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The first Miss
Hawai'i was crowned in 1948 at the 49th State Fair held at Kapiolani Park. The sponsor, the Honolulu Junior Chamber of Commerce,
had challenged the national organization’s rule that entrance was
limited to whites only.
The Jaycees were granted a limited waiver, allowing them to
enter local girls of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean,
Hawaiian or mixed extraction. The restriction, known as Rule
Seven, was finally taken off the books for good in the
mid-‘50s.
“In 1948, Hawai'i entered the national contest with its first
contestant, Irmgard Waiwaiole, a 23 year-old telephone
company operator from Maui. She was of Hawaiian, Norwegian,
Chinese and Irish Ancestry. Her reign was short-lived when
it was discovered that she had not finished high school.
During World War II, Mauna Olu Seminary had been turned into
a makeshift hospital and Waiwaiole was one of its many
students who had volunteered for war service and had never
gotten a diploma. First runner-up Yun Tau Zane took her
place. Zane won a $1,000 scholarship and the Miss
Congeniality title in Atlantic City.” (Honolulu Magazine
Sept. 1991)
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The Following has been compiled by Miss Hawai'i Executive
Producer/Archivist: Raymond Abregano
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1
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Since 1948, in the Miss America Pageant,
Hawai'i has
produced:
Two Miss Americas
1992 Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (Vocal: Ain’t Misbehavin’)
2000 Angela Perez Baraquio (Hula: Mutiny On The Bounty/I Am
Hawai'i)
Three Top-five Finalists
1962 Patricia Lei Anderson (Fourth Runner-Up)
1963 Susan Dee Pickering (Third Runner-Up)
2003 Kanoelani Gibson (First Runner-Up)
Seventeen Semi-Finalists
1949 Betty Jane Johnson
1952 Beverly Kathleen Rivera
1955 Barbara Mamo Vierra (The Night Is Young)
1956 Jere Wright
1961 Joan Whitney Vine (Thou Swell)
1962 Patricia Lei Anderson (Un Bel Di)
1963 Susan Dee Pickering
1964 Leina’ala Ann Teruya
1969 Sheryl Hung Lan Lokelani Akaka
1984 Debbie Nakanelua (Hula: Hawaiian Hula Eyes)
1988 Desiree Moana Cruz (I Am Changing)
1991 Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (Ain’t Misbehavin’)
1993 Kanoe Aberegg (Hula: Aloha Oe)
1996 Melissa Ann Short (Je Veux Vivre)
1997 Erika Leilani Kauffman (God Bless the Outcasts)
2000 Angela Perez Baraquio (Hula: Mutiny On The Bounty/I Am
Hawai'i)
2003 Kanoelani Gibson (Natural Woman)
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Hawai'i has had seven Preliminary Swimsuit Award Winners in
the Miss America Pageant:
1955 Barbara Mamo Vierra
1956 Jere Wright
1970 Kathleen Puanani O’Sullivan
1992 Carolyn Suzanne Sapp
1996 Melissa Ann Short
1997 Erika Leilani Kauffman
2000 Angela Perez Baraquio
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Hawai'i’s winners in the Preliminary Talent Competition in
the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City:
1962 Patricia Lei Anderson – vocal: “Un Bel Di”
1996 Melissa Ann Short – vocal: “Je Veux Vivre”
2003 Kanoelani Gibson – vocal: “Natural Woman”
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Hawai'i’s Non-finalist talent award winners in Atlantic City:
1954 Gertrude Kapiolani Miller – Hula
1971 Aurora Joan Ka’awa – Hula
1985 Jeanne Miyamoto – Vocal: “Bali Hai”
1986 Cheryl Bartlett – Vocal: “America the Beautiful”
1990 Cheryl Toma – Vocal/Piano: “Gershwin Medley”
1998 Jennifer Hera – Vocal: “Someone Like You”
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Hawai'i boasts a record of having the most Congeniality Award
winners. Seven representatives from Hawai'i have received
this distinction:
1948 Yun Tau Zane
1950 Dell-Fin Kalaupaona Poaha
1951 Claire Kathleen Heen
1955 Barbara Mamo Vierra
1959 Gordean Leilehua Lee
1973 Kanoelehua Kaumeheiwa
1974 Coline-Helen Kanaloku Aiu
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Since 1948,
Hawai'i has sent 21 Vocalists to the Miss America
Pageant. Those who became semi-finalists:
1961 Joan WhitneyVine
1962 Patricia Lei Anderson
1988 Desire Moana Cruz
1991 Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (Miss America)
1996 Melissa Ann Short
1997 Erika Kauffman
2003 Kanoelani Gibson
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Throughout the years, 20 hula dancers have graced the stage
of Convention Hall in Atlantic City. Six have placed in the
Top-Ten in the Miss America Pageant.
