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Miss America 1941
Miss America 1941
Date	September 6, 1941
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Entrants	43
Placements	15
Winner	Rosemary LaPlanche; California
	← 1940 1942 →

Miss America 1941, the 15th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 6, 1941.^[1] Shortly after the crowning of Miss California, Rosemary LaPlanche, who had been first runner-up in 1940, the pageant committee adopted this rule: "No contestant can compete in Atlantic City for the title of Miss America more than once",^[2] thus eliminating future state winners with more than one attempt at the national title.

LaPlanche became a film actress, as did her sister, Louise LaPlanche.

1941 was also the first year that the special award, “Miss Congeniality” was created. It went to Mifaunwy Shunatona, a member of the Otoe and Pawnee tribes — she was also the first American Indian contestant in the pageant's history.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss America 1941	California – Rosemary LaPlanche †
1st Runner-Up	Western Pennsylvania – Roselle Marie Hannon
2nd Runner-Up	District of Columbia – Jean Fidelis Cavanaugh
3rd Runner-Up	Westchester County – Lillian Helena O'Donnell
4th Runner-Up	North Carolina – Joey Augusta Paxton
Top 15	Birmingham – Virginia McGraw Florida – Mitzi Strother (Also 1940) Georgia – Esther Bette Shepard Kentucky – Dorothy Slatten (Also 1940) Michigan – Gerry Marcoux New York City – Grace DeWitt Ohio – Janice Sulzman Oklahoma – Mifaunwy Dolores Shunatona Virginia – Jacquelyn McWin Wisconsin – Betty Ann Miller

Awards

Preliminary awards

Award	Contestant
Lifestyle and Fitness	California – Rosemary LaPlanche Kentucky – Dorothy Slatten North Carolina – Joey Augusta Paxton (tie) Westchester County – Lillian Helena O'Donnell (tie)
Talent	Birmingham – Virginia McGraw North Carolina – Joey Augusta Paxton Western Pennsylvania – Roselle Marie Hannon

Other awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	Oklahoma – Mifaunwy Dolores Shunatona

Contestants


Title	Name	Hometown	Age	Talent	Placement	Awards	Notes
Arkansas	Ferol Amelia Dumas	Magnolia
Birmingham	Virginia McGraw	Birmingham		Tap Dance with Rope Jumping	Top 15	Preliminary Talent Award
California	Rosemary LaPlanche	Los Angeles	18	Dance	Winner	Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award
Charleston	Miriam King	Charleston
Cleveland	Lois Jean Beck	Cleveland
Colorado	Charlene Woods	Denver
Connecticut	Daphne Gladding	Plymouth
Delaware	Verona Smith	Bridgeville
District of Columbia	Jean Cavanaugh		18	Soft Shoe Dance, "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody"	2nd Runner-up
Eastern Pennsylvania	Catherine Jane Albert	Coatesville
Florida	Mitzie Strother	Miami			Top 15
Georgia	Esther Shepard	Griffin			Top 15
Indiana	Alice Ullery	Evansville		Modeling
Iowa	Lorene Snoddy	Des Moines	20
Kentucky	Dorothy Slatten	Lexington			Top 15
Knoxville	Katherine Gammon	Knoxville
Lake Mohopac	Charlotte Winstanley
Maryland	Penny Malone	Baltimore
Massachusetts	Betsy Sears Taylor	Cambridge
Miami	Anna Louise Baker	Miami
Michigan	Gerry Marcoux	Detroit			Top 15
Minnesota	Patricia Tiets	Minneapolis
Mississippi	Madeline Smith	Winona
New Jersey	Marjorie Eleanor Jennings	Dover
New Mexico	Beverly Brookshier	Roswell
New Orleans	Helen Yvonne Englert	New Orleans
New York City	Grace DeWitt	New York City			Top 15
North Carolina	Joey Augusta Paxton	Charlotte	19	Swing Vocal	4th Runner-up	Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award Preliminary Talent Award	Joey Augusta Paxton of Hallandale Beach, Florida died at 79 on September 17, 2002.
Ohio	Janice Sulzman	Willoughby			Top 15
Oklahoma	Mifaunwy Dolores Shunatona	Tulsa			Top 15	Miss Congeniality	First American Indian to compete at Miss America
Philadelphia	Carrie de Ludo	Philadelphia
Savannah	Gladys Collins	Savannah
South Carolina	Gloria Frances Missel			Vocal, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
Tennessee	Martha McKinney	Nashville		Acrobatic/Tap Dance
Virginia	Jacquelyn McWin	Waynesboro			Top 15
West Virginia	Juanita Park Wright	Huntington
Westchester County	Lillian O'Donnell	Yonkers			3rd Runner-up
Western Pennsylvania	Roselle Hannon	Pittsburgh		Vocal, "Because of You"	1st Runner-up	Preliminary Talent Award
Wisconsin	Betty Ann Miller	Milwaukee	18	Artistic Caricature of President Franklin D. Roosevelt	Top 15
Wyoming	Patricia Marie Snyder	Cheyenne		Vocal & Dance

References

^ Associated Press (1941-09-08). "Rosemary is Miss America". Indiana (PA) Evening Gazette. p. 1.
^ "No contestant..." Archived from the original on 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-08-17.