Royal Lineage

By: Karlie Wade, Perry, Oklahoma

A certain magic and polished esteem accompanies royalty — most formal and diplomatic. However, at Oklahoma State University, a few “royals” have milked cows on the Edmon Low Library lawn.

Verda Cox Church poses in front of Murray Hall on the OSU campus wearing her Aggie Princess flower crown.

Photo courtesy of Verda Cox Church.

Dating back to the 1920s, the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources had its own unique version of royalty. The Aggie Princess event, although no longer a CASNR tradition, was once a friendly, anticipated competition, said 101-year-old Verda Cox Church of Fairview, Oklahoma, who competed in the 1930s.

Verda Cox Church (left) and granddaughter-in-law Natalie James Church visit Theta Pond together.

Photo by Amy Church Haney.

The competition holds a place in CASNR and OSU history, beginning when OSU was known as the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College.

“It was 1937,” Church said. “That’s been a long time ago, in fact, about 82 years ago.”

During her freshman year at Oklahoma A&M, Church said she was sitting in her room on the third floor of Murray Hall when her friends came to surprise her with some news.

“I never thought anything about it,” Church said. “Someone asked me if I would run to be Aggie Princess. I said ‘Oh, no, get somebody else.’”

Church said her friends informed her she did not have a choice since they had already signed her up for the competition. She was lucky they did because it worked in her favor, Church said.

“I said ‘Can’t you take my name off?’” Church said. “They said ‘No.’ Well, I finally accepted it.”

Church then was selected and served as the 1937 Aggie Princess.

According to the Daily O’Collegian archives, the Aggie Princess title changed to Miss Oklahoma Agriculture in the mid 1970s.

In addition to the name changes, the contestants were nominated by individual clubs within CASNR to represent their clubs in the competition, said Natalie James Church, 1991 Miss Oklahoma Agriculture runner-up and Verda Church’s granddaughter-in-law.

“I was the representative for the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow,” Natalie Church said. “I was quite honored to be selected by our club to compete.”

Natalie Church said the competition has remained memorable for her as a former contestant because of the competition’s unique activities, such as milking a cow on the Edmon Low Library lawn.

“I had been around cattle my whole life, but I had never really milked a cow until then,” Natalie Church said. “So, it was quite embarrassing to try and do that in front of everybody who stopped on the library lawn to watch.”

Verda Church said the Oklahoma A&M campus was different in 1937, and she was taken to barns off campus for her Aggie Princess activities.

“I had to go and milk the cows, pet the bulls, and pet the sheep,” Verda Church said. “They took me to different barns, and I showed them I could milk a cow, but my opponent would not do it because she did not know how.”

Natalie Church said being part of the event was something she bonded with Verda Church about when she first met her husband’s grandmother.

“I thought it was funny when I first met Verda and she said she was the Aggie Princess in 1937,” Natalie Church said. “I asked her what she had to do, and she said ‘I had to milk a cow.’ I said ‘No way! I had to, too.’”

The competition was modified throughout the years so contestants participated in other activities, said Dixie Shaw Thomas, 1971 Aggie Princess winner, who now lives in Wichita, Kansas.

“We were right on the cusp of the women’s movement, and the competition was during the Vietnam War," Thomas said. "We would not have and did not milk cows."

Thomas said she was the Block and Bridle queen and represented the organization for the Aggie Princess competition. Even though no one milked a cow during Thomas’ year, the contestants did participate in an interview.

“There was an interview with a panel,” Thomas said. “I mainly remember agricultural faculty members on that panel because it was intimidating.”

Thomas said the panel questions focused on her agricultural background, her OSU experience and what representing the College of Agriculture* would mean to her.

“I was proud of my background in agriculture,” Thomas said. “I remember in the interview that was the part I enjoyed telling about. So, I was thrilled when I was announced as the winner.”

Another difference in the competition during Thomas’ year was the duties the princess fulfilled after the competition, she said.

“As far as I know, it only occurred once,” Thomas said, “but that year, the OSU Homecoming Steering Committee decided instead of having one Homecoming queen there should be eight Homecoming queens, one representing each college.”

Thomas said she was the Homecoming queen for CASNR because she was the previous Aggie Princess winner.

“The agriculture college said ‘Well, we already have our Aggie Princess, so you get to be Homecoming queen,’” Thomas said. “It was a double bonus.”

Verda Church said her duties following winning Aggie Princess were not extensive, but one particular obligation sticks out in her mind.

“The boys who supported me had to carry boiled eggs, and I had to sign them,” Verda Church said. “I did not really have to do a whole lot, but I do remember that.”

For Verda Church, the Aggie Princess competition serves as a fond memory when thinking back on OSU, she said. “It was important to me,” Verda Church said. “I had a lot of good times, and I enjoyed it. I met so many encouraging people.”

Thomas said the competition took place during Ag Week, and the winner was announced at the Ag Banquet at the end of the week.

“It was very cool at that time to be in the competition,” Thomas said. “Coming from a little town — Burlington, Oklahoma — with a background in agriculture, I was excited when they announced the winner at the Ag Banquet.”

Thomas said being Aggie Princess not only gave her fun memories and opportunities but also led her to meet her husband, Greg Thomas.

“I went to have my picture taken with the Block and Bridle members for the yearbook,” Thomas said. “There, one of the young men asked me out and, a few years later, I married him.”

In the mid-1990s, as CASNR enrollment and the roles of women in agriculture changed, the title of Miss Oklahoma Agriculture was changed to Agricultural Student Spokesperson, which included both male and female students. Today, a CASNR student spokesperson is selected during CASNR Week each March.

“The whole experience was fun,” Thomas said. “I felt it was an honor to represent the College of Agriculture.”

*In 1991, the name was changed to the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.