| 
| 
| |
26/09/2020
1970 | 
0
Curt Synness IR features writer Sep 26, 2020
“Make a difference. Make a difference.” So they always say. Fifty years ago, Helena’s Kathy Huppe, who has been involved in numerous “firsts” over the course of her life, was able to do just that.
After becoming the first Miss Helena to capture the title of Miss Montana in 1970, later that summer Huppe (pronounced HUP-ee) abdicated her crown for personal beliefs. Her actions resulted in a full page photo on the back cover of LIFE Magazine, and an appearance on the Dick Cavett show.
Kathy was a versatile athlete, a bright scholar, a hard-working ranch-hand, and a strong-willed activist. But she was not a militant.
And although she eventually would not talk about those experiences that summer/fall of 1970, it was Huppe’s belief in her convictions that helped bring about change to a national organization.
The daughter of the late Charles V. and Marjorie “Mickey” Huppe, one of Kathy’s first passions was showing horses. As an 11-year old, she attained her first competitive victory at the 1963 Treasure State Horse Show in Missoula.
She made the paper again in the spring of 1967, as one of Helena Junior High’s (now HMS) freshmen straight-A students.
She was a straight-A freshman at Helena Junior High and was elected a student council member her sophomore year at Helena High. In December of 1967, she qualified as a semi-finalist in the Voice of Democracy speech contest, the theme being “Freedom’s Challenge.”
Ready to buy an air purifier? Here's what to know
Huppe’s prep sports were cross country skiing with the Helena High ski team, and with the school’s first track & field and gymnastics teams. As a senior, her all-state performance on the uneven parallel bars helped the Lady Bengals to a sixth-place showing at the State Meet.
Among her teammates were several gals who competed with her in the 1970 Miss Helena contest, including classmates Janet Glenn, Randy Doering, Ros Ingman, Shelley McHugh and Kathy Lewis. Another track teammate, Debbie Reber, garnered the Miss Montana title in 1973.
And HHS boys gymnast Bob Levitan preceded Huppe’s appearance in LIFE, when he made the magazine’s pages while attending the fabled 1969 Woodstock concert.
As a junior, Huppe was one of 14 new members of the prestigious 3-7-77s club. Among those new “Three Sevens” members was sophomore Nancy Harper, 1971’s Miss Montana.
Her picture appeared in the paper that spring – with classmates Virginia Nolte, Dick Hausken and John Yolavitch – presenting Gov. Forrest Anderson with a copy of the Revised Constitution for the State of Montana, crafted by 16 members of Helena High’s Class of ’70.
The May 1, 1970, edition of the IR previewed the Miss Helena contest, which took place at HJHS.
“It will be the fifth annual Miss Helena Scholarship Pageant, sponsored by the Helena Jaycees,” the paper stated.
The “record field of 15 contestants” were “judged on evening gown, swimsuit (now defunct) and talent presentations.” Among the talent portion of the program were gymnastics performances, vocal and piano solos, dramatic presentations, art demonstrations, sewing and designing demonstrations, and dancing.
Rounding out the rest of those vying for the Miss Helena title were Wendy Kamps, Becky Larson, Lynn Huck, Margaret Crowley, Julie Miller, Charissa Noe, Dessera Towle, Wanda Weston and Denise Redlin.
When Huppe, who was sponsored by the Capital City Quarterbacks, was crowned Miss Helena 1970, she became the first Helena High student to turn the trick. Earning first and second runners-up honors were classmates Randy Jean Doering and Rossalyn Ingman.
The Miss Helena/Miss Montana of the Miss America organization consists of a talent category and awards scholarships, which separates it from the Miss USA.
Next came the Miss Montana Pageant in the Magic City. Huppe prevailed again, this time in a field of nine contestants, with the Billings Gazette’s June 15 headline stating “Helena Girl Miss Montana.”