1949 Betty Jane Johnson
1952 Beverly Kathleen Rivera
1955 Barbara Mamo Vierra
1984 Debbie Nakanelua
1993 Kanoe Aberegg
2000 Angela Perez Baraquio (Miss America)
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From
Hawai'i, three monologues have been presented for Talent
Competition in the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City.
Two became semi-finalists:
1956 Jere Wright
1964 Leinaala Ann Teruya
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Of the six Interpretive Modern Dancers sent to the Miss
America Pageant in Atlantic City, only one finished as a
finalist:
1963 Sue Dee Pickering |
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Three Miss
Hawai'i finalists have won the Miss Hawai'i crown
having danced the same hula number, “Kalua” for their talent
competition.
1953 Dorothy Ellis
1954 Gertrude Kapiolani Miller
1991 Lani Stone
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Did you know . . .
1948 The first Miss
Hawai'i Pageant held at Kapiolani Park
under a tent at the 49th State Fair. The winner of the
pageant, Irmgard Waiwaiole graced the stage with a beautiful
hula.
1949 Kewalo Basin at Ala Moana was the site of the 2nd
Annual 49thState
Fair where Betty Jane Johnson was crowned the 2nd Miss
Hawai'i.
1951 The pageant was held at Camp Smith, a Marine Base, but
the winner’s
name, Clair Heen, was kept a secret until a few nights later
when she was crowned at Kapiolani Park during the 49th State
Fair.
1952 The pageant moved with the 49th State Fair to Sand
Island. Spectators had to take the ferry boat from Aloha
Tower to see Beverly Rivera with the title.
1957 Finalists walked, talked and danced – undaunted by
gusts of wind and threats of rain at the old Honolulu
Stadium the night Sandra Forsythe was crowned.
1961 At the Waikiki Shell, when Joan Whitney Vine was
crowned, each contestant wore a gown provided especially for
the occasion by The Ritz Store.
1962 Moments before Patricia Lei Anderson was crowned at the
Waikiki Shell, the horizon was ablaze with a red and orange
sky as the first hydrogen bomb exploded at the Johnston
Island test site.
1964 After actor/emcee Richard Boone announced Leinaala Ann
Teruya as the winner at the Honolulu International Center
Concert Hall, he offered her a role in his television
series.
1965 Roberta Conlan, a National Merit Scholar and a summer
reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, was crowned by
Governor John Burns at the Waikiki Shell.
1969 The newspapers were filled with stories of America’s
first astronauts to land on the moon when Sheryl Hung Lan
Akaka was crowned at Farrington High School. When news
reporters asked her how she felt, she replied, “I was
moonstruck!”
1973 On her eighth birthday, her grandfather told her that
she would someday be Miss Hawai'i. Eleven years later, the
prediction came true when Kanoelehua Kaumeheiwa was crowned
at Hilo Auditorium.
1976 The first year the Miss
Hawai'i Franchise was given to
Hawaiian Airlines, Haunani Asing was befittingly crowned by
outgoing Miss Hawai'i, Catherine Foy in the Monarch Ballroom
of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The newly crowned queen played
slack-key guitar while singing, “Hawaiian Lullaby.”
1977 The Miss Hawai'i Program moved to the Sheraton Waikiki
Ballroom where Libby Kawaikikilani Lee was crowned. For her
talent, the newly crowned queen (an olapa graduate from
Auntie Maiki Aiu halau) danced a hula kahiko.
1981 The Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall was the site of the
Miss Hawai'i Program, where Pamela Iwalani Offer was crowned.
For her talent, Pamela sang, “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.”
1984 The Miss Hawai'i Program was viewed by thousands of
viewers throughout the State of Hawai'i, via KGMB TV. Many
saw Debbie Nakanelua crowned as the new Miss Hawai'i. For her
talent, Debbie danced the hula, “Hawaiian Hula Eyes.”
1985 When Jeanne Miyamoto won the title, the KITV telecast
came from the Coral Ballroom of the Hilton Hawaiian Village
– home of the Miss Hawai'i Pageant. For her talent, Jeanne
accompanied herself on the piano, singing “Summertime.”
1997 K5 The Home Team, brings the live telecast of the
pageant into the homes of thousands of Hawai'i residents.
Many witnessed the crowning of Erika Kauffman Miss Hawai'i
1997.
2001 Hawai'i witnessed the live telecast of the on-stage
marriage proposal of Tini Grey to Miss America, Angela
Baraquio. Also, two Dung sisters entered the Miss Hawai'i
Pageant, with older sister, Denby Dung winning the title
over her younger sister, Dana Dung. |
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