Miss Tennessee

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For the state pageant affiliated with Miss USA, see Miss Tennessee USA.

The Miss Tennessee competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Tennessee in the Miss America pageant.

[edit] History

The Miss Tennessee pageant was first held in 1938, although the winner, Isobel Carter, was unable to compete at Miss America due to illness and so the first runner-up became Miss Tennessee. The following year, two winners were chosen to compete for the Miss America title. In 1940 the pageant suffered a repeat of 1938, with the winner resigning through illness and the first runner-up representing the state at the national competition. The routine pageant was held in 1941, but from 1942-1946 representatives were appointed without a pageant being held, due to World War II. In 1947 twins Jean and Jane Cunningham were both awarded the Miss Tennessee title, with one representing Tennessee and one Chattanooga at the Miss America pageant. The modern era of the pageant can be dated to 1953, when a regular routine of state pageants was instituted.

Kellye Cash, Miss America 1987, is the only Miss Tennessee to win the national title. Six titleholders have placed as runners-up to Miss America. Tennessee native Barbara Jo Walker, Miss America 1947, represented the city of Memphis when she won the title.

In a rare occurrence, all three Miss Tennessees 1999-2001 later won the similar Miss Tennessee USA pageant, whose delegates represent Tennessee at Miss USA. More remarkable was that the three won the Miss Tennessee USA title in the order which they held their Miss Tennessee titles. Allison Alderson, one of the three, is a Triple Crown winner, having competed for Tennessee at Miss Teen USA 1994 as well.

Three other Miss Tennessees have won the Miss Tennessee USA title, Jean Harper, Desiree Daniels and Leah Hulan

