Miss America 1922

Miss America 1922 was the second annual Miss America pageant, held at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey from September 7, 1922.^[1][2][3]

Miss America 1922
Mary Katherine Campbell, Miss America 1922
Date	September 7, 1922
Presenters	King Neptune (Hudson Maxim)
Venue	Million Dollar Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Entrants	64
Placements	4
Winner	Mary Katherine Campbell Columbus, Ohio
← 1921 1923 →

At the conclusion of the event, Miss America 1921, Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., and film actress, Anita Stewart, presented the $5,000 Golden Mermaid Trophy to Mary Katherine Campbell of Columbus, Ohio thus declaring Campbell as the official successor to the Miss America title.^[4]

Contestants from 64 cities, states, and titles competed at the event. The event was presented by Hudson Maxim dressed as King Neptune.^[5]

Overview

Organization of pageant

The pageant consisted of six phases of competition: rolling chair parade, evening gown, intercity bathing, amateur surf attire, professional mermaids, and the final.^[6][7][8] There was no talent competition at this pageant (this would not become part of the Miss America competition until 1935), and there was no formal interview sessions between the contestants and judges.^[9][10]

On the afternoon of September 7, 1922, the 58 contestants competed in the rolling chair parade. Later that same day, they competed in the evening gown competition.^[11] Both the rolling chair and evening gown competitions were won by Miss Indianapolis, Thelma Blossom.^[11] On September 8, 1922, the contestants competed in bathing suit revues.^[6] The contestants were divided into three unique groupings: intercity, amateur, and professional beauties.^[7] During the bathing revue, the Mayor of Atlantic City and some of the city's police force joined the contestants, wearing their own bathing attire.^[12]

The three winners of these bathing/beauty competitions then progressed to the final phase of competition to compete directly against the reigning Miss America 1921, Margaret Gorman.^[11][13][14] Mary Katherine Campbell, competing as Miss Columbus in the pageant, edged out the previous year's winner, Margaret Gorman, who competed as "Miss America 1921" in the 1922 event, to claim the preliminary "Intercity Beauty Award."^[15] Campbell then competed against "Professional Beauty Award" winner, Dorothy Knapp of New York, "Amateur Beauty Award" winner, Gladys Greenamyer of West Philadelphia, and Gorman, the reigning Miss America.^[16] After the conclusion of the final phase of competition, judging panel deliberated for over two hours before selecting the sole winner of the pageant.^[14] Mary Katherine Campbell, Miss Columbus, was then named Miss America 1922 just after midnight on September 9, 1922.^[8]

Judges

The panel of judges for the national pageant included Heyworth Campbell, Coles Phillips, Joseph Cummings Chase, Arnold Genthe, Willy Pogany, August William Hutaf, Norman Rockwell, and Howard Chandler Christy.^[7][17] Rockwell later reported that the judging panel was given no instructions on how to judge the pageant and select a winner.^[18] One judge suggested that they judge each part or feature of the body out of ten, then the woman with the total highest score would win.^[18] After they had tried this system, they discovered that judging a contestant "piecemeal" did not result in the most beautiful and well-rounded contestant being selected as a winner.^[18] So they "...gave up trying to figure out a system and resolved to trust our eyes. It led to squabbles, because all of us didn't see things in the same way, but it was the best we could do."^[18]

Results

Contestants of Miss America 1922

Miss Alaska 1922,
Helmar Liederman

Miss Washington 1922,
Evelyn Atkinson

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss America 1922	Columbus – Mary Katherine Campbell[17][19]
1st Runner-Up	New York City – Dorothy Knapp[20]
Finalists	Miss America 1921 – Margaret Gorman[13] West Philadelphia – Gladys Greenamyer[21]

Preliminary awards

Evening Dress Award

Results	Contestant
Winner	Indianapolis – Thelma Blossom[22]
Second Prize	Detroit – M. Beth Madson[23]
Third Prize	Columbus – Mary Katherine Campbell[24]

Intercity Roller Chair Parade

Results	Contestant
Winner	Indianapolis – Thelma Blossom[25]
Second Prize	Pottsville – Leah M. Knapp[11]
Third Prize	Cleveland – Leile Charles[23]

Intercity Beauty Award / Bathers' Revue

Results	Contestant
Winner	Columbus – Mary Katherine Campbell[15]
Second Prize	Nashville – Sue Burton[15]
Third Prize	Rockaway Beach – Dorothy Hughes[15]

