One of the more endearing – and enduring – traditions at Historically Black Colleges and Universities is the annual selection of a campus queen.
Like many of its peer institutions, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore has embraced this extracurricular activity with vigor dating back to the Great Depression, according to campus lore.
Miss UMES and her Imperial Court “have played a significant role, in public, as student representatives,” an official handbook for the annual UMES pageant says. “Each young lady is expected to be a person of high moral conduct and a student with a great deal of school pride and spirit.”
“In the beginning, Miss UMES’ role was defined primarily as a homecoming queen,” the handbook says. Her role “has changed to include that of more professional duties. Her role now includes public speaking as a University spokesperson, student role model and new student recruiter. It is necessary that she be well versed and extremely comfortable in the public eye.”
The names of many of the early campus queens are not known. But during the university’s 125th anniversary celebration, two emerged from the campus archives.
One was Maggie Curry, who in the late fall of 1946 was identified as “Miss Princess Anne” in a campus publication called the “College Mirror.” She was crowned during halftime of a homecoming football game. Curry arrived in a “gray sedan, accompanied by her maids of honor, Marie White, Elaine Dashiell and Virginia Williams.” She made “a magnificent address, expressing her affection for the college and appreciation of her supporters.”
The coronation might have been the highlight of the day; the game with Cheyney Training School for Teachers ended in a 6-6 tie.
The following fall, Princess Anne College’s homecoming game program featured a photo and brief biography of that year’s campus queen, Lemay Irene Atlee, a freshman from Bryans Road, Md. in Charles County.
Beginning with the transition to Maryland State College under John Taylor Williams, their names and photos have been meticulously maintained in records by the Office of Campus Life. The first “Miss Maryland State” was Amelia Merchant.
A second-floor room in the Student Services Center is designated the “Queens’ Gallery,” and is dedicated to long-time campus photographer Thomas H. Wiles. Formal portraits he took of queens beginning with Amelia Merchant in 1948 through 1988 are on display.
| FALL | Campus Queen | TITLE(S) |
| 1948 | Amelia Merchant | Miss Maryland State |
| 1949 | Kathleen Taylor Talbert | Miss Maryland State |
| 1950 | Mary Smithers Gladden | Miss Maryland State |
| 1951 | Yvonne Jones | Miss Maryland State |
| 1952 | Constance Eldean Hill | Miss Maryland State |
| 1953 | Marjorie Frazier Townsel | Miss Maryland State |
| 1954 | Colinthia Burton Gosa | Miss Maryland State |
| 1955 | Shirley Adams Smith | Miss Maryland State |
| 1956 | Martha McGee | Miss Maryland State |
| 1957 | Delores Harley | Miss Maryland State |
| 1958 | Emma Smith | Miss Maryland State |
| 1959 | Andrades Alexander | Miss Maryland State |
| 1960 | Lois Kelley | Miss Maryland State |
| 1961 | Ivy Jean Carter | Miss Maryland State |
| 1962 | Carolyn Thompson | Miss Maryland State |
| 1963 | Louida Fletcher | Miss Maryland State |
| 1964 | Theresa Cheeks | Miss Maryland State |
| 1965 | Vashti Saunders-Peagler | Miss Maryland State |
| 1966 | Zuella Gayle-Ennis | Miss Maryland State |
| 1967 | Brenda Barnes-Matthews | Miss Maryland State |
| 1968 | Jacqueline Matthews-Forchion | Miss Maryland State |
| 1969 | Diane Hampton Lane | Miss Maryland State |
| 1970 | Wanda Stewart Holmes | Miss UMES |
| 1971 | Delores Cook | Miss UMES |
| 1972 | Hattie Jones Penn | Miss UMES |
| 1973 | Carolyn Anderson Hooker | Miss UMES |
| 1974 | Chantell Haskins-Grandy | Miss UMES |
| 1975 | Garcia Edgerton-Williams | Miss UMES |
| 1976 | Gloria Maye-Burgess | Miss UMES |
| 1977 | Carol Perkins-Drummond | Miss UMES |
| 1978 | Donna Walton | Miss UMES |
| 1979 | Sharon Elliott-Chester | Miss UMES |
| 1980 | Catherine Hall | Miss UMES |
| 1981 | Vickie Hairston | Miss UMES |
| 1982 | Greta Elliott | Miss UMES |
| 1983 | Sandra Smith-Whitaker | Miss UMES |
| 1984 | Portia Dennis | Miss UMES |
| 1985 | Veronica Briscoe | Miss UMES |
| 1986 | Freda Harris | Miss UMES |
| 1987 | Monica Thomas-Hill | Miss UMES |
| 1988 | Collette Johnson | Miss UMES |
| 1989 | Reneé Goodison | Miss UMES |
| 1990 | Theresa Jones | Miss UMES |
| 1991 | Jacqueline Mims-Levy | Miss UMES |
| 1992 | Rhonda Terry-Robinson | Miss UMES |
| 1993 | Tyra Harding-Smoot | Miss UMES |
| 1994 | Thomasina McCoy-Boardley | Miss UMES |
| 1995 | Malika Singleton | Miss UMES |
| 1996 | Kristi Henderson | Miss UMES |
| 1997 | Margo Thomas-Gross | Miss UMES |
| 1998 | Michelle Jefferson | Miss UMES |
| 1999 | Shawnetta Barnett-Jackson | Miss UMES |
| 2000 | J’Naudia Hunter-Phillips | Miss UMES |
| 2001 | January Washington | Miss UMES |
| 2002 | Krystin Richardson | Miss UMES |
| 2003 | Sabrina Richardson | Miss UMES |
| 2004 | Lisa Wilkes | Miss UMES |
| 2005 | Shalani Vanterpool | Miss UMES |
| 2006 | Ashley Johnson | Miss UMES |
| 2007 | Tyshuna Bolton | Miss UMES |
| 2008 | Danielle Bell | Miss UMES |
| 2009 | Candace Thomas | Miss UMES |
| 2010 | Rashida Beckford | Miss UMES |
| 2011 | Brittany Harris | Miss UMES |
