Miss USA 1956

Miss USA 1956
Miss USA 1956
	Miss USA 1956 Carol Morris
Date	July 18, 1956
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California
Entrants	43
Winner	Carol Morris; Iowa
	← 1955 1957 →

Miss USA 1956 was the fifth Miss USA pageant, held at Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California on 18 July 1956.

At the end of the event, Carlene King Johnson of Vermont crowned Carol Morris as Miss USA 1956.^[1] It is the first victory of Iowa in the pageant's history. Morris later competed at Miss Universe and won.^[2]

Contestants from forty-three states and cities competed in the pageant. The competition was hosted by Bob Russell.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss USA 1956	Iowa – Carol Morris^[3]
1st runner-up	South Carolina – Betty Cherry^[3]
2nd runner-up	Arkansas – Nancy McCollum^[3]
3rd runner-up	Nebraska – Shari Lewis^[3]
4th runner-up	Texas – Jo Dobson^[3]
Top 15	Colorado – Karen Keeler^[3] Maryland – Charlene Holt^[3] Michigan – Barbara Sias^[3] New Jersey – Dolores Winfield^[3] North Carolina – Shirley Bagwell^[3] Ohio – Eleanor Wood^[3] Oregon – Maralyn Turner^[3] Tennessee – Stella Wilson^[3] Utah – Cheryl Brown^[3] Washington – June Svedin^[3]

Contestants

Forty-three contestants competed for the title.^[4]

State/City	Contestant	Age^[a]	Hometown	Notes
Arizona	Maija Bertulson	18	Tucson
Arkansas	Nancy McCollum	19	Stuttgart
California	Shirlee Witty	20	Wilmington
Colorado	Karen Keeler	21	Denver
Connecticut	Dorothy Bailey	19	Bridgeport
Delaware	Sandra McCabe	18	Selbyville
District of Columbia	Joanne Holler	21	Washington
Florida	Kim Meyer	26	Oceanway
Georgia	Mary Ruff	19	Gainesville
Illinois	Muriel Blair	23	Chicago
Indiana	Beverly Mattox	19	Milroy
Iowa	Carol Ann Laverne Morris	19	Ottumwa	Previously Miss Iowa 1954 Late won Miss Universe 1956^[5]
Louisiana	Cecile Morris	19	Greenwell Springs
Maryland	Charlene Holt	28	Annapolis
Massachusetts	Elaine Murphy	21	Weston
Miami Beach, Florida	Beverly Rogers	20	Miami
Michigan	Barbara Sias	19	Detroit
Minnesota	Marilyn Johnson	18	Minneapolis
Missouri	Carol Thrower	18	Kemmett
Nebraska	Shari Lewis	19	Lincoln
Nevada	Marley Sanderson	21	Las Vegas
New Hampshire	Rita Leclerc	21	Berlin
New Jersey	Delores Winfield	21	Cranford
New Mexico	Jackie Brown	21	Albuquerque
New York	Kay Douglas	18	New York City
North Carolina	Shirley Bagwell	18	Raleigh
North Dakota	Mary Harroun	19	Bismarck
Ohio	Eleanor Wood	18	Canton
Oregon	Maralyn Turner	19	Portland
Pennsylvania	Serena Kifer	20	Monaca
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Miriam Uniman	18	Philadelphia
Rhode Island	Sandra Vozella	18	Point Judith
South Carolina	Betty Lane Cherry	20	Orangeburg	Later Miss World United States 1956 1st runner-up at Miss World 1956^[6]
St. Louis, Missouri	Diana Stopke	18	St. Louis
Tennessee	Stella Wilson	19	Covington
Texas	Jo Dodson	18	Houston
Utah	Cheryl Brown	18	Spanish Fork
Vermont	Delores Wettack	21	Westminster
Virginia	Audra Stark^[7]	21	Virginia Beach
Washington	June Svedin	20	Seattle
West Virginia	Janet Cardi	24	Belle
Wisconsin	Priscilla Perkins^[8]	20	Milwaukee
Wyoming	Marilyn Scott	19	Cheyenne

Notes

^ Ages at the time of the pageant

References

^ "Iowa beauty wins title of Miss U.S.A." Toledo Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press. 19 July 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Carol Morris, Iowa entry, wins Miss Universe title". Youngstown Vindicator. Warren, Ohio. 21 July 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Google News Archive.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "Minister's daughter is U.S. representative". The Altus Times-Democrat. 19 July 1956. p. 8. Retrieved 10 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Globe's Most Beautiful Girls". Long Beach Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California. 15 July 1956. p. 8. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Iowa preacher's daughter wins "Miss Universe"". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. 22 July 1956. p. 10-A. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Google News Archive.
^ Dale Linder-Altman, " It's happened before: Orangeburg queen also incorrectly labeled winner", The Times and Democrat, 22 December 2015.
^ "Audra Stark is Miss Universe Entry". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk, Virginia. 18 June 1956. p. 1. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Wisconsin's Miss Universe". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. 18 June 1956. p. 6. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Official website

[5] Ages at the time of the pageant

[tolb560719-1] "Iowa beauty wins title of Miss U.S.A." Toledo Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press. 19 July 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Google News Archive.

[:4-2] "Carol Morris, Iowa entry, wins Miss Universe title". Youngstown Vindicator. Warren, Ohio. 21 July 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Google News Archive.

[:0-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "Minister's daughter is U.S. representative". The Altus Times-Democrat. 19 July 1956. p. 8. Retrieved 10 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.

[4] "Globe's Most Beautiful Girls". Long Beach Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California. 15 July 1956. p. 8. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Iowa preacher's daughter wins "Miss Universe"". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. 22 July 1956. p. 10-A. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Google News Archive.

[7] Dale Linder-Altman, " It's happened before: Orangeburg queen also incorrectly labeled winner", The Times and Democrat, 22 December 2015.

[8] "Audra Stark is Miss Universe Entry". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk, Virginia. 18 June 1956. p. 1. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Wisconsin's Miss Universe". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. 18 June 1956. p. 6. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

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