Miss USA 1959

Miss USA 1959
Date	July 22, 1959
Venue	Long Beach, California
Entrants	46
Placements	15
Winner	Terry Huntingdon California

Miss USA 1959, the eighth Miss USA pageant, took place in Long Beach, California on July 22, 1959. The pageant was won by Terry Huntingdon of California, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Arlene Howell of Louisiana. Huntingdon was the first woman from California to win the Miss USA title, and the first to win in her home state. Two days after her victory, Huntingdon went on to place as 2nd runner-up at Miss Universe 1959.

Results

Final results	Contestant
Miss USA 1959	California – Terry Huntingdon
1st runner-up	Texas – Carelgean Douglas
2nd runner-up	Florida – Nanita Greene
3rd runner-up	Georgia – Dorothy Taylor
4th runner-up	New York — Arlene Nesbitt
Top 15	Alabama – Pat Sullivan Arkansas – Donna Needham Colorado – Dianne Gardner Iowa – Kay Nielson Louisiana – Mary LoBianco Maine – Carolyn Komant Maryland – Diane White Missouri – Barbara Stell Nevada – Joy Blaine West Virginia – Wilda Estep

Historical significance

• Alaska competes as a state for the very first time
• California wins competition for the first time. Also becoming in the 9th state who does it for the first time.
• Texas earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time.
• Florida earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time.
• Georgia earns the 3rd runner-up position for the first time.
• New York earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
• States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New York and Texas.
• Texas placed for the seventh consecutive year.
• California and New York placed for the third consecutive year.
• Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana made their second consecutive placement.
• Arkansas, Iowa, Maryland, Nevada and West Virginia last placed in 1957.
• Colorado last placed in 1956.
• Missouri last placed in 1954.
• Maine last placed in 1953.
• Illinois breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1957.
• Utah breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1956.
• Washington breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1955.
• Nebraska and South Carolina break an ongoing streak of placements since 1953.

Delegates

The Miss USA 1959 delegates were:

• Alabama - Pat Sullivan
• Alaska - Anna Lekanof
• Arizona - Patricia Varga
• Arkansas - Donna Needham
• California - Terry Huntingdon
• Colorado - Dianne Gardner
• Connecticut - Jayne Burghardt
• Delaware - Linda Humes
• District of Columbia - Shirley Hobbs
• Florida - Nanita Greene
• Georgia - Dorothy Taylor
• Idaho - Pat Sherburne
• Illinois - Arlene Kay
• Indiana - Anita Watkins
• Iowa - Kay Nielson
• Kentucky - Sherree Watkins
• Louisiana - Mary LoBianco
• Maine - Carolyn Komant
• Maryland - Diane White
• Massachusetts - Beatrice Duprey
• Michigan - Susan Westergaard
• Minnesota - Muriel Fairbanks
• Missouri - Barbara Stell

• Montana - Bar-Beth Smith
• Nebraska - Priscilla Eckrich
• Nevada - Joy Blaine
• New Hampshire - Nancy Gray
• New Jersey - Geraldine Binder
• New Mexico - Carol Jones
• New York - Arlene Nesbitt
• North Carolina - Peggy Brown
• North Dakota - Patricia McGinley
• Ohio - Marie di Carlo
• Oklahoma - Sondra Osborne
• Pennsylvania - Rhoda Kachiko
• Rhode Island - Gloria Ryder
• South Carolina - Mary Powell
• South Dakota - Jeannine Stratton
• Tennessee - Marcia Daniel
• Texas - Carelgean Douglas
• Utah - Melanie Canfield
• Vermont - Sandra Laquerre
• Virginia - Pat Poindexter
• Washington - Leah Robinson
• West Virginia - Wilda Estep
• Wisconsin - Charlene Krause

No state delegate: Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Wyoming

External links

• Miss USA official website