Miss America 1971, the 44th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 12, 1970.There she is: From 1921 to 2014, see the Miss America pageant through the years:1971 The Women's Liberation Front demonstrated at the event and Miss Iowa 1970, Cheryl Browne, was the first African American contestant in the history of the Miss America pageant. Miss South Dakota 1970 Mary Harum (Mary Hart) and Miss New Jersey 1970 Hela Yungst would both become media personalities.

Miss Texas 1970, Phyllis George, was crowned Miss America 1971. George would later become a noted media personality, featured on the CBS football program The NFL Today, as well as the First Lady of Kentucky from 1979 to 1983.

In August 1971, George traveled to Vietnam with Miss Nevada 1970, Vicky Jo Todd, Miss New Jersey 1970, Hela Yungst, Miss Arizona 1970, Karen Shields, Miss Arkansas 1970, Donna Connelly, Miss Iowa 1970, Cheryl Browne, and Miss Texas 1970 (George's replacement after she became Miss America), Belinda Myrick. They were participating in a 22-day United Service Organizations tour for American troops there. The tour began in Saigon. Browne later commented that she thought "it was one of the last Miss America groups to go to Vietnam."

Results

Placements Placement Contestant Miss America 1971 – Phyllis George † 1st Runner-Up – Claudia Carmen Turner † 2nd Runner-Up – Karen Johnson 3rd Runner-Up – Christine McClamroch 4th Runner-Up – Maggie Walker Top 10 – Donna Connelly – Lisa Donovan – Katherine Karlsrud – Judy Adams – Mary Harum

Order of announcements

Top 10

Top 5

Awards

Preliminary awards Awards Contestant Lifestyle and Fitness Texas - Phyllis George South Carolina - Claudia Turner Hawaii - Kathleen P. O'Sullivan Talent Florida - Lisa Donovan Oklahoma - Judy Adams Alabama - Suzanne Dennie

Other awards Awards Contestant Miss Congeniality Indiana - Debbie MayNeat as a Pin Award Alaska - Virginia Walker Non-finalist Talent California - Karin Kascher Indiana - Debbie Sue May Iowa - Cheryl Adrienne Browne Minnesota - Juliana Genevieve Gabor Nevada - Vicky Jo Todd North Carolina - Cornelia Collette Lerner Rhode Island - Teresa Louise Bradley Utah - Deborah Dunn

Judges Hal David† Dr. Zelma George Bud Westmore† Robert F. Lewine Joan Crosby Edward Loeb Maria Gamarelli Fenton Norton Mockridge† Dr. W. Hugh Moomaw

Contestants

+StateNameHometownAgeTalentPlacementAwardNotes AlabamaSuzanne DennieBirmingham20Popular Vocal, "Alfie"Preliminary Talent Award AlaskaVirginia WalkerKotzebue19Original Poem, "My Wonderland"Special Judges' Award

