On September 6, 1924, eighteen-year-old Philadelphia resident Ruth Malcomson was crowned Miss America at the fourth annual pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Competing as Miss Philadelphia, Malcomson prevailed over a field of 83 contestants—the largest in the pageant’s history to that point—and succeeded the two-time reigning titleholder, Mary Katherine Campbell of Columbus, Ohio, who finished as first runner-up.
The competition took place at Atlantic City’s Million Dollar Pier during the early years of what was then often called the Atlantic City Pageant. Created in 1921 by local business interests, the event was intended to extend the resort city’s tourist season beyond Labor Day. Malcomson received the pageant’s famed Golden Mermaid trophy, which Campbell had held after her consecutive victories in 1922 and 1923.
Malcomson’s win also ended Campbell’s bid for an unprecedented third consecutive crown; pageant officials later adopted a rule preventing contestants from being crowned Miss America more than once.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
