Three CASNR alumnae remember their royal moments 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. 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. 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 22 | COWBOY JOURNAL
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
