| Miss America 1939 | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 9, 1939 |
| Venue | Steel Pier,Atlantic City,New Jersey |
| Entrants | 43 |
| Placements | 15 |
| Winner | Patricia Donnelly Michigan |
← 1938 1940 → | |
Miss America 1939, the 13thMiss America pageant, was the last pageant to be held at the famedSteel Pier inAtlantic City, New Jersey.[1] The finals were held on Saturday, September 9, 1939, andMiss Michigan,Patricia Donnelly, was crowned Miss America 1939.[2] The Miss Congeniality Award was also introduced at the 1939 competition.
Donnelly later became a singer and actress. Third runner-up Marguerita Skliris became the actressMargia Dean, who starred in such Hollywood films asSeven Women from Hell andThe Quatermass Xperiment. Fourth runner-up Rose Marie Elliott had a successful musical career on the Broadway stage asRose Marie Brown.
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| Placement | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss America 1939 | |
| 1st Runner-Up |
|
| 2nd Runner-Up |
|
| 3rd Runner-Up | |
| 4th Runner-Up | |
| Top 15 |
|
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| Award | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Talent |
|
| Award | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss Congeniality |
|
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| Title | Name | Hometown | Age | Talent | Placement | Awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | Florine Holt | Birmingham | Vocal, "Moonglow" & "A Little Bit of Heaven" | Top 15 | |||
 Arkansas | Jean Thompson | Helena | |||||
 California | Marguerita Skliris | San Francisco | Dramatic Monologue, "The Poison Scene" fromRomeo and Juliet | 3rd Runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | Later known as actressMargia Dean | |
| Central Connecticut | Catherine Harrison | Derby | |||||
| Charlotte | Marguerite Taylor | Charlotte | |||||
 Connecticut | Frieda Lampar | Bridgeport | |||||
| Coney Island | Grayce M. Reilly | ||||||
 District of Columbia | Evelyn Foster | 19 | Ballet en Pointe | ||||
| Eastern New York | Claire E. Foley | Vocal Comedy & Dance | Top 15 | ||||
| Eastern Ohio | Maxine Drumm | ||||||
| Eastern Pennsylvania | Emma Louise Knoell | Philadelphia | |||||
 Florida | Rose Marie Magrill | Miami | Tap Dance | Top 15 | |||
 Georgia | Mary Durrance | Glennville | Vocal | ||||
 Illinois | Ethel Lorraine Lodbell | Chicago | Monologue, "From the Diary of a Contestant" | Top 15 | |||
 Kansas | Rosemary Winslow | Salina | |||||
 Kentucky | Louise Holman | Pineville | |||||
| Lexington | Mattigene Palmore | Lexington | |||||
 Maryland | Elaine Pasqualla | Crisfield | |||||
 Miami | Irmigard Dietel | Miami | Vocal Medley, "See You Again", "Blue Evening", & "Solitude" | Top 15 | |||
 Michigan | Patricia Donnelly | Detroit | 19 | Vocal/Bass Fiddle, "To You" & "Ol' Man Mose" | Winner | ||
 Minnesota | Marion Rudeen | Minneapolis | Acrobatic Dance | Top 15 | Preliminary Talent Award | ||
 Mississippi | Doris Coggins | Baldwyn | Miss Congeniality | ||||
 Missouri | Margaret Ley | St. Louis | |||||
 Montana | Lucille Chouinard | Fort Peck | |||||
| Montgomery | Louise Robertson | Montgomery | |||||
| Myrtle Beach | Mary Eleanor Parish | Myrtle Beach | |||||
 New Hampshire | Lois Marjorie Truax | Nashua | |||||
 New Jersey | Margo Lundgren | Harrison | Whistling Tunes Vocal, "Don't Worry About Me" | Top 15 | |||
 New Orleans | Frances Helen Anello | New Orleans | |||||
 North Carolina | Margaret Wood | Vocal, "If I Didn't Care" | Top 15 | Preliminary Talent Award | |||
 Ohio | Jeanne Saboda | Cleveland | |||||
 Oklahoma | Bettye Cornelia Avert | Oklahoma City | Original Piano & Vocal, "Wondering & Dreaming" | 1st Runner-up | |||
 Pennsylvania | Ruth Phyllis Willock | Pittsburgh | |||||
 Philadelphia | Nancy Lee | Philadelphia | |||||
 South Carolina | Margaret Allan Shealy | Clinton | Vocal, "Especially for You" | ||||
| Staten Island | Lillian Evelyn Hessen | Annadale | |||||
| Sun Valley | Louise Fletchner | Clarinet, "Stardust" | Top 15 | ||||
 Tennessee | Judy Jones | Tracy City | Vocal Medley, "I Surrender" & "Come True" | ||||
 Texas | Charmayne Smith | Dallas | Vocal, "Round Up Time in Texas" | Top 15 | |||
 Virginia | Rose Marie Elliot | Sulfolk | Vocal, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" | 4th Runner-up | Later known on Broadway asRose Marie Brown | ||
 Washington | Anna Mae Schoonover | Seattle | Dramatic Monologue fromAccent on Youth | 2nd Runner-up | |||
| Western Tennessee | Louise Bussart | Etowah |
