Donna Axum Whitworth, who was Arkansas' first Miss America in 1964, has some advice for Savvy Shields: be an ambassador for the state.
"I would say to her, 'Make it count for Arkansas,'" Whitworth said. "She has a wonderful opportunity to spread the light that is Arkansas. She's got one year to be an ambassador, not only for her own platform, but for our wonderful state of Arkansas."
Shields, a Fayetteville native who became Miss Arkansas in June, won the national title Sunday. The next day, Shields posed for photographers on the Atlantic City beach. The Miss America Organization didn't make her available for media interviews Monday.
During her year as Miss America, Whitworth travelled 250,000 miles.
[PHOTOS: Miss Arkansas crowned new Miss America + more photos of Savvy Shields]
"It's a grueling year," said Whitworth, an El Dorado native who now lives in Fort Worth. "It was a fabulous year. I felt much more mature in my ability to strike up a conversation with anybody."
Whitworth said she was quick to politely defend Arkansas if anyone said something derogatory about the state.
After that year, Whitworth moved back to Fayetteville and into the Delta Delta Delta sorority house at the University of Arkansas.
"I loved being back, and I love that university to this day," Whitworth said. "I think most Miss Americas say, 'It's time to move on to the next chapter of my life.' That's the way I felt as well."
She earned a bachelor's degree in 1966 and a master's degree in 1969, both in speech and drama.
Whitworth hasn't met Shields.
Whitworth was in the audience watching Shields compete in the Miss Arkansas contest in June and in the talent and evening gown parts of the Miss America pageant. Whitworth flew home from Atlantic City on Friday and watched the rest of the Miss America Pageant on television.
She said Shields' confidence and ability made her a winner.
"It changes your life forever," Whitworth said. "From this day forward, she will always be known as Miss America, and that's the way it is. That tag line will be on any article or anything in which she has some involvement, positive or negative."
Whitworth said she never regretted for a minute winning the Miss America pageant.
She was involved with the Miss America Organization for 13 years, serving on several committees, before retiring in February.
"I enjoyed every minute of being a director, the good times and the bad times," Whitworth said. "I just loved the people I worked with on the board."
Arkansas has had three Miss Americas. In between Whitworth and Shields, Elizabeth Ward won the title in 1982.
When the Russellville native began an acting career in 1987, she changed her name to Elizabeth Ward Gracen, because another Elizabeth Ward was already in the Screen Actors Guild, according to The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture.
Gracen began her motion picture career in 1987 with two films produced in Arkansas: Three for the Road (1987) and Pass the Ammo (1988). Shortly afterward, she moved to Los Angeles and embarked on an acting career.
She has appeared in six other feature films, including Marked for Death (1990), Sundown: Vampire in Retreat (1991), Discretion Assured (1993), The Expert (1995) and Kounterfeit (1996).
Gracen also has appeared in many television series and made-for-television movies. In 1992, she became the first former Miss America to appear on the cover of Playboy magazine and in a nude pictorial feature, according to The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture.
With Shields becoming Miss America, she relinquishes the title of Miss Arkansas.
On Monday, Savannah Skidmore of Calico Rock in Izard County was named Miss Arkansas. She was first runner-up in the pageant in June.
Skidmore and Shields will receive a $25,000 scholarship as winners of the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Pageant, said Jessie Bennett, executive director of the pageant.
Skidmore is a broadcast journalism major at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Metro on 09/13/2016