Elizabeth Cooper-Moore (August 11, 1920 – December 10, 2017) won the
Miss America 1937 pageant as
Miss Bertrand Island, representing an amusement park on
Lake Hopatcong
Lake Hopatcong is the largest freshwater body in New Jersey, United States, about in area. Located from the Delaware River and from Manhattan, New York City, the lake forms part of the border between Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex and Morris ...
in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
.
Early life
She was born in
Hackettstown, New Jersey
Hackettstown is a Town (New Jersey), town in Warren County, New Jersey, Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is perhaps best known as the home to the US headquarters of Mars Inc., Mars, Inc.. As of the 2020 United States census, t ...
.
Cooper attended Centenary Junior College (now
Centenary University) in Hackettstown where she was a member of the Delta Sigma Sigma sorority and graduated from Centenary Junior College's Academy in 1938 at ceremonies attended by
Governor of New Jersey
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...
,
A. Harry Moore, later graduating from Centenary Junior College in 1940.
Pageantry
She caused a stir when she disappeared for some 24 hours with 23-year-old Louis Off, after winning the Miss America title.
Evidently overwhelmed by what was expected of her, she insisted upon a much lighter schedule so that she could attend college. This led pageant officials to have future Miss America contestants sign agreements as to what duties were expected of the winner and also be chaperoned.
Career
Cooper, who did some modeling and appearances in the years after her title, long shunned any connection or involvement with Miss America.
Michael Callahan wrote a
roman à clef
A ''roman à clef'' ( ; ; ) is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people and the "key" is the relationship between the non-fiction and the fiction. This m ...
on Cooper titled ''The Night She Won Miss America'' (2017).
Personal life
She married a Wall Street executive, William Moore, and had two children, Cheryl and Gregory, as well as four grandchildren.
Cooper died in December 2017 at the age of 97.
References
External links
Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum Lake Hopatcong News
1920 births
2017 deaths
Centenary University alumni
Miss America 1930s delegates
Miss America winners
People from Hackettstown, New Jersey
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