A Century of Queens
One Hundred Miss Johnson C. Smiths
One hundred reigns, counted from Valinda Wagner in 1927 to the Centennial Queen crowned this October. Every name the University has, the years the record lost, and the firsts that changed who gets to wear it.
The Hundredth Crown
Coronation of the 100th Miss Johnson C. Smith University
Thursday, October 15, 2026 · 8:00 PM · Brayboy Gymnasium
The Line
How a Sponsor Became a Queen
A hundred reigns, four names for the same honor, and one coronation that changed language entirely.
1927 – 1930
It Started With a Football Game
There was no crown at first. The Bull — the University yearbook — names Valinda Wagner as sponsor of the Smith–Virginia State football game, the first documented queen in the line. By 1929 there were three at once: Vivienne Scott for football, Dorothy Fletcher for basketball, Elnora Owens for baseball, listed across pages 109 to 111 of The Bull. One young woman for each sport, chosen to represent it.
1930s – 1940s
Sponsor Becomes Queen
"Sponsor" gave way to "Miss Smith," and then to "Miss Johnson C. Smith" — one woman a year, named before the Homecoming football game. Through the 1940s the President of the University crowned her on the field at halftime, in front of everyone. Ten reigns from this stretch still have no surviving record of who wore the crown. They are counted anyway — and 1939–40, 1942–43 and 1947–48 have all come back since this page went up, the last one out of the Archives' own photograph collection. The number can still fall.
The 1939 Homecoming court with President H. L. McCrorey. Inez Moore Parker Archives, Johnson C. Smith University · SASLHomQ49 1940s – 1961
The Coronation Takes Over
The crowning moved off the field and became the centerpiece of the whole week — Friday evening, the night before the game, staged in Biddle Hall. It was deliberately modeled on the crowning of a British queen: a processional, a court, a throne. That was the shape of it until the new gymnasium opened in 1961 and the ceremony moved in.
The Homecoming Queen during her coronation. Inez Moore Parker Archives, Johnson C. Smith University · SASLHomCor05 1961
Thirty Crowns, and the First Reunion
By 1961 more than thirty women had worn the crown, and the University set out to bring all of them back at once — the first attempt to gather the queens in one room and treat the line itself as something worth honoring. Sixty-five years later, that is exactly what this Homecoming is doing.
A parade float carrying three former Homecoming Queens. Inez Moore Parker Archives, Johnson C. Smith University · SASLHomPar48 1970s
The Script Changed Language
In 1972 the coronation was rewritten — literally. The script was written in Swahili and the British staging was replaced with an African motif. Through the decade the queen was carried in, surrounded by Egyptian and other African imagery. The Archives are direct about why: Homecoming changed in the 1970s to reflect the new, confident Black student. Same crown, entirely different meaning.
Miss JCSU and her attendants in the Homecoming parade. Inez Moore Parker Archives, Johnson C. Smith University · pr00019 1982 – 83
Pamela Young Changes Who Qualifies
Pamela Young is crowned the first student parent to hold the title. The crown stops being something you have to be unencumbered to wear. Tanoia L. Hill follows in 2008–09, and goes on to Miss CIAA.
2011 – 12
A Counterpart Arrives
Rolanda Sue reigns the year Robert Butts is named the first Mister Johnson C. Smith University. After eighty-four years the title finally has a companion.
2024 – 25
Jessica McDonald Breaks It Open
Jessica McDonald is crowned the first adult learner ever to hold the title. Nearly a century in, the crown stops belonging only to the traditional-age student. Every Golden Bull who came to this University later than expected, with a job and a family and a longer road, has a queen in the line now.
2025 – 26
Jaiden Isome Does It Four Years Running
Jaiden Isome becomes the first queen to reign consecutively all four years — a record nobody in the previous ninety-eight had set.
2026 – 27
The Hundredth: Jaivyn Beauford
Ninety-nine reigns after Valinda Wagner's name appeared in The Bull, Jaivyn Beauford is crowned the Centennial Queen — the 100th Miss Johnson C. Smith University — in Brayboy Gymnasium. Every woman on this page is standing behind her.
The Roll
All One Hundred
Counted by academic year from Valinda Wagner in 1927 to the Centennial Queen this October. 10 of these reigns have no surviving record of who wore the crown. They are still counted, and they are still listed — a number that skipped them would be the wrong number.
1920s
2 of 3 documented1930s
5 of 10 documented1940s
6 of 10 documented1940–41
No. 14
Name not recorded
1941–42
No. 15
Name not recorded
1942–43
No. 16
Blondola Powell
Recovered from research after this roll was compiled — one gap closed
1943–44
No. 17
Gladyce Whitney
1944–45
No. 18
Name not recorded
1946–47
No. 20
Name not recorded
1947–48
No. 21
Fatina Parker
Recovered from the Archives' own photograph collection, catalogued as Homecoming Queen 1947–48 (item SASLHomQ09) — one more gap closed
SASLHomQ09 · Inez Moore Parker Archives
1950s
10 of 10 documented
1951–52
No. 25
Bessie Sigler
1960s
10 of 10 documented
1961–62
No. 35
Shirley Vaughn
First coronation in the new gymnasium
SASLHomQ12 · Inez Moore Parker Archives1962–63
No. 36
Vivian Jones
1964–65
No. 38
Josie Foster
1966–67
No. 40
Barbara Crawford
1967–68
No. 41
Betty Ruff
1968–69
No. 42
Tommye Martin
1970s
10 of 10 documented1970–71
No. 44
Delores Bently
1971–72
No. 45
Anita Gail Hinsley
1972–73
No. 46
Juanita Bradford
1973–74
No. 47
Norma Ann Withrow
1974–75
No. 48
Felicia M. Miller
1975–76
No. 49
Patricia C. Lennon
1977–78
No. 51
Debra Davis
1979–80
No. 53
Wanda Joyner
1980s
10 of 10 documented1990s
10 of 10 documented2000s
10 of 10 documented2010s
10 of 10 documented2020s
7 of 7 documentedHelp Us Close the Gaps
10 women wore this crown and the record didn’t keep their names — most of them between 1928 and 1948. If you have a yearbook, a program, a photograph or a memory, the Archives want to hear from you.
Contact the ArchivesWith Thanks
Who Kept This History
The roll on this page was compiled by the University. The history around it was kept, catalogued and made public by the people who preserve this University's memory.
All historical photographs © Johnson C. Smith University Archives. Reproduced by permission of the Inez Moore Parker Archives and Research Center and the James B. Duke Memorial Library.
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