Shirley Cothran Barret (born September 18, 1952,

Denton County, Texas Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the 7th-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was establish ...

) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Texas.

Early life and education

She graduated from

Denton High School Denton High School is a public high school located in the city of Denton, Texas and classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Denton Independent School District located in central Denton County and was the original high schoo ...

in 1970 and was the second Miss America from that high school as

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 ...

was crowned Miss America before her in 1971. She later attended

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a Public university, public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private Normal school, teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 y ...

and earned her bachelor of science in elementary education and her master's degree in guidance counseling. Cothran later used the scholarship money she earned from her Miss America win towards her Ph.D. in early childhood education and family counseling.

Life and career

She was crowned

Miss Texas The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America (but none since 1975). To become Miss Texa ...

1974 and won the Miss America 1975 title. She currently tours as a motivational speaker and still resides in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. She appeared, with her husband and three sons, on the televised game show Family Feud on Season 19, Episode 64.

Personal life

She married Richard Barret in 1976 and has four children, David, Julia, John, and Mark.

References

External links

Official website
Miss America winners People from Fort Worth, Texas American motivational speakers Living people 1953 births Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners Miss America 1975 delegates {{US-pageant-bio-stub