Professional Beauty Award

Results	Contestant
Winner	New York City – Dorothy Knapp[7]
Second Prize	New York – Pauline Virginia Dakla[8]
Third Prize	Indiana – Sydney Nelson[8]

Amateur Beauty Award

Results	Contestant
Winner	West Philadelphia – Gladys Greenamyer[26]
Second Prize	Vineland – Mary Elizabeth Edwards[8]
Third Prize	Atlantic City – Estelle Marks[8]

Contestants

Sixty-four contestants competed for the title.^[27]

Locality	Contestant	Age[a]	Notes
Akron	Doris Widdersheim[28]
Alaska	Helmar Liederman[29][30]	23	Disqualified from Miss America 1923 pageant because she was married[30][31]
Allentown	Ellen E. Sherr[32]
Atlantic City	Estelle Marks[7]
Baltimore	Irma Knabe[33]
Binghamton	Helen Agnes Searles[34]
Birmingham	Elise Sparrow[35]	24	Married Boston Red Sox owner, Tom Yawkey, in 1925 and later divorced in 1944[35][36]
Boston	Charlotte Trowbridge[14]
Bridgeport	Paula E. Spoettle[37]
Bridgeton	Sarah Alice Bell[38]
Brighton Beach	Ruth Andrea[39]
Buffalo	Bertha Rent[40]
Chester	Anna Marie Burke[41]
Chicago	Georgia Hale[42]	22	Starred in Charlie Chaplin's 1925 film, The Gold Rush,[43] and the 1926 silent film, The Great Gatsby[44]
Cleveland	Leile Charles[45]		Competed in pageant despite being married[11][46]
Columbus	Mary Katherine Campbell[47][48]	15
Dayton	Helen Francis Smith[38]
Detroit	M. Beth Madson[49]		Also competed in Miss America 1923 pageant as Miss Detroit[50]
Easton	Dorothy Haupt[37]		Also competed in Miss America 1923 pageant as Miss Erie[50]
Erie	Thora McDannel[6]
Fall River	Helen Lynch[37]
Florida	Eleanor Logan[51]	19
Greater Camden	Eleanor Lindley[52]
Harrisburg	Gertrude Shoemack[53]
Indiana	Sydney Nelson[14]		Nelson lived and worked in New York City at time of pageant but cited as being from Indianapolis[54] Appeared in the Broadway productions of The Passing Show of 1922 and The Whirl of New York[54][55]
Indianapolis	Thelma Blossom[56]	20
Johnstown	Velma Ziegler[57]
Kansas City	Miriam Chafee[58]
Lancaster	Elsie Blumenstock[59]
Long Beach	Lillian Harnach[39]
Los Angeles	Katherine Grant[58]
Louisville	Dorothy Heick[60]
Macon	Frances Gurr[61]
Memphis	Ruth Doughty[62]
Miss America 1921	Margaret Gorman[63]	17	Also competed as Miss America 1921 in the 1923 pageant[63]
Montreal	Marie Gauthier[34]
Nashville	Sue Burton[64]
New Bedford	Alice Burke[38]
New Haven	Lillian Peterson[65]
New Orleans	Maude Allison Price[34]
New York	Pauline Virginia Dakla[7]		Appeared in the Broadway productions of Bombo, The Passing Show of 1922, and The Whirl of New York[54][55]
New York City	Dorothy Knapp[66][67]	17
Ocean City	Marion Steelman[68]
Philadelphia	Kathryn Molineaux[69]
Pittsburgh	Rae Bennett[41]
Portland	Virginia Edwards[58]
Pottsville	Leah M. Knapp[70]
Reading	Evelyn Renninger[41]
Rochester	Mildred Moon[20]
Rockaway Beach	Dorothy Hughes[39]
San Francisco	Tanssia Zara[59]
Schenectady	Roberta Cooper[71]
Seattle	Evelyn Atkinson[58]
South Beach	Mary Hlavka[39]
St. Louis	Mildred Hose[72]
Syracuse	M. Rosamond Fahey[34]
Toledo	Loraine Foskey[73]
Toronto	Marjorie Smith[74]
Utica	Janette Adams[75]
Vineland	Mary Elizabeth Edwards[76]	18
Washington, D.C.	Evelyn C. Lewis[34]
Waterbury	Hazel Germershausen[77]
West Philadelphia	Gladys Greenamyer[54]	18
Wheeling	Mary Dague[46]
Wilmington	A. Adele Senft[33]

Notes

1. Ages at the time of national competition