Miss Oklahoma USA and Teen USA Titleholder History

Beginnings

Oklahoma was only represented three out of the seven years the Miss USA pageant was held in the 1950s and also did not compete in 1961 or 1962. When the pageant was revived in 1957 after not being held the previous three years, Rose Mary Raab was crowned by current Miss Universe Carol Morris (of Iowa), using a crown fashioned to represent the “Arrows to Atoms” theme of the Oklahoma Semi-Centennial Exposition where the pageant was held. A photo can be seen in the galleries below.

News snippets

What caught the media’s fancy in the early years? In 1959 Sondra Osborne had a pet lion cub named George – female – unfortunately the only photo is poor quality. In 1966 Melva Brown had to relay the news of her win to her parents through a neighbour, as her parents were deaf. And in 1971 Kim Hardesty wore – shock horror! – hot pants!

Sooner success

Oklahoma’s most successful era by number of placements was the 1980s, with five semi-finalist placements and a first runner-up finish within seven years. Despite this, recruitment was so poor for the 1990 pageant that they actually delayed the event by a month. The 1994 pageants were also delayed, after long time director Frank Gentry died of a heart attack.

More recently Oklahoma celebrated two back-to-back second runner-up placements in 2019-2020, in addition to Olivia Jordan’s win in 2015 and top five finishes in 2004, 2008 & 2010.

Tuttle Teens

Check out the crowning photos section below for a gorgeous photo of three Oklahoma Teens from the early 90s, including 1992 first runner-up Angela Logan, who all made the local news in their hometown of Tuttle, southwest of Oklahoma City.

The Gorton Sister Act – and more family connections

Taylor Gorton was the first Gorton sibling to win a title, when she became Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2008 and made the semi-finals at Miss Teen USA. In 2015 she competed at Miss Oklahoma USA where she finished second runner-up, while her sister Sydney also finished second runner-up in the Teen competition.  Taylor won the Miss OK USA title the following year, and in 2021 their other sister Hunter won the Miss Oklahoma Teen USA title.  Miss Oklahoma USA 1982 Jill Liebman Barnhart is the mother of Miss Nevada Teen USA winners Lauren Hudman and Britney Barnhart, and  Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2016 Hellen Smith (now known as Sharayah Carter) comes from a family of four sisters who have all competed in MAO and USA pageants.