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Miss America 1949, the 23rd Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 10, 1949. The 1949 pageant marked the first time that a public official, New Jersey Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, had taken part in the coronation, placing the jeweled crown on the new queen's head.

The winner, Jacque Mercer, was the first Miss Arizona to take the crown, as well as the last previously married woman before the Miss America pageant adopted new rules.

Among the finalists was Betty Jane Crowley, Miss New Jersey, who became an actress and guest-starred in dozens of television series, billed professionally as Kathleen Crowley. Another future actress, Allison Hayes, competed in the pageant as Miss District of Columbia.

In Philip Roth's 1997 novel, American Pastoral, Mary Dawn Dwyer (the future wife of main protagonist Seymour "Swede" Levov) was Miss New Jersey in the 1949 pageant, and did not make it to the top ten, despite the contest being held in her home state. Roth recreates the pageant in the novel, and mentions real-life winner Jacque Mercer, as well as several of the judges.

Results

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Placements

Awards

Preliminary awards

Other awards

Contestants

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Title	Name	Hometown	Age	Talent	Placement	Awards	Notes
Alabama	Freida Roser	Birmingham		Classical Vocal
Arizona	Jacque Mercer	Litchfield	18	Dramatic Reading from Romeo and Juliet	Winner	Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award Preliminary Talent Award
Arkansas	Barbara Brothers	Little Rock		Painting Display & Poetry Recitation, "Old Black Joe" & "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy"	Top 15
California	Jone Pedersen	Santa Rosa		Dramatic Monologue, "You Will Come Back"	4th Runner-up	Preliminary Talent Award
Canada	Margaret Lynn Munn	Vancouver		Classical Vocal	Top 15	Preliminary Talent Award
Chicago	Teresa Giorgian	Chicago		Vocal, "Jealousy"	Top 15
Colorado	Sylvia Canaday	Denver		Monologue from Dinner at Eight	3rd Runner-up	Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness Award
Connecticut	Barbara Smetana	Bridgeport		Vocal & Monologue, "Maybe" & "Jackie, Son of a Hardboiled Cop"
District of Columbia	Mary Hayes		19	Classical Vocal
Florida	Shirley Ann Rhodes	Tampa		Vocal, "Put Your Shoes on, Lacy"
Georgia	Dorothy Johnston	LaGrange		Vocal from H.M.S. Pinafore
Greater Philadelphia	Miriam Lopayowker	Philadelphia		Electric Guitar, "I'm in the Mood for Love"
Hawaii	Bee Jay Johnston	Honolulu			Top 15
Illinois	Trudi Germi	Chicago		Classical Vocal, "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix"	2nd Runner-up	Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness Award
Indiana	Patricia Cunningham	Peru		Water Ballet
Iowa	Barbara Juel	Council Bluffs	20	Classical Vocal, "Strie la Vampa" from Il trovatore
Kansas	Shirley Hargiss	Topeka		Vocal, "Cecilia on a See-saw"	Top 15
Kentucky	Betty Haverstock	Louisville
Louisiana	Annie Hollingsworth	Baton Rouge
Maine	Connie Gingrass	Augusta		Fencing
Maryland	Jean Crow	Baltimore		Fashion Design
Massachusetts	Gloria Curelli	Roslindale		Dance
Minnesota	Gloria Burkhart	Minneapolis		Violin, "Zigeunerweisen"	Top 15	Preliminary Talent Award
Mississippi	Katherine Wright	Pascagoula		Dramatic Sketch, "Hagar"	1st Runner-up
Missouri	Mary Stone	Jefferson City
Montana	Carol Fraser	Billings		Equestrian Display		Miss Congeniality	After her horse nearly fell into the Orchestra Pit, the use of live animals was banned from the talent competition
Nebraska	Vanita Mae Brown	Omaha
Nevada	Carol Lampe	Reno		Speech, "4-H"
New Hampshire	Flora Sleeper	Laconia
New Jersey	Betty Jane Crowley	Green Bank		Poetry Recitation & Vocal, "Might Like a Rose"	Top 15	Miss Congeniality
New Mexico	Shirley Hughes	Carlsbad	18	Charcoal & Chalk Drawing, "Cruising Down the River"		Non-finalist Talent Award
New York	Wanda Nalepa	New York City		Speech, "Nursing"
New York City	Loreen Osgood	New York City		Piano, "The Blue Danube"	Top 15
North Carolina	Nancy Lee Yelverton	Rocky Mount		Monologue, "A Delightful Dilemma"
North Dakota	Kitty Page	Bismarck		Tap Dance & Baton Twirling
Ohio	Florence Bondi	Cleveland
Oklahoma	Georgine R. Leeka	Tulsa		Vocal
Oregon	Beverly Kruger	The Dalles		Monologue, "The Waltz" by Dorothy Parker
Pennsylvania	Marlene Carozzo	Kennett Square		Piano, Clair de Lune
Puerto Rico	Avelina Medrallo
South Carolina	Barrie Wingard	Columbia
South Dakota	Carol Quinn	Sioux Falls		Dramatic Monologue from Pygmalion
Tennessee	Adelyn Sumner	Knoxville		Modeling/Speech
Texas	Ysleta Leissner	Fort Worth		Ballet en Pointe
Utah	June Barlow	Bountiful		Vocal/Dress Design, "Villanelle" & "The Wren"
Vermont	Annalou Johnston	Enosburg Falls
Virginia	Betty Lewis	Norfolk		Vocal
Washington	Libby Aldrich	Kelso		Vocal, "Stormy Weather"
West Virginia	Georganne Steiss	Barrackville		Piano
Wisconsin	Phyllis Ann Kessler	Green Bay	18	Baton Twirling	Top 15		Phyllis Ann Kessler Lynn Sacho died at age 90 on March 7, 2022, in DePere, Wisconsin.
Wyoming	Esther McLeod	Sheridan

References

1. Associated Press (1949-09-12). "Jacque Mercer Miss America". Morning Herald. p. 1.

Secondary sources

• Saulino Osborne, Angela (1995). "Miss Americas and their Courts". Miss America The Dream Lives On. Taylor Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87833-110-7.

Lillian Ross, "Symbol of all we possess (October 22, 1949 (On the Miss America pageant))" from "The 40s: The story of a decade: The New Yorker" Edited by Henry Finder with Giles Harvey Modern Library, New York Copyright 2014 by The New Yorker Magazine

External links

• Miss America official website

• Miss America
• 1949 beauty pageants
• 1949 in the United States
• 1949 in New Jersey
• September 1949 events in the United States
• Events in Atlantic City, New Jersey