Miss America 1945

{{Short description|Beauty pageant}}

{{Infobox beauty pageant

| winner = Bess Myerson

| represented = {{flag|New York City}}

| date = September 8, 1945

| presenters = Bob Russell

| entrants = 39

| placements = 13

| venue = Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey

| broadcaster =

| before = 1944

| next = 1946

}}

Miss America 1945, the 19th Miss America pageant, was held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 8, 1945.{{cite news|title=Will Use Prize To Study Music|publisher=Ogden Standard-Examiner|page=1|date=1945-09-10}} Two days prior to the actual selection and coronation, the night of the talent competition, the Army Air Force Veterans voted the eventual winner, Miss New York City (Bess Myerson) as their favorite beauty queen.{{cite news|title=Beauty Queen of AAF Veterans |agency=Associated Press Wire Photo |date=1944-09-06|publisher=Lowell Sun|page=1}}

Overview

File:Bess Myerson 1957.jpg: Miss America 1945 (Image taken in 1957)]]

Bess Myerson was the first Jewish-American and the first Miss New York{{cite web|url=http://www.missamerica.org/our-miss-americas/1940/1945.aspx |title=Bess Myerson Biography (Miss America 1945) |publisher=Miss America Organization |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213110152/http://www.missamerica.org/our-miss-americas/1940/1945.aspx |archive-date=2015-02-13 }} (competing as Miss New York City, a competition organized by a local radio station) to win the Miss America Pageant as Miss America 1945.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/filmmore/pt.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020410125710/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/filmmore/pt.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 10, 2002|title=PBS American Experience: Miss America Transcript|date=2002 |publisher= PBS American Experience}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/nyregion/bess-myerson-miss-america-and-new-york-official-tarnished-in-scandal-dies.html?emc=edit_th_20150106&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=19530762&_r=2

|title=Bess Myerson, New Yorker of Beauty, Wit, Service and Scandal, Dies at 90|last= Nemy|first=Enid|date=January 5, 2015|work= New York Times}}{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-bess-myerson-20150105-story.html#page=1|title=Bess Myerson, Miss America who rose in politics and fell in scandal, dies at 90|last= Woo|first=Elaine|date=January 5, 2015|work= Los Angeles Times}}{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/bess-myerson-beauty-queen-turned-nyc-public-servant-dies-at-90-1420497010|title=Bess Myerson, Miss America who rose in politics and fell in scandal, dies at 90|last= Hollander|first=Sophia|date=January 5, 2015|publisher= Wall Street Journal}} As the only Jewish contestant, Myerson was encouraged by the pageant directors to change her name to "Bess Meredith"{{cite web

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3eQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30

|title=Bess and the Mess: Myerson's Slide Into Scandal (pp. 34-35)

|last=Morrisroe

|first=Patricia

|date=March 30, 1987

|publisher=New York

}} or "Beth Merrick" but she refused. After winning the title (and as a Jewish Miss America), Myerson received few endorsements and later recalled that "I couldn't even stay in certain hotels [...] there would be signs that read no coloreds, no Jews, no dogs. I felt so rejected. Here I was chosen to represent American womanhood and then America treated me like this." Consequently, she curtailed her Miss America tour and instead embarked on a journey with the Anti-Defamation League. In this capacity, she spoke against discrimination in a talk entitled, "You Can't Be Beautiful and Hate."

Results

=Placements=

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"

! Placement

! Contestant

Miss America 1945

|

1st Runner-Up

|

  • {{Flagicon image|Flag of San Diego, California.svg}} San Diego – Phyllis Mathis
2nd Runner-Up

|

  • {{flagcountry|Birmingham, Alabama}} – Frances Dorn
3rd Runner-Up

|

  • {{flag|Florida|1900}} – Virginia Freeland
4th Runner-Up

|

  • {{flag|Minnesota|1893}} – Arlene Anderson
Top 13

|

  • {{flag|California}} – Polly Ellis
  • {{flag|Chicago}} – Louise Wieland
  • {{flag|District of Columbia}} – Dorothy Louise Powell
  • {{flag|Maryland}} – Virginia Lee Van Sant
  • {{flag|North Carolina|1885}} – Dorothy Louise Johnson
  • {{flag|Philadelphia}} – Gloria Bair
  • {{flag|Tennessee}} – Lee Harriet Henson
  • {{flag|Texas}} – Polly Below

