Miss Washington

History

Washington first sent delegates to Miss America in 1926 and 1927 with Leona Fengler Miss Seattle. She was sponsored by the Seattle Times (a practice common in the early days of the Miss America Pageant). She was pictured by the paper leaving in a bi-plane for her cross country flight to Atlantic City where she was voted 'Prettiest Girl in an Evening Gown'. Featured in the Seattle Museum of History and Industry in the exhibit 'Puttin on the Ritz' a 1920s display. In 1987, Leona was welcomed home and featured once again at the newly revived Miss Seattle Pageant that year.

The Depression and War years caused sporadic participation by Washington Contestants to the Miss America pageant, but the Miss Washington pageant was revived in 1948, with a $1000 scholarship being offered to the winner. In 1949 the Pageant was a 'financial flop' and the winner had to seek community donations to fund her appearance at Miss America. At the time the organization was so deeply in debt that the titleholder's tiara was nearly repossessed by the manufacturer.

Then as today the Miss America State Pageant programs are staffed, produced and sponsored by civic minded community volunteers and businesses who are mindful of promoting service to the community by the young ladies involved. The Primary function of the program is to provide scholarship dollars to further the contestants education, making the Miss America Local State and National the single largest Scholarship for young American Women who are American Citizens in the World. Unlike most other pageant programs there is no entry fee charged to the Contestant to compete and she must win a local Competition to get to the State level and then is eligible to go on to Miss America. The talent and trappings to compete from one level to the next are assisted when possible by the volunteer committees and sponsors, but the effort and dedication to the most of the opportunities available are indeed the responsibility of the participants. It is very often a fact that those women who never capture the top spot and move to the next levels of competition get the most personal growth from their interface with the ideas of making a difference in their community, and go on in life in pathways of great accomplishment. Simply by having had the opportunity to learn how to interview for the year of public service in the 'job' of Miss America.

In 1948, the Miss Washington pageant was held in Ephrata.

From 1961 to 1997 it was hosted by Vancouver, under a number of Executive Directors before being moved to the Tri-Cities under the Directorship of Chamber President Dorothy Schoeppach under whose direction the local programs again grew from 9 to 22. Two years later it moved to Tacoma under the Directorship of Joan Dehn and Mike Shinkle.

The pageant has been held in Renton since 2008 under the Directorship of Charlie VanTramp and then to date 2013 Peggy Miller, and Patti Belik. The Miss Washington pageant is a 501-C3 Scholarship Organization, and sponsorship is tax deductible, although tickets to the events are not.

The Competitions Contestant Contracted rules continue to be Morally and Culturally upright. The participants must live work or go to school in the areas permitted by the programs they compete in, never married or have been pregnant, nor convicted of any crime.

Results at Miss America

Washington has won several special awards in Talent, Swimsuit, Interview and Quality of Life (making a difference in your community) at Miss America. In 1980 Doris Hayes, the first African American Miss Washington, tied with Lencola Sullivan of Arkansas as the pageant's first African American preliminary winners. The Local pageants and the Miss Washington pageant had in fact been multi-cultural for decades prior, and have had all ethnicities represented as entries to Miss America, including Honey Castro - Moses Lake, So Young Kwon - Seattle, Maryannna Loya - Seattle, Elyse Umemoto - Seattle, Semmelle Ford - Tacoma, Tina Willis - Tacoma.

The most successful Miss Washingtons at Miss America though the years have been:

1927 Leona Fengler Miss America Top 5 / 1926 'Prettiest Girl in Evening Gown' Finalist1939 Annamae Schoonover Miss America 2nd runner-up1950 Karlyne Abele Miss America Top 101959 Sharon Vaughn Miss America 2nd runner-up1963 Mardi Hagan Miss America Judges Award1964 Lsuren Waddleton Miss America Non-finalist Talent Award1965 Kippy Lou Brinkman Miss America Non-finalist Talent AWard1971 Susan Buckner Miss America Top 10 / Swimsuit Preliminary Award1973 Leslie Ann Mays Miss America Top 10 / Swimsuit Preliminary Award1974 Kathleen Beth Moore Miss America Top 101978 Laurie Nelson Miss America 4th runner-up1980 Doris Hayes Miss America Top 10 / Preliminary Talent Award1981 Kristine Weitz Miss America Non-finalist Talent Award, Preliminary Swimsuit Award1983 Honey Castro Miss America 3rd runner-up1989 Jennifer Wall Miss America Top 101991 So Young Kwon Miss America Top 102002 Amanda Beers Miss America Top 102003 Fianna Dickson Miss America Non-finalist Interview Award2006 Kristen Eddings Miss America Top 102007 Elyse Umemoto Miss America 2nd runner-up / Reality Check Winner2010 Jacquie Brown Miss America 3rd runner-up2012 Britney Henry Miss America Non-finalist Talent Award2013 Mandy Schendel Miss America Top 102015 Lizzi Jackson2016 Alicia Nichole Cooper Miss America 3rd runner-up

Winners

* Succeeded to the crown after Miss Washington won Miss America