Neat as a Pin AwardFirst Miss America contestant from the Arctic Circle ArizonaKaren ShieldsTucson19Dance & Vocal Medley from My Fair Lady ArkansasDonna ConnellyHope19Vocal Medley, "Who Will Buy" from Oliver! & "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing"Top 10 CaliforniaKarin KascherCastro Valley18Violin, "Méditation"Non-finalist Talent Award ColoradoSue GehrmanFort Collins18Musical Interpretation, "Just You Wait" from My Fair Lady ConnecticutCynthia FowlerCheshire21Classical Vocal, "The Jewel Song" from Faust DelawareLinda Sue HitchensSeaford20Vocal/Dance, "Give My Regards to Broadway" FloridaLisa DonovanSarasota21Vocal, "Feeling Good"Top 10Preliminary Talent AwardSinger on 1980s game show Face the Music GeorgiaNancy CarrMidland22Popular Vocal, "I Wish You Love" HawaiiKathleen Puanani O'SullivanKailua18Modern Dance, "Ritual Fire Dance"Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award IdahoNoralyn OlsenOvid18Classical Piano, "Etude Op. 10, No. 5" IllinoisLynn AlexanderLoami18Classical Vocal, "Vissi d'arte" IndianaDebbie MayRemington21Semi-classical Vocal, "The Impossible Dream"Non-finalist Talent Award; Miss Congeniality IowaCheryl BrowneDecorah20Ballet, "Deep Purple" Non-finalist Talent AwardFirst African American contestant to compete at Miss America Cheryl Adrienne Browne was a native of Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York who attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. KansasLinda Susan EddsManhattan21Popular Vocal, "The Windmills of Your Mind" KentuckyCynthia Anne BostickOwensboro18Vocal, "Life is a One Way Street" Appeared as Marcia Campbell on As the World Turns Cynthia Anne Bostick Georgeson died at age 70 on January 24, 2023, in Racine, Wisconsin. LouisianaCarol AlmandHaynesville18Vocal, "The Wedding" MaineKaren Johanna JohnsonCumberland Foreside20Classical Vocal, "Quando me'n vo'"2nd runner-up MarylandSharon Anne CannonSalisbury21Piano, "Elephant Walk" MassachusettsDiana DohrmannBoston21Piano, "The Kid from Red Bank" by Count Basie MichiganGinger MyersLincoln Park21Vocal, "Wicked Man" MinnesotaJuliana GaborSouth St. Paul20Popular Vocal, "My Coloring Book" MississippiChristine McClamrochColumbus21Vocal Medley, "Cabaret", "Try to Remember", & "You'll Never Walk Alone"3rd runner-up MissouriMarcia MossbargerBrookfield22Tap Dance, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" MontanaJane OppBillings20Piano, Le Cavalier Fantastique by Paul Ben-Haim NebraskaDebra May SullivanOmaha19Acrobatic Dance, "Fly Me to the Moon" NevadaVicky Jo ToddSparks20Vocal/Guitar, "Time"Non-finalist Talent Award New HampshireDeborah Ann MerrillPortsmouth19Vocal/Dance, "I Want to be Happy" & "Happiness Is" New JerseyHela YungstHillside20Dramatic Vocal, "Aldonza" from Man of La Mancha New MexicoJanis JonesRaton21Soft Shoe Dance, "Golden Slippers" New YorkKatherine KarlsrudMamaroneck18Harp, "Whirlwind" by Carlos SalzedoTop 10Dr. David B. Allman Medical ScholarshipFirst Allman Scholarship recipient to graduate from Medical School North CarolinaCornelia LernerAsheville18Piano, "Revolutionary Étude" by ChopinNon-finalist Talent Award North DakotaNancy TangenNorthwood19Classical Vocal, "Pace pace mio dio" from La forza del destino OhioGrace BirdAlliance21French Horn & Classical Vocal, "1st Concerto for French Horn" & "Ouvre ton Coeur" from Vasco da Gama by Georges Bizet OklahomaJudy AdamsCushing20Violin, "The Hot Canary" arranged by Florian ZaBachTop 10Preliminary Talent Award OregonCynthia Lynn HarrisonPortland18Vocal & Guitar, "Just Once" PennsylvaniaMaggie WalkerHarrisburg18Gymnastic Ballet on Uneven Parallel Bars, "Contessa"4th runner-up Rhode IslandTeresa BradleyEast Greenwich19Folk Singing & Guitar, "Chelsea Morning"Non-finalist Talent Award South CarolinaClaudia Carmen Turner†Spartanburg19Vocal, "Once Upon a Time"1st runner-upPreliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award Claudia Carmen Turner Wells Bauman, died at 69 on September 24, 2021, in South Carolina. South DakotaMary HarumSioux Falls19Vocal Medley, "You've Made Me so Very Happy", "Something", & "Yesterday"Top 10Former co-host of Entertainment Tonight TennesseeCarol FerranteMemphis21Vocal TexasPhyllis George†Denton21Piano Medley, "Promises, Promises" & "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"WinnerPreliminary Lifestyle & Fitness AwardOne of the first women sportscasters on network television as co-host of NFL Today on CBS from 1975 to 1977 and 1980 to 1983

Co-host of the 1989 & 1990 Miss America pageants with Gary Collins UtahDeborah Melba DunnSalt Lake City20Modern Dance, "Julia" VermontPati PapineauRutland19Classical Ballet, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" VirginiaJeannette SmithRoanoke19Classical Piano, "Toccata" by Aram Khachaturian WashingtonNancy PetersonMoses Lake19Original Comedy Monologue, "Once Upon a Leaf" West VirginiaLinda Dianne BarnettParkersburg19Modern Jazz Dance, "The Electric Indian" WisconsinLinda Jane JohnsonMilwaukee19Piano, "Polonaise" WyomingJane HutchingsCheyenne19Piano, "Arabesque" by Claude Debussy

Photographs It Happened Here in New Jersey - Contains photograph of Miss Iowa Cheryl Browne and Miss Maryland Sharon Ann Cannon in the period before the Miss America Pageant 1971 on September 8, 1970. Photographs taken at the MISS AMERICA U.S.O. SHOW to Vietnam in 1971

References