=Awards=

==Preliminary awards==

class="wikitable"

! Award

! Contestant

Lifestyle and Fitness

|

  • {{flag|Chicago}} – Louise Wieland
  • {{flag|New York City}} – Bess Myerson
  • {{flag|Tennessee}} – Lee Harriet Henson
Talent

|

  • {{Flag|Birmingham, Alabama|name = Birmingham}} – Frances Dorn (tie)
  • {{flag|California}} – Polly Ellis
  • {{flag|Minnesota|1893}} – Arlene Anderson
  • {{flag|New York City}} – Bess Myerson (tie)

=Other awards=

class="wikitable"

! Awards

! Contestant

Miss Congeniality

|

  • {{flag|British Columbia|name = Northern British Columbia}} – Georgina E. Patterson

Contestants

The Miss America 1945 contestants were:{{cite book |title=Official Yearbook of the Miss America Pageant, 1945 |year=1945 |publisher=Miss America Organization |url=http://digital.hagley.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/p268001coll20&CISOPTR=152&REC=1 |access-date=July 29, 2010}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%" style="width:100%"

! Represented !! Name !! Hometown !! Age !! Talent !! Placement !! Awards !! Notes

ArkansasLeslie HamptonLake Village18
AtlantaPauline WalkerAtlanta18
BirminghamFrances Lanell DornBirmingham182nd runner-upPreliminary Talent Award (tie){{cite news|title=Takent Awards |last=International News Service |date=1944-09-06|publisher=Lowell Sun|page=1}}
BostonClaire ThibadeauCambridge19
CaliforniaPolly EllisTarzana19Top 13Preliminary Talent Award
ChicagoLouise WielandChicago19Top 13Preliminary Swimsuit Award
CincinnatiVirginia Lee PleasantPortsmouth20
ConnecticutSylvia K. ShawHartford20
DetroitBarbara Lee SmithDetroit20
District of ColumbiaDorothy Louise PowellDistrict of Columbia21Top 13
FloridaVirginia FreelandMiami193rd runner-up
GeorgiaDoris Joyce CokerColumbus18
IllinoisBeverly Ann LongJoliet18
IndianaBetty Anna LackyearEvansville20
IowaJeanne GordonDes Moines19
MaineVirginia TraskPortland18
MarylandVirginia Lee Van SantCumberland20Top 13
MassachusettsRuth Claire ThomasBelmont18
Miami BeachRae Evelyn CristMiami Beach19
MichiganTheresa Mary SullivanDetroit19
MinnesotaArlene AndersonMinneapolis194th runner-upPreliminary Talent Award
MississippiHarriet Jane CarrMarks21
MissouriBetty Ruth ReamHughesville19
New HampshireMargorie LundfeltSpofford Lake19
New JerseyMatilda AginNew Brunswick20
New OrleansHelen ShivelyNew Orleans21
New York CityBess MyersonNew York City21Piano & Flute, "Grieg's Piano Concerto In A Minor" & "Summertime"WinnerPreliminary Talent Award (tie)

Preliminary Swimsuit Award{{cite news|title=New York City Girl Is Beauty Queen |agency=Associated Press |date=1944-09-10|publisher=Salamanca Republican-Press |page=5}}
New York[http://missny.org/history/ Miss New York History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130224419/http://missny.org/history/ |date=2016-01-30 }}June JenkinsElmont18
North CarolinaDorothy Louise JohnsonWinston-Salem21Top 13
Northern British ColumbiaGeorgina E. PattersonBritish Columbia, Canada19Miss Congeniality
OhioJulia Ann DonahueOxford19
PennsylvaniaTimmy WestonMcKeesport18
PhiladelphiaGloria BairPhiladelphia19Top 13
Rhode IslandMary StevensCranston24
San DiegoPhyllis MathisSan Diego191st runner-up
South CarolinaMargaret NeeleyColumbia19
TennesseeLee Harriet HensonChattanooga18Top 13Preliminary Swimsuit Award
TexasPolly BelowGalveston18Top 13
UtahDorothy F. HolohanSalt Lake City21
VermontMary StaikosBurlington21
WisconsinEileen ChristyMenomonie20

References

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