The 2nd
National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly called the National Spelling Bee) is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Sc ...
was held at the
National Museum in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
on Thursday, June 17, 1926, sponsored by the ''
Louisville Courier-Journal
The ''Courier Journal'',
also known as the
''Louisville Courier Journal''
(and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017,
is the highest circulation newspape ...
''.
Scripps-Howard
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...
would not sponsor the Bee until 1941.
The winner was Pauline Bell, age 13, who attended a one-room schoolhouse in
Clarkson, Kentucky. She correctly spelled the word ''cerise''.
[(19 December 2010)]
Obituary: Pauline Bell Dunn, 98, Campbellsville alum
''Columbia Magazine''[(24 June 1926)]
This Girl Kept Spelling Title For Ol' Kaintuck
'' Reading Eagle''[(23 July 2002)]
Pen Pals: Women have written to each other since the Coolidge administration
''The Daily News (Kentucky)
The ''Daily News'' is a daily-except-Saturday newspaper based in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is published Sunday mornings and Monday through Friday evenings.
History
The current newspaper can trace its roots to the ''Bowling Green Democrat'' foun ...
'' Second place was taken by Betty Robinson of
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
, who would win the
4th bee in 1928, but spelled "cerise" as "cereaso" this time, and third went to Dorothy Casey of
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
.
[(18 June 1926)]
Louisville Girl Awarded Prize in Spelling Contest
''St. Petersburg Times''[(18 June 1926)]
"Cerise" Wins $1,000 and a Spelling Bee for Kentucky Miss
''Lewiston Daily Sun''
There were 25 spellers this year – 17 girls and 8 boys, a big jump from the nine spellers in the first Bee.
The first prize was $1000, followed by $500 for second and $200 for third.
The record number of Bee contestants was not broken until the
1941 bee.
Bell (married name Dunn) later attended
Campbellsville Junior College and worked as a school teacher and social worker. She died in
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...
on December 17, 2010 at age 98.
[McKinney, Joan (28 October 2009)]
CU Alum Recommends CU as ‘Wonderful Place’
Campbellsville University[Obituary: Pauline Bell Dunn, 98, Campbellsville alum](_blank)
''Columbian Magazine''
References
{{Scripps National Spelling Bee
02
1926 in Washington, D.C.
1926 in education
June 1926 events