Landmarks & Legacies: Denton’s two Miss Americas were trailblazers

By Annetta Ramsay Jul 24, 2020 

The 1921 “Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America,” Margaret Gorman, didn’t receive her crown until 1922, when the Atlantic City pageant became “Miss America.” Since then, only 92 other women have been crowned Miss America. Texas has had three Miss Americas, and two of them were born and raised in Denton.

Phyllis George, Miss Denton 1969, placed fourth in the Miss Texas pageant that year. She competed as Miss Dallas in 1970 because Texas has an open pageant system, and she won the Miss Texas title. Two months later, she became Miss America 1971.

George grew up in Denton, where parents Louise Cogdell and James George were deeply rooted. Phyllis won a piano competition at age 11. She graduated from Denton High School and attended North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas. George was active in Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and Angel Flight.

The pageant was under fire from the women’s movement after demonstrations at the 1968 Miss America pageant galvanized second-wave feminists. In her book, Never Say Never, George commented on criticism that women in bathing suits were exploited: “Even though I’d won the swimsuit competition, I despised that part of the competition; most of the other contestants did as well. But … I saw the pageant as an opportunity, a way to earn scholarship money, and a springboard to new possibilities.”

George played “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” on the piano despite a faulty sound system. When she won, exiting Miss America Pamela Eldred was unable to secure the gold crown celebrating the pageant’s 50th anniversary to George’s bouffant hair. The crown tumbled from her head as she started down the runway, and she gracefully scooped it up.

The crown incident may be a metaphor for the roller coaster George faced after becoming Miss America. She hosted the television show Candid Camera and became one of the first female sportscasters, co-hosting The NFL Today show. She became Kentucky’s first lady when husband John Brown was elected governor in 1979. They had two children together. George also anchored the CBS Morning News, started her own food line, Chicken by George, and makeup and skin care brands. As a media trailblazer, George was repeatedly tasked with jobs for which she hadn’t been trained, and she was harassed on and off the set. Her disarming personality helped her persevere.

Phyllis George died on May 14 at age 70 from a rare blood disorder. She’s buried in Lexington, Kentucky. Her parents and grandparents are buried in Denton.

In 1974, four years after George became Miss America, 21-year-old Denton native Shirley Cothran claimed the 1975 Miss America title. The daughter of a security guard and a homemaker graduated from Denton High School, also joined Zeta Tau Alpha sorority at NTSU and completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Pageant officials still listed “vital statistics”: height, weight, bust, waist and hip measurements. Cothran was scheduled to begin a doctorate in early childhood and family counseling at Texas Christian University when she was crowned.

The day after Cothran won, a New York Times article described her news conference in the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall meeting room with a throne, while 2,000 feminists in another meeting room listened to U.S. Rep. and women’s movement leader Bella Abzug conclude the “Wonder Woman Conference.”

Cothran, known as “Chigger” to friends in Denton, calmly described traditional Christian values, listing her favorite things as her Southern Baptist religion, apple pie and Johnny Carson. Reporters peppered her with questions about the Equal Rights Amendment, draft dodgers, abortion and the women’s movement. Prior to the 1970s, the toughest question a newly anointed Miss America faced was what they ate for breakfast.

Shirley Cothran completed her doctorate, married NTSU boyfriend Richard Barret, had four children and a speaking career. She lived in Denton until 2001, when she moved to a small ranch near Weatherford.

Both women blazed different trails. Prior to the 1970s, the best thing a Miss America could hope for was to marry successfully. Phyllis George and Shirley Cothran Barret became successful.

https://dentonrc.com/news/landmarks-legacies-denton-s-two-miss-americas-were-trailblazers/article_85aaecb1-1b67-5230-abf8-93a556da15cd.html