Miss USA 1954

Miss USA 1954 was the third Miss USA pageant, held at Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California on July 24, 1954.

Miss USA 1954
Miriam Stevenson
Date	July 24, 1954
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California
Entrants	45
Placements	21
Winner	Miriam Stevenson South Carolina
← 1953 1955 →

At the end of the event, Myrna Hansen of Illinois crowned Miriam Stevenson of South Carolina as Miss USA 1954. It is the first victory of South Carolina in the pageant's history. Stevenson later competed at Miss Universe and won.^[1]

Contestants from forty-five states and cities competed in this year's pageant. The competition was hosted by Bob Russel.

Background

Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the venue of Miss USA 1954

Selection of participants

Contestants from forty-five states and cities were selected to compete in the pageant. The age requirement in this edition is still from 18 to 28, where women who are married and have children can also participate.^[2] One contestant was selected to replace the original dethroned winner.

Waydine Nesbitt, runner-up to the Arkansas Maid 1954 pageant, was appointed to replace Arkansas Maid 1954 Sonya Ann McClure after giving up her crown in order to compete for the Miss Arkansas crown for Miss America.^[3]

Several contestants were disqualified due to being underaged. Barbara Ann Eschenburg of Maryland was discovered to be only 16 during the time of the contest, forcing her to withdraw as the minimum age limit of that time was 18.^[4] Ellen Whitehead of Virginia was also underage, but was discovered only after the contest. Initially, Ellen Whitehead of Virginia stayed as the first runner-up despite being underage since the placement was only considered as "honorary" according to the pageant officials. However, Dr. Richard Eschenburg, the father of Miss Maryland USA, complained to the officials as to why his daughter was disqualified for being underage while Whitehead was not; despite being underage.^[5] Whitehead was later disqualified by the pageant officials and was replaced by Karin Hultman of New York.

Elaine DuFeen of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was expected to compete in this edition. However, DuFeen dropped out of the pageant because another girl was chosen to represent her state and thought she wouldn't get an equal chance at the competition.^[6]

Placements

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss USA 1954	South Carolina – Miriam Stevenson[7]
1st runner-up	Virginia – Ellen Whitehead[5][7] (disqualified)
	New York – Karin Hultman[7] (assumed position)
2nd runner-up	New York City – Renee Roy[7] (formerly third runner-up)
3rd runner-up	Texas – Betty Lee[7] (formerly fourth runner-up)
4th runner-up	Illinois – Celeste Ravel[8] (assumed position)
Top 21	Arkansas – Waydine Nesbitt[9] California – Sandra Lea Constance[9] Connecticut – Andrea Todd[9] District of Columbia – Laura Farley[9] Indiana – Cecilia Ann Dennis[9] Iowa – Ione Lukens[9] Maryland – Barbara Ann Eschenburg[9] Memphis – Janice Beverly Bowles[9] Minnesota – Dawn Joyce[9] Missouri – Alice Jean Porritt[9] Montana – Dawn Oney[9] Nebraska – Margie Winkhoff[9] New Jersey – Evelyn Orowitz[9] Ohio – Barbara Joyce Randa[9] Wisconsin – Rita Dolores Younger[9]

Pageant

Format

From twenty semi-finalists in 1953, twenty-one semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. Each of the twenty semi-finalists gave a short speech during the final telecast. Afterwards, the twenty semi-finalists paraded again in their swimsuits and evening gowns, and the five finalists were eventually chosen.^[9][10]

Contestants

Forty-five contestants competed for the title.^[11]

State/City	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown	Notes
Arizona	Bonnie Johnson	18	Phoenix[11]
Arkansas	Waydine Nesbitt[3]	21	Magnolia
California	Sandra Constance[12]	18	Los Angeles
Colorado	Lorna Batterson[11]	19	Denver
Connecticut	Andrea Todd[13]	22	Milford
District of Columbia	Laura Farley	21	Washington, D.C.
Florida	Rosemary Talucci	22	Miami Beach
Front Royal, Virginia	Carol Hammack	–	Front Royal
Illinois	Celeste Ravel[14]	23	Chicago
Indiana	Cecilia Dennis	20	Milan
Iowa	Ione Lucken	–	Le Mars
Kansas	Sue Ravenscroft[11]	18	Liberal
Kentucky	Nikki Horner[15]	28	Prospect
Louisiana	Sadie Vinson	18	New Orleans	Finalist in the 1955 Miss Dixie Pageant
Maryland	Barbara Ann Eschenburg[4]	16	Berlin	Later disqualified for being underage[4]
Massachusetts	Nan Cowan	–	Sterling
Memphis, Tennessee	Janice Beverly Bowles	18	Memphis
Michigan	Gerri Hoffman	22	Detroit
Minnesota	Dawn Joyce[16]	20	Minneapolis
Missouri	Alice Jean Porritt[17]	19	Cape Girardeau
Montana	Dawn Oney[18]	22	Billings
Nebraska	Margie Winkhoff	–	Grand Island
Nevada	Mary Jane Arnold	18	Las Vegas
New Hampshire	Myrna Louise Smith	18	–
New Jersey	Evelyn Orowitz[19]	20	Collingswood
New York	Karin Hultman[20]	22	New York City	Became 1st runner-up after Miss Virginia USA was disqualified. Later became Miss World United States 1954 1st runner-up at Miss World 1954[21]
New York City, New York	Renee Roy	23	New York City
North Carolina	Ann Pickett	22	Charlotte
North Dakota	Jane Hewitt	19	Fargo
Ohio	Barbara Randa[22]	19	Painesville
Oregon	Charlotte Miller	18	Toledo
Pennsylvania	Helen Vidovich[23]	18	Beaver Valley
Pleasure Beach, Connecticut	Violet Fuchs	–	–
Rhode Island	Joyce Anne Sandberg	21	Warwick	Previously Miss Rhode Island 1953 As wife of Philip Noel, served as the First Lady of Rhode Island from 1973 to 1977.[24]
South Carolina	Miriam Jacqueline Stevenson[25]	20	Winnsboro	Miss Universe 1954[26] Previously Miss South Carolina 1953 Top 10 at Miss America 1954
South Dakota	Barbara Ann Brown	–	–
St. Louis, Missouri	Jo Ann Lynde	–	–
Tennessee	Barbara Holly	21	Nashville
Texas	Betty Lee[27]	20	Houston
Utah	Laverna Laub	22	Salt Lake City
Vermont	Georgia Laurise	24	New Haven
Virginia	Ellen Whitehead[28]	17	Chatham	Later disqualified due to being underage[5]
Washington	Darlene Shride	–	–
West Virginia	Sandra Waggy	–	–
Wisconsin	Rita Delores Younger[29]	21	Baraboo
Wyoming	Faith Radenbaugh		Heart Mountain

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant