| Winner: | Mary Katherine Campbell |
| Represented: | Columbus, Ohio |
| Date: | September 7–9, 1922 |
| Entrants: | 64 |
| Placements: | 4 |
| Presenters: | King Neptune (Hudson Maxim) |
| Venue: | Million Dollar Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Before: | 1921 |
| Next: | 1923 |
Miss America 1922 was the second annual Miss America pageant, held at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey from September 7–9, 1922.[1] [2] [3]
At the conclusion of the event, Miss America 1921, Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., and film actress, Anita Stewart, presented the $5,000 Golden Mermaid Trophy to Mary Katherine Campbell of Columbus, Ohio thus declaring Campbell as the official successor to the Miss America title.[4]
Contestants from 64 cities, states, and titles competed at the event. The event was presented by Hudson Maxim dressed as King Neptune.[5]
The pageant consisted of six phases of competition: rolling chair parade, evening gown, intercity bathing, amateur surf attire, professional mermaids, and the final.[6] [7] [8] There was no talent competition at this pageant (this would not become part of the Miss America competition until 1935), and there was no formal interview sessions between the contestants and judges.[9] [10]
On the afternoon of September 7, 1922, the 58 contestants competed in the rolling chair parade. Later that same day, they competed in the evening gown competition.[11] Both the rolling chair and evening gown competitions were won by Miss Indianapolis, Thelma Blossom.[11] On September 8, 1922, the contestants competed in bathing suit revues.[6] The contestants were divided into three unique groupings: intercity, amateur, and professional beauties.[7] During the bathing revue, the Mayor of Atlantic City and some of the city's police force joined the contestants, wearing their own bathing attire.[12]
The three winners of these bathing/beauty competitions then progressed to the final phase of competition to compete directly against the reigning Miss America 1921, Margaret Gorman.[11] [13] [14] Mary Katherine Campbell, competing as Miss Columbus in the pageant, edged out the previous year's winner, Margaret Gorman, who competed as "Miss America 1921" in the 1922 event, to claim the preliminary "Intercity Beauty Award."[15] Campbell then competed against "Professional Beauty Award" winner, Dorothy Knapp of New York, "Amateur Beauty Award" winner, Gladys Greenamyer of West Philadelphia, and Gorman, the reigning Miss America.[16] After the conclusion of the final phase of competition, judging panel deliberated for over two hours before selecting the sole winner of the pageant.[14] Mary Katherine Campbell, Miss Columbus, was then named Miss America 1922 just after midnight on September 9, 1922.[8]
The panel of judges for the national pageant included Heyworth Campbell, Coles Phillips, Joseph Cummings Chase, Arnold Genthe, Willy Pogany, August William Hutaf, Norman Rockwell, and Howard Chandler Christy.[7] [17] Rockwell later reported that the judging panel was given no instructions on how to judge the pageant and select a winner.[18] One judge suggested that they judge each part or feature of the body out of ten, then the woman with the total highest score would win.[18] After they had tried this system, they discovered that judging a contestant "piecemeal" did not result in the most beautiful and well-rounded contestant being selected as a winner.[18] So they "...gave up trying to figure out a system and resolved to trust our eyes. It led to squabbles, because all of us didn't see things in the same way, but it was the best we could do."[18]
| Placement | Contestant | |
|---|---|---|
| Miss America 1922 | ||
| 1st Runner-Up | ||
| Finalists |
|
| Results | Contestant | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner |
| |
| Second Prize | ||
| Third Prize |
