Jo-Caroll Dennison

Jo-Carroll Dennison (December 16, 1923 – October 18, 2021) was an American actress and model who was Miss America 1942 and one of the first to object to wearing a swimsuit during her reign. At the time of her death, she was the oldest surviving former Miss America.

“I’m glad to have lived long enough to see how women’s fight against inequality, sexual harassment and abuse has finally come to the fore,” she said in a video she made in September for this year’s observance of the 100th anniversary of the Miss America pageant.

As a child she was a member of her parents' travelling medicine show, where she sang, dance and performed on trick horses.

Before her death she wrote her autobiography "Finding My Little Red Hat" where she revealed she was sexually assaulted at the age of 12.

Family

• Parents: Harry Arthur Dennison and Elizabeth Brownd
• Spouse(s): 1) Phil Silvers ​(m. 1945; div. 1950)​ 2) Russell Stoneham (m. 1954; div. 1981)​
• Children: John Stoneham, Peter Stoneham

References

• “Finding My Little Red Hat" - Forward Evan Mills, Mendocino, California, September 2021
• photo gallery
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo-Carroll_Dennison cites
  • "Miss America History 1942". Archived from the original on 2012-05-02.
  • https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3382472/the-wilkes-barre-record/
  • “A Miss America story” Published January 21, 2020, Idyllwild Town Crier.
• “Jo-Carroll Dennison, Miss America During World War II, Dies at 97” Published Oct. 29, 2021, NYTimes.com
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L1Q8-GMG cites
  • United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWKM-5QC : 29 July 2019), Jo Carroll Dennison in household of Martha Brownd, Hale Center, Commissioner's Precinct 3, Hale, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 95-14, sheet 2B, line 65, family 89, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4049.
  • "California Divorce Index, 1966-1984," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPBT-21P : 15 May 2014), Jo C Stoneham and Russell C, 13 Apr 1981; from "California Divorce Index, 1966-1984," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2007); citing Los Angeles, California, Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento.
  • "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5W-W3L5 : accessed 2 November 2021), Jo Carroll Dennison in entry for Mr Phil Silvers, Kansas, United States, 02 Nov 1985; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing , born-digital text.
• The Polo Grounds: Essays and Memories of New York City's Historic Ballpark ... edited by Stew Thornley. Page 56. GoogleBooks