Mary Katherine Campbell

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Mary Katherine Campbell (May 20, 1907–May 3, 1990) was the only person to win the Miss America Pageant twice. Campbell was Miss America 1922 and Miss America 1923, and she was also First Runner Up at the 1924 Miss America Pageant. Competing as "Miss Columbus, Ohio" in all three pageants, Campbell was only fifteen years old at the time of her first crowning in 1922. After the 1924 pageant, in which the judge's scores revealed that Campbell had almost won the title a third time, the Miss America Organization changed the rules so that "a contestant may only win the Miss America title once."

At the time of her selection as Miss America 1922, Mary Katherine listed her birth date as May 1906. However, Mary later admitted to being only fifteen at the time.

She became "Miss Columbus" over a field of 170 other women, and proceeded to Atlantic City where the Inter-City competition had grown to include a staggering number of 57 women from around the country. The selection of Miss America had truly become a national event.

It would be the last time in Miss America history where "professional" (model, Dorothy Knapp) and "amateur" (West Philadelphia's Gladys Grenemeyer) winners would be judged as finalists against the "Inter-City" champion (Mary Katherine Campbell) and place as runners-up to the Miss America title.

Mary Katherine was the first high school graduate to win the title, having received her diploma from East High School in February 1922, and entered Ohio State University as an Art Major immediately after her selection as Miss America. She would also attended Ohio Wesleyan.^[1]