Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Jean Bartel Miss America 1943 Photographs, 1943-1944

Summary
Kansas City
Kansas City
Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0902
Creators:
Bartel, Jean
Dates:
1943-1970, undated
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.66 Cubic feet
2 boxes
Repository:
Photographs of Jean Bartel during the Miss America Pageant in 1943 and her activities during her reign.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
Series 1, Miss America Competition, 1943, consists of photographs taken during the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The photographs are arranged by the activity during the competition.
Series 2, Miss America Reign, 1943-1944, consists of photographs taken during the year Bartel served as Miss America and highlights her travels around the country. Notably featured is New York, where Bartel visited Leon and Eddie's nightclub, the Waldorf Astoria, Madison Square Garden, Stage Door Canteen, and the Empire State Building. Also included is a signed note from Eddie Davis, owner of Leon and Eddie's. Bartel is photographed visiting with various people and participating in a variety of events. The series ends as she crowns Miss America 1944, Venus Ramey. The materials are arranged in chronological order.
Series 3, Post Miss America, 1954, 1970, undated, includes photographs taken after Bartel's reign as Miss America. The photographs mostly document her professional career as an actress. There is one photograph of her wedding in 1970. The materials are arranged in chronological order.
Arrangement
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series.
Series 1: Miss America Competition
Series 2: Miss America Reign
Series 3: Post Miss America
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Jean Bartel was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1924. She was strongly encouraged by her parents to follow her dream of performing on Broadway. Bartel entered the Miss America Pageant in 1943 after she learned that the financial backer of Oklahoma, Horace Schmidlapp, was going to be a pageant judge. For the talent portion of the competition, she sang Cole Porter's Night and Day and won the title of Miss America.
During her reign as Miss America, Bartel was given many opportunities to combine her love for singing and traveling. Her talent was often used to entertain American troops. Bartel also was involved in a bond-selling tour and was honored by the United States Treasury Department as the individual who sold the most Series E Bonds that year. Women purchased most of the two and one half million dollars of these bonds.
After she relinquished the title, Bartel performed for radio and television traveling to South America, the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and in every state except Maine. Bartel was the first Miss America to star in a Broadway musical, Of Thee I Sing, in 1952.
Bartel met William J. Hogue while she was working for Japanese television and he was a consultant for the Mitsubishi Company. They were married in Kyoto, Japan, in 1970. Bartel continued to perform on the stage. She also worked for American television appearing in programs including
The Red Skelton Show
,
The Danny Thomas Show
,
Perry Mason
,
Robert Montgomery Theatre
,
The Ed Wynn Show
,
Stop the Music
,
The Milton Berle Show
, and
Broadway TV Theatre
. She also did television work in Paris, Cannes, London, Beirut, Athens, Rio de Janeiro, San Paulo, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Scandinavia. Bartel received a special showing of
It's a Woman's World
at the Montreux International Television Festival in Switzerland in which she was the host and star. Other television and feature film work included
The Rockford Files
and
The Debtors
.
In 2001, Bartel lost her husband of thirty-one years. Bartel currently owns Jean Bartel and Associates, an international travel consultation firm. She resides in Los Angeles, California and continues to be active in church work, the Academy of Television Arts and Science, the Hollywood Radio and Television Society and in supporting the Veteran's Cemetery. Scope and Content: This collection primarily documents Bartel's reign as Miss America from 1943-1944. There are some photographs of the Miss America pageant including images of other contestants and Atlantic City, New Jersey. In addition, there are a few photographs of Bartel after her reign ended.
Administration
Author
Kiley Orchard
Processing Information
Processed by Ramona Williamson (volunteer), Kiley Orchard (intern), 2008; supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, 2008.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Jean Bartel donated this collection in 2005.
Separated Materials
Bartel donated her Miss America crown to the Museum's Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life). See accession number: 2005.3069.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Preferred Citation
Jean Bartel Miss America 1943 Photographs, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Keywords
Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1940-1950 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Beauty contestants Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Beauty contests -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Sports, Entertainment and Leisure Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
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