Ohio shares the title for number of winners

Ohio and California have produced more winners than any other state.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- Statistically speaking, Amanda Beagle has the odds on her side.
The 24-year-old Howland native, the reigning Miss Ohio, is in Atlantic City, N.J., one of 51 contestants in the 2005 Miss America pageant.
But history shows that Midwestern states -- especially Ohio -- produce more pageant winners than any other area of the country.
According to the Miss America pageant's Web site -- www.missamerica.org -- since the nonprofit organization's inception in 1921, 76 women have been named Miss America.
There were eight years when the Miss America pageant was not held, largely due to major historic world events.
Contestants from California and Ohio have walked away with the most Miss America titles, with each state earning the crown six times.
Pennsylvania and Illinois follow with five titles apiece, while Michigan, Oklahoma and Mississippi have each had four participants crowned Miss America.
Of those women, winners from Ohio hold some pretty significant distinctions.
Winners
Mary Katherine Campbell of Columbus was the only woman to ever hold the title of Miss America twice. At the time of her selection as Miss America 1922, Campbell listed her birth date as May 1906. However, she later admitted being only 15 at the time. She was only the second Miss America, but was the first to be a high school graduate.
In 1923, Campbell returned to defend her title against 74 women from 36 states.
Marilyn Meseke of Marion, who performed a tap dance, won the title in 1938, the first year talent was a mandatory portion of the contest. About half the nation got to see Miss America crowned for the first time that year, since the ceremony was filmed for movie theater newsreels.
Ohio didn't bring home another Miss America title until 1963, when Jacquelyn Mayer of Sandusky won. Mayer suffered a stroke in 1970 that left her paralyzed and unable to speak. Today, she is 90 percent recovered and travels throughout the country as a motivational speaker on strokes.
Laurel Schaefer of Bexley took the title and crown in 1972. She was able to parlay her success in the pageant into a career in show business, including appearances in several Broadway-style musicals. Her r & eacute;sum & eacute; also lists various television appearances, including a recurring role on "Falcon Crest" and guest spots on shows like "Matlock," "Three's Company" and "Quantum Leap."
Ohio's most recent Miss America was Susan Perkins of Columbus. Since winning the title in 1978, Perkins has been a professional singer, spokeswoman and television reporter. She is a free-lance fashion consultant whose work has taken her as far away as Italy to work with Gucci.
slshaulis@vindy.com