Miss USA 1956

Miss USA 1956, the fifth edition of Miss USA was held on July 18, 1956, at Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California. From the 43 contestants Miss Iowa USA, Carol Morris, won the competition and later became Miss Universe. She became the first contestant from Iowa to win the Miss USA competition. She was crowned by Miss USA 1955, Carlene King Johnson of Vermont.

Miss USA 1956
Miss USA 1956 Carol Morris
Date	July 18, 1956
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California
Entrants	43
Winner	Carol Morris Iowa

One of the runners-up, Charlene Holt of Maryland, became an actress, appearing on television series and in films including El Dorado with John Wayne.

Placements

Final results	Contestant
Miss USA 1956	Iowa – Carol Morris
1st runner-up Miss World USA 1956	South Carolina – Betty Cherry
2nd runner-up	Arkansas – Nancy McCollum
3rd runner-up	Nebraska – Shari Lewis
4th runner-up	Texas – Jo Dobson
Top 15	Colorado – Karen Keeler Maryland – Charlene Holt Michigan – Barbara Sias New Jersey – Dolores Winfield North Carolina – Shirley Bagwell Ohio – Eleanor Wood Oregon – Maralyn Turner Tennessee – Stella Wilson Utah – Cheryl Brown Washington – June Svedin

Historical significance

• Iowa wins competition for the first time. Also becoming in the 5th state who does it for the first time. Incidentally, Morris went on to become the second woman from the USA to win the Miss Universe title in 1956.
• South Carolina earns the 1st runner-up position for the second time. The last time it placed this was in 1953. Also this reaches the highest placement since Miriam Stevenson won in 1954. Incidentally, Stevenson went on to become the first woman from the USA to win the Miss Universe title in 1954.
• Arkansas earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time.
• Nebraska earns the 3rd runner-up position for the first time.
• Texas earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
• States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.
• Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas placed for the fourth consecutive year.
• Arkansas placed for the third consecutive year.
• Colorado and Washington made their second consecutive placement.
• Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio last placed in 1954.
• Utah last placed in 1953.
• Michigan and Tennessee last placed in 1952.
• North Carolina and Oregon placed for the first time.
• New York City, and Wisconsin break an ongoing streak of placements since 1954.
• California and Illinois break an ongoing streak of placements since 1953.
• New York breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1952.

Delegates

The Miss USA 1956 delegates were:

Arizona – Maija Bertulson Arkansas – Nancy McCollum California – Shirlee Witty Colorado – Karen Keeler Connecticut – Dorothy Bailey Delaware – Sandra McCabe District of Columbia – Joanne Holler Florida – Kim Meyer Georgia – Mary Ruff Illinois – Muriel Blair Indiana – Beverly Mattox Iowa – Carol Morris Louisiana – Cecile Morris Maryland – Charlene Holt Massachusetts – Elaine Murphy Miami Beach – Beverly Rogers Michigan – Barbara Sias Minnesota – Marilyn Johnson Missouri – Carol Thrower Nebraska – Shari Lewis Nevada – Marley Sanderson New Hampshire – Rita Leclerc

New Jersey – Dolores Winfield New Mexico – Jackie Brown New York – Kay Douglas North Carolina – Shirley Bagwell North Dakota – Mary Harroun Ohio – Eleanor Wood Oregon – Maralyn Turner Pennsylvania – Serena Kifer Philadelphia – Miriam Uniman Rhode Island – Sandra Vozella South Carolina – Betty Cherry St. Louis – Diana Stopke Tennessee – Stella Wilson Texas – Jo Dobson Utah – Cheryl Brown Vermont – Dolores Wettack Virginia – Audra Stark Washington – June Svedin West Virginia – Janet Cardi Wisconsin – Priscilla Perkins Wyoming – Marilyn Scott

See also

• Miss Universe 1956
• Miss World 1956

External links

• Miss USA official website