Miss Oregon, Katie Marie Harman, 21, was crowned Miss America on Sept. 22, 2001, in Atlantic City.
The first runner-up was Miss Massachusetts, Abbie Rabine, and the second runner-up was Miss Tennessee, Stephanie Culberson. The third runner-up was Marshawn Evans, Miss District of Columbia. The fourth runner-up was Andrea Plummer, Miss New York, who seemed to be a sentimental favorite, probably because her state bore the brunt of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against America.
Ms. Harman is the first Oregonian to win the Miss America title.
The attacks and the international crisis they generated lent a somber air to the pageant. According to Miss America officials, there had been early discussions of canceling the contest, but contestants voted to go forward with it.
As in previous years, there were innovations in an attempt to draw a bigger TV audience to the pageant. The list of semifinalists was expanded to 20, and contestants who failed to make the finals were allowed some negligible role in the voting. There was also a mini-quiz show in which finalists answered questions about U.S. history and culture. Though Ms. Harman fared reasonably well in this category, the overall were dismal considering how easy the questions were. The image of Miss America contestants as somewhat better informed than other pageant participants is sure to suffer.
The Pageant News Bureau, with all its staff journalists called away to cover terrorism and war preparations, sent no official representative to the pageant. In addition to that handicap, PNB's flagship Web site at www.pageant.com was knocked "off the air" hours before the pageant. PNB, operated by a skeleton staff, blamed heavy traffic and possible assault by a worm.
