1935

The 11th National Spelling Bee took place on May 28th, 1935. It was held at the National Museum Auditorium in Washington, D.C., and 20 spellers participated.

The night before the National Competition, spellers gathered at the Hamilton Hotel for a spellers’ banquet where they got to meet one another and hear from speakers like S.D. Shankland, executive secretary of the National Education Association.

Learn more

About the 11th Bee

Champion

Clara Mohler

Coventry, Ohio

Clara Mohler, age 13, sponsored by the Akron Beacon Journal, won the $500 prize by correctly spelling the word “intelligible.”

Clara graduated second in her class at Ohio University in 1943. She became a high school teacher and died in 2013.

Location

National Museum Auditorium

Winning Word

intelligible(adj)

in-TEL-luh-juh-bul

capable of being understood or comprehended.

This word went from Latin to English.

OFFICIALS

Directors

Donald McWain

Judges

  • Rev. Dr. James S. Montgomery
  • Dr. Belmont Farley
  • T.D. Martin

Pronouncers

  • Dr. Charles E. Hill

SPELLER ROSTER

  • Bruce Ackerman
  • Elizabeth Calamito
  • Bernard Campbell
  • Virginia Chimeri
  • Duncan Corliss
  • Rosalind Dubrovner
  • Helen Gronas
  • Margaret Heaton
  • Kathleen Hester
  • Margaret Karle
  • William Kurtz
  • Elizabeth Mathias
  • Paul McCusker
  • Clara Mohler
  • Rachael Mussetter
  • Genevieve Ries
  • Audrey Robey
  • Anne Slifka
  • Mildred Welsh
  • Betty Zeigler

* Winner
** Runner-Up