“In a tear-stained finale to the Miss Montana Pageant, Katherine Huppe was crowned queen of the nine contestants as the audience watched from their $3 seats,” read the Billings paper. “The new queen, Miss Helena and a daughter of Mrs. Charles Huppe, presented an uneven parallel bar routine and won a trip to the Miss America pageant in September, along with the keys to a new Oldsmobile and a scholarship.”
The Gazette reported that the pageant was an “exact replica of the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City,” with the three competitions, event promenades by the Rocky Mountain College Stage Band, and the announcement of the five finalists.
Huppe made the paper several times in June before the news of her abdication the following month.
“Political Views Cause Miss Montana to Resign,” the IR headline of July 17 stated. Huppe told the AP that she resigned her title, “because my beliefs and what the national association wanted out of me could not coincide.”
The Billings Jaycees immediately announced that the first runner-up in the contest, Jane Opp of Billings, would take over as Miss Montana.
“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but it was a matter of personal beliefs and I couldn’t go against them,” Huppe said, adding that her immediate plans were to look for a job, spend some time at the family cattle ranch near Ronan and then attend the University of Montana in the fall.
“She was one of six editors of a ‘free press’ publication ‘The Paper Tiger,’ which she said was designed to be a forum for free expression,” according to an AP story on July 19. “And she participated in the Vietnam War ‘moratoriums’ the year before.
“Huppe objected to restrictions on writing and political activity included in the contract, adding ‘If there were moratoriums (against the war) next year, I would participate in them because that’s something I really believe in. I’m not a middle of the road person.’”
When Huppe was informed that a statement from the Miss America Pageant headquarters said there were no stipulations on political activity for contestants, she told the AP she hadn’t heard about the national policy before. “That’s very interesting,” she said, “now’s a good time to know that.”
In an IR editorial the next day headlined “A Courageous Girl,” Huppe was lauded for her convictions.
“Rather than break the rules, she preferred to remove herself from their jurisdiction, even though going along with them could have brought her fame,” the paper read.
Then in the Sept. 18, 1970, issue of LIFE, Huppe was featured in a full-page spread on the magazine’s back cover of “Parting Shots.” She is pictured in an evening gown, holding a bouquet of roses, with her left fist raised in a Power to the People gesture.
In the IR that same day, Huppe related that the photograph was one of several poses and wardrobes taken in her home in July, and she was “disappointed” with the one LIFE chose to use.
“She said she is ‘not a militant’ as the picture might indicate,” the IR’s Ann Conger wrote, “although LIFE representatives didn’t say anything specific about what they would use, and had not expected this result.”
On Jan. 29, 1971, Huppe appeared on the Dick Cavett Show, to discuss her experiences. That spring, she attended the Miss Helena Pageant, transferring her crown to Nancy Harper.
Huppe later served as the State Historic Preservation Office’s compliance officer from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s, before relocating to Utah’s Bureau of Land Management. By then, she had the Miss America subject behind her. And although she is not listed in any Miss America records as Miss Montana because she quit, those same actions helped cause some changes in the organization.
In the Missoulian of July 29, 1970, it was reported that the director of the Miss Wyoming contest, Pete Kreps, allowed winner Jane Hutchings to “express her convictions about the Vietnam War or legalized gambling.”
“Kreps made his remarks in connection with the recent resignation of Kathy Huppe,” the Missoulian stated.
After being crowned 1971’s Miss Montana, Nancy Harper told the IR that “Kathy single handedly changed many of the pageant’s rules and traditions” which govern what a contestant can say. “The judges now realize that we do have beliefs and will allow us to say them,” Harper related.
Debbie (Reber) Carter recalled that 1974’s Miss America, Rebecca King, won in part due to her ability to navigate her personal political views.
“Kathy Huppe stood up for her beliefs and was punished for it,” recounted Carter from her home in California. “But it didn’t change her, and in the end she was able to change the pageant. One of the pieces of advice I was given as Miss Montana was to ‘be myself.’
“Would that we all could live our beliefs like Kathy.”
Kathy Huppe made a difference.
COMENTÁRIOS - Clique aqui para fazer o seu
