Miss Minnesota USA
| Formation | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis |
| Location | |
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Membership
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Miss USA |
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Official language
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English |
| Website | Official website |
The Miss Minnesota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss USA pageant.
Despite a strong start in the first three years of competition at Miss USA, Minnesota has been only mildly successful overall. In more recent years, Minnesota has twice received recognition with the Miss Photogenic award.
Barbara Elaine Peterson was the first Miss Minnesota-USA to be crowned Miss USA (in 1976), and was also the first Miss USA to not place in the Miss Universe pageant. Her sister, Polly Peterson Bowles, was Miss Minnesota-USA 1981.
The Miss Minnesota-USA pageant was first held in 1952. That year's winner was Jodell Stirmlinger. Her win was followed by Mary Ann Papke in 1953 and Dawn Joyce in 1954. All three placed in the top 20 or better at the Miss USA contest. Minnesota would not see another contestant place at Miss USA until 1976 when Barbara Elaine Peterson became the state's first (and to date only) Miss USA winner. She did not place at the Miss Universe 1976 held in Hong Kong.
Miss Minnesota-USA was not held from 1960–64. The following year Miss Minnesota-USA winner Elizabeth Jane Carroll won the Miss Congeniality award at the Miss USA pageant.
Peterson's 1976 success was followed by Deborah Cossette, who was the second runner up at Miss USA. Barbara Peterson's sister, Polly Peterson, won the 1981 Miss Minnesota-USA title. She was also the second runner up at the 1976 Miss Teenage America pageant, but didn't place at Miss USA 1981.
In November 1987, Sue Bolich won the 1988 Miss Minnesota-USA title. Bolich reigned from November 1987 to February 1988, when she resigned after being arrested for shoplifting. First runner-up Jolene Stavrakis resigned days later after she revealed she had pleaded guilty to shoplifting in 1986. Second runner-up Julie Nelson was crowned less than a month before the Miss USA pageant in February 1988.
In 1989, Julie Knutson won the Miss Minnesota-USA title after being a semifinalist in both 1987 and 1988. In 1990, Janet Tveita became the second Miss Minnesota-USA winner to win a special award at Miss USA, taking Miss Congeniality. April Herke, who had been the fourth runner-up in Miss Oktoberfest 1990, won the 1991 crown. The 1992 winner, Amber Rue, completed her reign amid publicity about a "public lovers' quarrel involving allegations of coerced sex, extortion, fraud, and defamation of character".
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