[edit] Winners

Year	Name	Hometown	Local Title	Placement at Miss America	Special scholarships at Miss America	Notes
2007	Grace Gore	Nashville	Miss Lexington	Top 16 Finalist		Previously Miss Mississippi Teen USA 2002
2006	Blaire Pancake	Chattanooga	Miss Metropolitan
2005	Tara Burns	Nashville	Miss Music City		Non-finalist Talent
2004	Ashley Eicher	Nashville	Miss Murfreesboro		Non-finalist Talent
2003	Jamie Watkins	Soddy-Daisy	Miss Scenic City			4th runner up at National Sweetheart 2001
2002	Valli Kugler	Rutherford	Miss UT Martin
2001	Stephanie Culberson	Knoxville	Miss Cleveland	2nd runner-up	Preliminary Swimsuit Award, Preliminary Evening Wear Award	Later Miss Tennessee USA 2004 (4th runner-up at Miss USA)
2000	Beth Hood	Cleveland	Miss Cleveland		Non-Finalist Talent	Later Miss Tennessee USA 2003 (4th runner-up at Miss USA)
1999	Allison Alderson	Jackson	Miss Memphis		Waterford Scholarship for Business Marketing & Management	Triple Crown winner, previously Miss Tennessee Teen USA 1994, finished 6th at Miss Teen USA 1994 later Miss Tennessee USA 2002; married to Rascal Flatts musician Jay DeMarcus, Correspondent for the 2007 Miss America Pageant broadcast on CMT
1998	Heather Heath	Nashville	Miss Heart of Tennessee			Previously Missouri's Junior Miss 1995
1997	Lanna Keck	Knoxville	Miss Milan No-Till
1996	Jeni Stephens	Memphis	Miss Memphis
1995	Alison Shumate	Union City	Miss Knoxville		Non-Finalist Interview	daughter of Miss Tennessee 1967
1994	Lori Smith	Ocoee	Miss Tennessee Tech
1993	Kathleen Brang	Greeneville	Miss Historic Jonesborough
1992	Leah Hulan	Murfreesboro	Miss Knoxville			Later Miss Tennessee USA 1994
1991	Jill Horn	Memphis	Miss Memphis
1990	Dana Brown	Memphis	Miss Frontier Days	2nd runner-up
1989	Lisa Robertson	Collegedale	Miss Cleveland			QVC Host
1988	Carrie Folks	New Johnsonville	Miss Bluegrass Festival		Non-Finalist Talent
1987	Regina Athnos	Clarksville	Miss Tennessee Peach Festival
1986	Kris Beasley*	Memphis	Miss Memphis
1986	Kellye Cash	Milan	Miss Milan Crown and Scepter	Winner	Preliminary Swimsuit; Preliminary Talent
1985	Sonya Pleasant	Mountain City	Miss Wautauga Valley			former White House staff member
1984	Shelly Mangrum	Nashville	Miss West Tennessee State Fair	Top 10 Semi-Finalist
1983	Moira Kaye	Oak Ridge	Miss Roane County		Non-finalist Talent	Previously Tennessee's Junior Miss 1978
1982	Desiree Daniels	Chattanooga	Miss Hamilton County	1st runner-up	Preliminary Swimsuit	Later Miss Tennessee USA 1984 (second runner-up at Miss USA); daughter was first runner-up to Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2006
1981	Angelina Johnson	Jackson	Miss Madison
1980	Sarah Leonard	Jonesborough	Miss Historic Jonesborough
1979	Elise Neal	Paris	Miss Okra		Non-finalist Talent
1978	Jill Beshears	Memphis	Miss Memphis State University
1977	Linda Moore	Madison	Miss Nashville	Top 10 Semi-Finalist	Preliminary Swimsuit
1976	Terry Alden	Memphis	Miss Memphis
1975	Marion Burgess	Memphis	Miss Bells		Toured with Miss America USO Troupe
1974	Deborah Kincaid	Memphis	Miss Memphis State University	Top 10 Semi-Finalist	Preliminary Talent
1973	Anne Randle Galloway	Knoxville	Miss Memphis
1972	Debbie Cathey	Nashville	Miss Nashville
1971	Marsha McDonald	Nashville	Miss Memphis State University
1970	Carol Ferrante	Memphis	Miss Memphis
1969	Mary Cox	Johnson City	Miss Johnson City		Non-finalist Talent	Toured with Miss America USO Troupe
1968	Brenda Seal	Kingsport	Miss East Tennessee State University	Top 10 Semi-Finalist		Featured performer on 1969 Miss America telecast
1967	Linda Workman	Martin	Miss UT Martin
1966	Vicki Hurd	Kingsport	Miss Carter County	2nd runner-up		Also winner of the National Sweetheart Pageant in 1966, Featured Performer on the 1967 Miss America telecast
1965	Marcia Murray	Paris	Miss Paris
1964	Rita Munsey	New Tazewell	Miss Knoxville
1963	Martha Truett	Tiptonville	Miss Bells	3rd runner-up
1962	Margaret Petty	Nashville	Miss Nashville
1961	Rita Wilson	Humboldt	Miss Bells			Previously was the winner of the 1959 National Sweetheart Pageant
1960	Jenny Thomas	Nashville	Miss Nashville
1959	Mickey Wayland	Knoxville	Miss Knoxville	Top 10 Semi-Finalist
1958	Patricia Eaves	Cookeville	Miss Putnam County
1957	Amanda Whitman	Nashville	Miss Davidson County
1956	Shelby Bailey	Humboldt	Miss Gadsden
1955	Patty Williams	Jackson	Miss Lambuth College
1954	Gerry Johnson	Nashville	Miss Nashville	Semi-Finalist
1953	Ruth Ann Barker	Trenton	Miss Gibson County
1952	Gloria Williams	Chattanooga	Miss Chattanooga
1951	Jean Harper	Memphis	Miss Shelby County			Future Miss Tennessee USA 1952 (3rd Runner-up at Miss USA)
1950	Greta Graham	Memphis	Miss Memphis
1949	Adelyn Sumner	Knoxville
1948	Dorothy Free	Chattanooga	Miss Chattanooga		Preliminary Talent
1947	Georgia Cunningham	Chattanooga	Flipped coin at Miss America w/ twin sister Dorothy Cunningham to decide who would represent TN. Dorothy lost and represented as Miss Chattanooga	Semi-finalist		Miss America 1947 was won by Barbara Jo Walker from Memphis, TN thus giving TN it's first Miss America. Barbara represented Miss Memphis.
1946	Wilda Bowman	Chattanooga
1945	Lee Henson	Chattanooga		Semi-finalist	Preliminary Swimsuit Award
1944	Marian Weller	Chattanooga
1941	Martha McKinney	Nashville	Miss Candyland
1940	Christine Webb	Centerville	Miss Centerville
1939	Judy Jones	Tracy City
1938	Victoria Ann Motlow	Mulberry	Miss Fayetteville
1935	Sarah Beard	Dickson