Kimberly Nicole Morgan (born February 22, 1983) is an American singer, educator, and pageant titleholder. Morgan was crowned

Miss Mississippi Miss Mississippi is a scholarship pageant and a preliminary of Miss America. The contest began in 1934, has been held in Vicksburg since 1958, and provides more money than any other scholarship pageant in the Miss America Organization. Four Mis ...

on July 14, 2007, becoming just the second

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman to win that title. Morgan was a Top 16 semi-finalist at the 2008

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

pageant. She is an alumna of

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. O ...

. Born in

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

and raised in the small community of

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...

, Morgan, who grew up with a severe hearing disability, was a music teacher at Madison S. Palmer High School in

Marks, Mississippi Marks is a city in and the county seat of Quitman County, Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,735. History The town of Marks was named after Leopold Marks (1851-1910) who left Germany to avoid conscription by the Germa ...

prior to her becoming Miss Mississippi. After her one-year reign she has returned to the field of education. Morgan is a graduate of

and was 'Miss ASU' 2004–2005. In 2005, while a student in college, she performed as part of the Alcorn State University Concert Choir at the inaugural ceremony of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. She is a member of

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...

sorority. Morgan's platform as Miss Mississippi was G.O.T.M.I.L.K.! (Golden Opportunity Toward Music Increasing Literacy in Kids), a fifty-five-minute-per-week after-school program of music instructions.
Morgan participated in the

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

reality show '' Miss America: Reality Check''.

References

External links

Footage of Kimberly Morgan's crowning as Miss Mississippi 2007Photo galleryMiss America 2008 delegate informationMiss Mississippi to participate in reality show 12/27/07
1983 births Living people Miss America 2008 delegates People from Oxford, Mississippi Alcorn State University alumni Miss Mississippi winners {{US-pageant-bio-stub