Marie Bolden, a black teenager, won the first US spelling bee in 1908. Her win was eclipsed by racism.
By Nadine YousifIn 1908, Marie C Bolden, an African American teenager, became the first-ever spelling bee champion in the US, overcoming tricky words like 'acquiesce', 'descendant' and 'millinery' on her way to the top. But her achievement was quickly eclipsed by racial prejudice, and her story rarely told.
According to historical records and recounts, she had ranked last in qualifying for her team, but the school's superintendent, Warren Hicks, was determined to have her participate. "I just kind of gritted my teeth and made up my mind that I wouldn't miss a word," she told a newspaper reporter at the time. Her accomplishment was applauded by 6,000 adults who witnessed her historic win.
It is currently in its 95th year, with this year's champion scheduled to be crowned in a televised event on Thursday. "We said, 'Oh, goodness, grandma was a trailblazer,'" Mr Brown, a retired 68-year-old schoolteacher who lives in Canada, said.In articles about her win, Ms Bolden said that she did not enter the contest "for personal glory, but to try to help bring honour to my teacher and my school".
Ms Bolden later moved to Canada with her husband. Their motivation to move, Mr Brown said, was a belief that African Americans were treated better in Canada than they were in the US.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Old industrial cities can be central to America’s economic future\n\t\t\tLet our global subject matter experts broaden your perspective with timely insights and opinions you\n\t\t\tcan’t find anywhere else.\n\t\t
Read more »
Iran’s religious leaders have nuclear bombs “on demand”It is five years since Donald Trump unilaterally pulled America out of the deal with Iran to constrain its nuclear programme in exchange for economic-sanctions relief. Since then, Iran has not stood still
Read more »
Selling Sunset's Jason Oppenheim splits from girlfriend 20 years youngerSelling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim has split from his girlfriend, Marie-Lou Nurk who was 20 years younger and frequently appeared on the Netflix reality TV show
Read more »
Riot threatens to cancel the entire League of Legends summer season in North America if a deal with players isn't madeRiot delays the start of the LCS Summer Split by two weeks—and threatens to cancel it completely.
Read more »