Marilyn Meseke (; October 7, 1916 – September 12, 2001) was an American

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes so ...

who had the distinction of being twice crowned

Miss Ohio The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program selects the representative for the U.S. state of Ohio to compete for the title of Miss America. The pageant is held annually, during the "Miss Ohio Festival" week, at the historic 1,600 seat Ohio Theatre (Mansfi ...

(1931 and 1938) and

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

in 1938.

Early life

Meseke was christened, "Mary Ellen Spurrier" in 1917, near

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in Allen County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,579. It is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75, appr ...

. While still an infant, her mother surrendered custody to her maternal grandparents, Charlie and Clara Meseke. Following her adoption, she was renamed Marilyn, given her grandmother's surname of Meseke and reared in the family home on South Prospect Street in

Marion, Ohio Marion is a city in Marion County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 35,999 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down slig ...

. While still a child, she exhibited a talent for dance and received formal dance instruction throughout her childhood; she later became a

tap dance Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...

instructor, using the family's living room as her studio.

Pageantry

Meseke entered and won the

competition twice. Her first title was won in 1931 at the age of 14; her young age kept her from the national pageant. Her second title in 1938 qualified her to represent

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in the national

pageant. The 1938 pageant was the first year that talent became a scoring event in the competition which was serendipitous as Meseke was a talented tap dancer. While her hometown listened to the pageant on the radio, Meseke won the crown on September 10, 1938. The event also marked the first time that movie audiences could see a Miss America being crowned through news reel footage shown the week following the event. Meseke's return to Marion on September 29, 1938, included a night time parade attended by 30,000 well wishers from hometown and surrounding communities.

Personal life

Following the pageant win, Meseke continued to make appearances and teach dance in Marion. She married Stanley Hume, a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, in 1943; they were the parents of one son. The couple relocated to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Following the death of her first husband Stanley Hume, Marilyn Meseke Hume married pilot Benjamin Rogers. Meseke died in Florida on September 12, 2001, aged 84.

Notes

External links

Marilyn Meseke, Ohio Memory Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meseke, Marilyn 1916 births 2001 deaths American adoptees American tap dancers Miss America 1930s delegates Miss America winners American female dancers People from Lima, Ohio People from Marion, Ohio 20th-century American dancers