| Results | Contestant | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner |
| |
| Second Prize |
| |
| Third Prize |
|
| Results | Contestant | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | ||
| Second Prize |
| |
| Third Prize |
|
| Results | Contestant | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | ||
| Second Prize |
| |
| Third Prize |
|
| Results | Contestant | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner |
| |
| Second Prize |
| |
| Third Prize |
|
Sixty-four contestants competed for the title.[27]
| Locality | Contestant | Age | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akron | Doris Widdersheim[28] | |||
| Alaska | Helmar Liederman[29] [30] | 23 | Disqualified from Miss America 1923 pageant because she was married[31] | |
| Allentown | Ellen E. Sherr[32] | |||
| Atlantic City | Estelle Marks | |||
| Baltimore | Irma Knabe[33] | |||
| Binghamton | Helen Agnes Searles[34] | |||
| Birmingham | Elise Sparrow[35] | 24 | Married Boston Red Sox owner, Tom Yawkey, in 1925 and later divorced in 1944[36] | |
| Boston | Charlotte Trowbridge | |||
| Bridgeport | Paula E. Spoettle[37] | |||
| Bridgeton | Sarah Alice Bell[38] | |||
| Brighton Beach | Ruth Andrea[39] | |||
| Buffalo | Bertha Rent[40] | |||
| Chester | Anna Marie Burke[41] | |||
| Chicago | Georgia Hale[42] | 22 | Starred in Charlie Chaplin's 1925 film, The Gold Rush,[43] and the 1926 silent film, The Great Gatsby[44] | |
| Cleveland | Leile Charles[45] | Competed in pageant despite being married[46] | ||
| Columbus | Mary Katherine Campbell[47] [48] | 15 | ||
| Dayton | Helen Francis Smith | |||
| Detroit | M. Beth Madson[49] | Also competed in Miss America 1923 pageant as Miss Detroit[50] | ||
| Easton | Dorothy Haupt | Also competed in Miss America 1923 pageant as Miss Erie | ||
| Erie | Thora McDannel | |||
| Fall River | Helen Lynch | |||
| Florida | Eleanor Logan[51] | 19 | ||
| Greater Camden | Eleanor Lindley[52] | |||
| Harrisburg | Gertrude Shoemack[53] | |||
| Indiana | Sydney Nelson | Nelson lived and worked in New York City at time of pageant but cited as being from Indianapolis[54] Appeared in the Broadway productions of The Passing Show of 1922 and The Whirl of New York[55] | ||
| Indianapolis | Thelma Blossom[56] | 20 | ||
| Johnstown | Velma Ziegler[57] | |||
| Kansas City | Miriam Chafee[58] | |||
| Lancaster | Elsie Blumenstock[59] | |||
| Long Beach | Lillian Harnach | |||
| Los Angeles | Katherine Grant | |||
| Louisville | Dorothy Heick[60] | |||
| Macon | Frances Gurr[61] | |||
| Memphis | Ruth Doughty[62] | |||
| Miss America 1921 | Margaret Gorman[63] | 17 | Also competed as Miss America 1921 in the 1923 pageant | |
| Montreal | Marie Gauthier | |||
| Nashville | Sue Burton[64] | |||
| New Bedford | Alice Burke | |||
| New Haven | Lillian Peterson[65] | |||
| New Orleans | Maude Allison Price | |||
| New York | Pauline Virginia Dakla | Appeared in the Broadway productions of Bombo, The Passing Show of 1922, and The Whirl of New York | ||
| New York City | Dorothy Knapp[66] [67] | 17 | ||
| Ocean City | Marion Steelman[68] | |||
| Philadelphia | Kathryn Molineaux[69] | |||
| Pittsburgh | Rae Bennett | |||
| Portland | Virginia Edwards | |||
| Pottsville | Leah M. Knapp[70] | |||
| Reading | Evelyn Renninger | |||
| Rochester | Mildred Moon | |||
| Rockaway Beach | Dorothy Hughes | |||
| San Francisco | Tanssia Zara | |||
| Schenectady | Roberta Cooper[71] | |||
| Seattle | Evelyn Atkinson | |||
| South Beach | Mary Hlavka | |||
| St. Louis | Mildred Hose[72] | |||
| Syracuse | M. Rosamond Fahey | |||
| Toledo | Loraine Foskey[73] | |||
| Toronto | Marjorie Smith[74] | |||
| Utica | Janette Adams[75] | |||
| Vineland | Mary Elizabeth Edwards[76] | 18 | ||
| Washington, D.C. | Evelyn C. Lewis | |||
| Waterbury | Hazel Germershausen[77] | |||
| West Philadelphia | Gladys Greenamyer | 18 | ||
| Wheeling | Mary Dague | |||
| Wilmington | A. Adele Senft |