Mary Katherine Campbell

Who was Mary Katherine Campbell?

Mary Katherine Campbell was the only person to win the Miss America pageant twice, and the second woman in history to win the title. Campbell was Miss America 1922 and Miss America 1923, and she was also 1st Runner Up at the 1924 Miss America Pageant. Competing as "Miss Columbus," Campbell was only sixteen years old at the time of her first crowning in 1922. She lied about her age by nearly one year to enter the pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She told everyone that she was born in May 1905 but later admitted that she had lied about her age. After the 1924 pageant, in which the judge's scores revealed that Campbell had almost won the title a third time, the Miss America Organization changed the rules so that "a contestant may only win the Miss America title once."

She became "Miss Columbus" over a field of 170 other women, and proceeded to Atlantic City, where the Inter-City competition had grown to include 57 women from around the country. It would be the last time in Miss America history where "professional" and "amateur" winners would be judged as finalists against the "Inter-City" champion and place as runners-up to the Miss America title.