For years, the Miss Oklahoma Pageant was held in Oklahoma City. It was held at the First Christian Church since 1952. The pageant moved to Tulsa in 1964 and was held in the Civic Center. Toni Spencer was the Executive Director and Ralph Blane as the Producer/Director. Miss America 1958 Marilyn Van Derbur was the mistress of ceremonies and it was televised statewide. The Kiwanis Club of Tulsa became co-sponsor of the pageant in 1966, and took over full sponsorship in 1972 with Charles Welch as the Executive Director. Today the Executive Director is Kay Alexander.
The Kiwanis Club of Tulsa has contributed to the success of the Miss Oklahoma. They have provided volunteers, donors and sponsors to make this organization what it is today.
The Miss Oklahoma Organization is proud to offer over $2,000,000 in scholarships to candidates each year statewide. These scholarships are given out through the local competitions and the Miss Oklahoma Scholarship Foundation.
Over $8 million dollars have been made available and nearly 10,000 women have participated in the Miss Oklahoma program in state and local competitions since The Kiwanis Club of Tulsa started sponsoring in 1972.
The Miss America Organization is one of the nation’s leading achievement programs and the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Each year, the Miss America Organization makes available millions in cash and tuition scholarship assistance. This assistance is not just for the handful of young women who become Miss America, but is available to all young women who compete in the state and local competitions as well. For more information visit the Miss America website at missamerica.org
