The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the

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; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America (but none since 1975). To become Miss Texas, a contestant must first win a local competition. A young woman may compete at the local and state level more than once, but may only compete in the national

competition one time. Hundreds of women participate each year in the local pageants, culminating in the selection of local finalists who compete for the Miss Texas title each July. The state pageant was held in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

for 36 years before relocating to the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

Texas Hall Texas Hall is a proscenium theater on the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas. It opened in 1965, and has a seating capacity of 2,625. Texas Hall hosts numerous events per year, including concerts, lectures, mee ...

in 2009. In 2012, the pageant moved to the

Allen Event Center The Credit Union of Texas Event Center (formerly Allen Event Center) is an American 6,275 fixed-seat multi-purpose indoor arena located in Allen, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas. The arena opened in 2009 under the name Allen Event Center. Con ...

in suburban Collin County. In 2014 the Miss Texas pageant began being held at the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University of ...

. In 2010, Miss Texas celebrated its 75th anniversary, and Randy Pruett wrote a book, ''A Dream as Big as Texas'', to document the stories of the 75 women that were crowned Miss Texas. Averie Bishop of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

was crowned Miss Texas 2022 on June 25, 2022 at Eisemann Center in

. She competed for the title of

2023 at the Mohegan Sun in

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ea ...

in December 2022 where she placed 2nd runner-up along with winning the Women in Business and Women Who Brand awards along with being an Equity & Justice Finalist.

Gallery of past titleholders

File:Phyllis George 2008.png,

Phyllis George Phyllis Ann George (June 25, 1949 – May 14, 2020) was an American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster. In 1975, George was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show ''The NFL Today'', becoming one of the first women ...

,
Miss Texas 1970 and Miss America 1971 in 2008 File:Miss America 1975 aboard USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) 1975.jpg,

Shirley Cothran Shirley Cothran Barret (born September 18, 1952, Denton County, Texas) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Texas. Early life and education She graduated from Denton High School in 1970 and was the second Miss America from that high ...

,
Miss Texas 1974 and

Miss America 1975 Miss America 1975, the 48th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 7, 1974, and broadcast on NBC. The winner, Shirley Cothran, was a graduate of Denton High School in Texas, the same sch ...

File:SWAP300670000000026027.jpg,

Jonna Fitzgerald Jonna Fitzgerald is an American beauty pageant titleholder and musical entertainer. She was crowned Miss Texas 1985 then Preliminary Talent Winner and 2nd Runner Up to Miss America 1986. In computer modelling that successfully predicted that Susa ...

,
Miss Texas 1985 File:Molly Hazlett parade.jpg, Molly Hazlett,
Miss Texas 2007 File:Rebecca Robinson-Miss Texas 2008-Wilford Hall Medical Center April 24, 2009.jpg, Rebecca Robinson,
Miss Texas 2008

Results summary

The following is a visual summary of the past results of Miss Texas titleholders at the national Miss America pageants/competitions. The year in parentheses indicates the year of the national competition during which a placement and/or award was garnered, not the year attached to the contestant's state title.

Placements

* Miss Americas:

Jo-Carroll Dennison Jo-Carroll Dennison (December 16, 1923 – October 18, 2021) was an American actress and model who was Miss America 1942. Early years Dennison was born on December 16, 1923, in Florence, Arizona, the daughter of Elizabeth (née Brownd) and Harr ...

( 1942),

(

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

( 1975) * 1st runners-up: Moselle Ransome (1927), Alice Emerick (1937), Shilah Phillips (2007) * 2nd runners-up: Penny Lee Rudd (1963), Carmen McCollum (1977),

(1986), Averie Bishop (2022) * 3rd runners-up: Linda Loftis (1962), Sharon McCauley (1965), Mae Beth Cormany (1973), Suzanne Lawrence (1991) * 4th runners-up: Sheri Ryman (1982),

Tamara Hext Tamara Lynne Hilliard (née Hext; born May 1, 1963) is a beauty queen from Texas who has competed at Miss America. Hext won the title Miss Texas 1984, after competing in that pageant as Miss Arlington. She went on to become a finalist in the nati ...

(1985), Yanci Yarbrough (2000), Margana Wood (2018) * Top 7: Caroline Carothers (2017) * Top 8: Molly Hazlett (2008) * Top 10: Mary Nell Hendricks (1959), Susan Logan (1967), Judy Mallett (1974), Mary Ellen Richardson (1976), Lori Smith (1978), Sandi Miller (1979), Terri Eoff (1981), Dana Rogers (1984), Stephany Samone (1987), Rita Jo Thompson (1988), Leah Kay Lyle (1990), Rhonda Morrison (1992), Arian Archer (1995), Michelle Martinez (1997), Tara Watson (2001), Mary Lisa Dalzell (2003), Jamie Story (2005), Morgan Matlock (2006), Kristen Blair (2010), Kendall Morris (2012), DaNae Couch (2013), Ivana Hall (2014), Shannon Sanderford (2016), Mallory Fuller (2022) * Top 12:

Ashley Melnick Ashley Lauren Melnick (born June 7, 1989) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who won the title of Miss Texas 2010. She competed in the Miss America 2011 Pageant on January 15, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada, placing in the Top 12. She compet ...

(2011) * Top 13: Polly Below (1945) * Top 15: Rosebud Blondell (1926), Patricia Allen Green (1936), Charmayne Smith (1939), Chandler Foreman (2019/2020) * Top 16: Margaret Sommers (1951), Monique Evans (2015) * Top 20: Stacy James (2002)

Awards

Preliminary awards

* Preliminary Interview: Mary Lisa Dalzell (2003) * Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness:

(1942),

(1971),

(1975), Carmen McCollum (1977),

(1985), Molly Hazlett (2008), Kendall Morris (2012), Margana Wood (2018) *Preliminary Social Impact Pitch: Mallory Fuller (2022) * Preliminary Talent:

(1942), Linda Loftis (1962), Carmen McCollum (1977), Sheri Ryman (1982),

(1986), Stephany Samone (1987), Suzanne Lawrence (1991), Shilah Phillips (2007)

Non-finalist awards

* Non-finalist Interview: BaShara Chandler (1994) * Non-finalist Talent: Marilyn Turner (1960), Mary Cage Moore (1961), Gloria Gilbert (1983), Sunni Cranfill (2004), Madison Fuller (2019)

Other awards

* Equity & Justice Finalists: Averie Bishop (2023) * Miss Congeniality: Joyce Courrege (1944), Luna McClain (1947), Rebecca Robinson (2009) * Louanne Gamba Instrumental Award: Kendall Morris (2012) * Quality of Life Award Winners: Suzanne Lawrence (1991) * Women in Business Winners: Averie Bishop (2023) * Women Who Brand Winners: Averie Bishop (2023)

Winners

In popular culture

* In the long-running television series ''

'', the character Sue Ellen Ewing had purportedly won the title of Miss Texas in 1967, long before the events of the show took place (1978–91). * The song "Almost" by the band

Bowling for Soup Bowling for Soup (abbreviated as BFS) is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar, backing vocals), Gary Wiseman (drums, percussion, backing vo ...

features the line, "I almost dropped out of school at fourteen where I almost made out with the Homecoming Queen, who almost went on to be Miss Texas, but lost to a slut with much bigger breasts."

References

External links

Miss Texas official website
{{Miss America state

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Texas culture Recurring events established in 1936 1936 establishments in Texas Women in Texas