Lee Henson Jorges in 1945
Way back in 1945, Lenora “Lee” Henson Jorges of Chattanooga competed in the Miss America pageant and appeared to be among the front-runners in the early going.
Unfortunately for her, she ended up losing to Bess Myerson, who went on to become one of the better-known former Miss Americas.
As a result, the Scenic City missed out on one of its best chances of being able to claim a local girl as Miss America. But the reason for her loss might not have been her qualifications compared to Ms. Myerson, but simply her age.
She was actually only 16 years old, and the rules required her to be older.
The mostly forgotten story of how all that transpired was recently shared by Mrs. Jorges’ daughter, Faires Jorges-Hester, following Mrs. Jorges’ death on Sept. 10 at the age of 84.
According to her daughter, Mrs. Jorges was a 16-year-old Central High School student working at Pickett’s, the longtime downtown Chattanooga women’s clothing store, when store officials asked her if she wanted to compete in the Miss Chattanooga pageant wearing Pickett’s clothing.
They thought it might be good advertising for the store, but the experience ended up being pretty good exposure as well for Mrs. Jorges – then known as Lenora Henson. In fact, it would carry her all the way to Atlantic City, N.J.
However, before the Chattanooga competition, neither the store nor the blonde-haired Mrs. Jorges bothered to worry about the details, such as finding out the age she needed to be. Nor were her parents aware of what she was doing.
Well, guess what? She won.
“It scared her to death when she won and she had not asked her parents’ permission,” remembered her daughter with a laugh.
A newspaper reporter interviewed her and asked what her name was. Realizing she needed to appease her father so he would not be so shocked when he read about her win in the paper, the quick-thinking youngster said her name was Lee Henson, her father’s name, and not Lenora Henson as she had been known.
As a result, she became Lee for the rest of her life.
Her parents were no doubt pleased with her victory, and she headed off to Atlantic City for the Miss America contest on Sept. 8 of that year.
No Miss Tennessee pageants were held during the World War II years, but she was also appointed as Miss Tennessee, although contestants could still compete in Miss America simply as city representatives in those days.
She was the third Miss Tennessee from Chattanooga at the time. Frances Eakes had won in 1943 and Marian Weller in 1944, when the winners were also appointed. Later local Miss Tennessee winners from the immediate Chattanooga area were Wilda Bowman (1946), twins Jean and Jane Cunningham (1947), Dorothy Free (1948), Gloria Williams (1952), Desiree Daniels (1982), Jamie Watkins of Soddy-Daisy (2003), Blaire Pancake (2006), and Stefanie Wittler of Soddy-Daisy (2009).
When the tap-dancing Cunningham twins competed in the 1947 Miss America contest, they lost out to a fellow Tennessean – Barbara Jo Walker of Memphis.
Two years earlier, Mrs. Jorges had apparently also brought plenty of plaudits for the Volunteer State – and for herself.
Although the pageant was on one day at the Boardwalk Hall, her daughter believes it also included important multiple-day events that led up to the final day selection. And during that time, she won a preliminary swimsuit award, although Miss Myerson actually won the swimsuit competition during the pageant.
“All of the pageant activities were open to the public,” her daughter recalled. “Mother won the bathing suit competition, and as a publicity stunt, the Miss America pageant officials also had the GIs vote for their favorite contestant, and she was the GIs’ pick.”
The surrender by Japan had occurred on Sept. 2, so American servicemen everywhere were no doubt in a festive mood and remembered what they had been fighting for when they saw her.
All seemed well as the pageant, hosted by Bob Russell, took place, and Mrs. Jorges was one of the 13 semi-finalists selected. Her talent was singing, and she sang, “Dreams,” and “I Didn’t Know the Gun Was Loaded.”
Unfortunately, during an interview process, she was asked how old she was, and she replied that she was 16.
“Alarm bells went off,” said her daughter. “Ultimately they did end up disqualifying her because of her age.”
Mrs. Jorges-Hester is not sure if her mother was quietly or publicly eliminated from consideration, or if that was definitely the reason she was not selected as Miss America. Little could be found on the pageant in the Chattanooga papers at the time, unless an article was done on her before or after she competed.
While the Miss America website says contestants today must be between the ages of 17 and 24, her daughter thinks 18 may have been the required age at that time.
