore Jones |  Nebraska |
Nebraska City | |||||
| Grace Travis | New York City |
New York City | Vocal | Top 16 | Preliminary Talent Award | ||
| Ruth Covington |  North Carolina |
Tap Dance, "Gonna Go" | 2nd Runner-up | ||||
| Jean Fadden |  Ohio |
Cleveland | Top 16 | ||||
| Kathryn Crase |  Philadelphia |
Philadelphia | |||||
| Malen Pietrantoni |  Puerto Rico |
||||||
| Dorothy May Eden |  Rhode Island |
East Providence | 18 | Dr. Dorothy May Eden Trayner Erinakes died at 97 on March 20, 2017 in San Luis Obispo, California. | |||
| Helen Frances Murphy | Riverside |
Riverside | |||||
| Oliver Henderson |  San Antonio |
||||||
| Carolyn Cumbie | Savannah Beach |
||||||
| Wayring Smathers |  South Carolina |
Columbia | |||||
| Margaret Julia Jardon | South Jersey |
Burlington | |||||
| Wauneta Bates |  St. Louis |
St. Louis | Top 16 | ||||
| Kathryn H. Kendrick | Sunnybrook |
Sunnybrook | |||||
| Alice Emerick |  Texas |
Fort Worth | Tap Dance | 1st Runner-up | |||
| Irene Alice Vanderburgh | Troy |
Watervliet | |||||
| Frances Lee Sultan |  Virginia |
Kecoughtan | Top 16 | ||||
| Juliana Bernhardt |  Washington |
Seattle | |||||
| Evelyn Raye |  Westchester County |
New Rochelle | Top 16 | ||||
| Mary Ann McLaughlin |  Wyoming |
Riverton |
References edit
- ^ United Press (1937-09-12). "17-Year-Old Jersey Blond is Miss America for 1937". Syracuse Herald. p. Two A.
- ^ Hetrick, Christian (July 18, 2015). "The curse of Miss New Jersey". The Press of Atlantic City. Pleasantville, NJ: BH Media. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ Associated Press (1937-09-13). "Bette Cooper, Tired and Ill, Leaves Atlantic City with First Boyfriend". Lewiston Daily Sun. p. 13.
Secondary sources edit
- Saulino Osborne, Angela (1995). "Miss Americas and their Courts". Miss America The Dream Lives On. Taylor Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-87833-110-9.