Tiara Pennington
Tiara Pennington (born c. 1998 in Florence, Lauderdale County) was Miss Alabama 2019.
Pennington is the daughter of Don Lee and Dedra Eastland Pennington of Helena. Her mother, Dedra, reigned as Miss Dixie in 1986, as Miss Music Hall of Fame in 1987 and Miss Leeds Area in 1988. She was the 3rd runner-up to Angela Callahan in the 1986 Miss Alabama pageant.
Tiara competed in the "Miss Alabama Outstanding Teen" pageant in 2014 as Miss Tennessee Valley Outstanding Teen. The following year she competed as Miss Shelby County Outstanding Teen. In 2016 she came into the competition as Miss Metropolitan Outstanding Teen and won the crown. She entered the Outstanding Teen pageant again in 2017, finishing in the top 11.
Pennington graduated from Helena High School and enrolled at the University of Alabama in 2017, majoring in political science. In 2019 Pennington was crowned Miss University of Alabama, the first Black competitor to win the title. At the Miss Alabama pageant she won the talent preliminary award with her performance of "Nessun Dorma" from the opera Turandot. Her "social impact initiative" was the Helena-based Psoriasis Take Action Alabama support group, benefiting the National Psoriasis Foundation. She was crowned Miss Alabama on June 8.
She finished in the Top 7 of the 2020 Miss America competition. The 2020 Miss Alabama pageant was canceled due to the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, so Pennington's reign as Miss Alabama was extended for an extra year. In July 2020 Pennington announced that she and her mother had both tested positive for COVID-19.
| Preceded by: Callie Walker |
Miss Alabama 2019 |
Succeeded by: Lauren Bradford |
References
- Colurso, Mary (June 14, 2019) "Miss Alabama 2019: Tiara Pennington is ready to rule." The Birmingham News
- Taylor, Drew (June 23, 2019) "Tiara Pennington honored to be Miss Alabama." The Tuscaloosa News
- Gore, Leada (July 16, 2020) "Miss Alabama Tiara Pennington tests positive for coronavirus: Virus ‘dangerous, scary and real’." The Birmingham News