As a result, Miss Myerson, who was then 21, ended up winning, becoming the first Jewish Miss America. Information found online says she did face some discrimination and sponsorship cancellations because of her religious faith, and she later was a public advocate for civil rights.
Miss Myerson, who is now 88, eventually became a high-profile New York City government official. She was later in the news for battling legal issues, including a shoplifting arrest in 1988.
While victory was snatched from Chattanoogan Mrs. Jorges at the 1945 pageant, possible fame was not. A talent scout for “Gone with the Wind” producer David O. Selznick was at the pageant and wanted to offer her a contract. She had been involved in the theater at Central High, and her daughter thinks the studio maybe wanted to use her as a Ginger Rogers-type screen personality.
Unfortunately, her age got in the way there, as well.
“The talent scout approached her with a contract,” Mrs. Jorges-Hester said. “And because she was underage, her parents had to sign it. They turned the contract down. That would have changed the course of her life.”
She did, however, get to travel around with several fellow Miss America participants and present a show in a number of cities.
She had also participated in several activities as Miss Chattanooga, including the big welcome for Medal of Honor recipient Charles Coolidge at the end of the war.
Mrs. Jorges eventually went back to classes at Central. However, she was not able to return completely to normalcy.
Her picture had appeared in Life magazine as part of a photo spread of the Miss America pageant, and a young man in Chicago named Jack Kendler saw it and became quite enamored with her.
Getting up his nerve, this son of a real estate mogul was able to track down a neighbor’s telephone number, and the neighbor went and found Mrs. Jorges, whose family did not have a phone.
“He got it in his head he was going to meet and marry Miss Tennessee,” Mrs. Jorges-Hester said.
And, as often happened during the World War II era, a whirlwind romance resulted.
“He asked if he could meet her,” her daughter remembered.“He met her on a Tuesday and they were married on Thursday.”
They ended up living in Chicago for about 10 years, but the marriage unfortunately ended in divorce due to irreconcilable differences, Mrs. Jorges-Hester said. However, they did have a son and a daughter.
Mrs. Jorges eventually moved back to Chattanooga and went to work for Miller Bros. department store, working in their fashion department. In that work, she helped others present themselves as she had been able to do in impressing the Miss America judges – and the GIs.
“She was their fashion coordinator, and was responsible for the mannequins and the windows and coordinating fashion shows,” Mrs. Jorges-Hester said. “And she had teas at the Green Room at the Read House for fashionable ladies.”
She also met Jim Jorges, and their first date was to go to church.“She realized that anyone who would take her to church would likely make a very good stepfather,” her daughter said.
They were married by Earl Stanley at Westminster Presbyterian Church and later became longtime active members at First Presbyterian Church. She also became a Christian women’s group speaker.
Mr. Jorges headed Masters Carpet Corporation, which started downtown and was later on Amnicola Highway.
Mrs. Jorges had two more children, and Mrs. Jorges-Hester came along when her mother was 43.
Although Mrs. Jorges always had a flair for glamour throughout her life and continued to dress in a presentable style, the story of her past Miss America experience was somewhat overlooked in later years.
“When I was young, it was never mentioned,” Mrs. Jorges-Hester said.
However, she did continue to get attention. When local artist Gordon Wetmore was commissioned by Prince Rainier of Monaco to do a portrait of his wife, actress Grace Kelly, the artist asked Mrs. Jorges to sit in for some sketches because she favored Miss Kelly, her daughter said.
The Jorgeses were also down at the Atlanta Farmers Market a number of years ago and someone swore Mrs. Jorges was singer and actress Dolly Parton.
“Mother was very serious and Daddy was a joker, and he thought that was the most hilarious thing he had ever heard, and he never let her live that down,” her daughter said.
In later years, she also became interested in the Miss Tennessee pageant and would attend as a former winner. She was particularly impressed with 2006 Miss Tennessee Blaire Pancake, her daughter said.
She also took an interest in her grandchildren, who called her Leelah, and later moved in with Mrs. Jorges-Hester.
But she never lost the flair that had nearly made her a Miss America and a possible screen actress.
“She was extremely gorgeous until she died,” her daughter said.
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Painting of Lee Jorges