Venus Ramey Murphy (September 26, 1924 – June 17, 2017) was an American beauty pageant contestant, and later an activist. She won 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 ...

competition in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, on September 9, 1944.

Early life

Ramey was born in

Somerset, Kentucky Somerset is a home rule-class city in Pulaski County, Kentucky, United States. The city population was 11,924 according to the 2020 census. It is the seat of Pulaski County. History Somerset was first settled in 1798 by Thomas Hansford and rec ...

, to Evalena (née Brown; 1889–1967) and John Coons Ramey (1887–1970). She later left Kentucky to work for the war effort in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. Through her

patriline Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

, Ramey was distantly related to Country musicians

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...

Crystal Gayle Crystal Gayle (born Brenda Gail Webb; January 9, 1951) is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same as that of her oldest sist ...

, Jay Lee Webb,

Peggy Sue "Peggy Sue" is a rock and roll song written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty, and recorded and released as a single by Buddy Holly on September 20, 1957. The Crickets are not mentioned on label of the single (Coral 9-61885), but band members Jo ...

and

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

Pageants

She then won the

Miss District of Columbia Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, it ...

pageant and then became

in 1944. She was the first Miss America to be photographed in color and also the first red-haired contestant to win the national title.

Career

She was wooed by

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

in 1947, but dissatisfied with show business, she returned home to her

Eubank, Kentucky Eubank is a home rule-class city in Pulaski and Lincoln counties in southern Kentucky. The population was 319 at the 2010 census. The Pulaski County portion of Eubank is part of the Somerset Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the Lincoln Co ...

, tobacco farm (which she maintained for over 50 years) in

Lincoln County, Kentucky Lincoln County is a county located in south-central Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,275. Its county seat is Stanford. Lincoln County is part of the Danville, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Lincoln County— ...

. Ramey became the first Miss America to run for public office, seeking a seat in the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...

. In the 1970s, Ramey successfully campaigned to save

Over-the-Rhine Over-the-Rhine (often abbreviated as OTR) is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a working-class neighborhood. It is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United State ...

, a neighborhood in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. The neighborhood was eventually listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, and her work led her to make an unsuccessful bid for a spot on the

Cincinnati City Council The Cincinnati City Council is the lawmaking body of Cincinnati, Ohio. The nine-member city council is elected at-large in a single election in which each voter chooses nine candidates from the field. The nine top vote-getters win seats on the cou ...

. She was a tobacco farmer who, in 1999, unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against the federal government for $300 billion for its anti-tobacco policies. She also was a write-in candidate for the 2000 presidential election. In April 2007, at age 82, Ramey confronted intruders who had entered a storage building on her Waynesburg, Kentucky farm where thieves had previously stolen equipment. She used a snub-nose .38

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

to shoot out the tires on their pickup truck, then flagged down a car and had the driver call 911, holding the would-be thieves at gun-point until the sheriff arrived. "I didn't even think twice. I just went and did it", she said. "If they'd even dared come close to me, they'd be six feet under by now."

Tributes

In 1944, a

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

of the 15th Air Force, 301st bomb group was named the "Venus Ramey." This plane is reputed to be one of the longest-lived B-17s of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, having flown over 150 missions and survived the war. It was later scrapped. There was also a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bomber (42-52312) in the 454th bomb group named "MISS AMERICA '44" which flew 133 missions.

Personal life

She married Joseph Henry Murphy, Jr. in 1948; the couple later divorced. Ramey raised two sons, Joseph Henry "Hank" Murphy III and Martin Wallace "Wally" Murphy, who survive her. Ramey died in an

Agoura Hills, California Agoura Hills () is a city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. It is in the eastern Conejo Valley between the S ...

, hospice on June 17, 2017, at the age of 92. Her funeral was held at a Science Hill, Kentucky, funeral home on July 2, 2017, followed by burial at the Eubank Cemetery in Pulaski County, Kentucky.Venus Ramey , 1924 - 2017 , Obituary
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramey, Venus 1924 births 2017 deaths Activists from Kentucky Farmers from Kentucky Miss America 1940s delegates Miss America Preliminary Talent winners Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners Miss America winners People from Ashland, Kentucky People from Lincoln County, Kentucky Kentucky women in agriculture American people of Irish descent 21st-century American women