1946

The 19th Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee took place on May 24th, 1946. It was held at the National Press Club Auditorium in Washington, D.C., and 29 spellers participated.

The first television broadcast of the National Competition took place on May 24, 1946, when NBC televised the event live from the National Press Club Auditorium.

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About the 19th Bee

Champion

John McKinney

Woodbine, Iowa

John McKinney, age 13, sponsored by The Des Moines Register & Tribune, won $500 in war bonds plus a $150 cash prize by correctly spelling the word “semaphore.”

John graduated from the University of Washington and with a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California. He held a position at the Federal Reserve Bank in California and professorships at several American and Canadian universities.

Location

National Press Club Auditorium

Winning Word

semaphore(n)

SEM-uh-fohr

a system of visual signaling (as between ships) in which the sender holds a flag in each hand and moves their arms to different positions according to a code alphabet.

This word is made up of Greek-derived elements and may have been formed first in French.

OFFICIALS

Directors

Max B. Cook

Pronouncers

  • Harold F. Harding

SPELLER ROSTER

  • Dolores Bates
  • Betty Budd
  • Roberta Gaughan
  • Robert Cloud Seals
  • Lewis Craft
  • Leslie Dean
  • Mary Lee Earlie
  • Eleanor Edie
  • Bobby Etheridge
  • Constance Fogle
  • William Frazer
  • Elodia Garcia
  • Robert Goar
  • Marjorie Hay
  • Marie Haze
  • Floria Marie Holmes
  • Fred Kerby
  • Marcia Anne Loomis
  • Mary McCarthy
  • Nancy Kay McDaniel
  • John McKinney
  • Larry Moldune
  • Jay Noble
  • Katherine Perros
  • Mattie Lou Pollard
  • Erma Lee Reichelderfer
  • Ruby Romine
  • Sandra Sacher
  • Beatrice H. Tolppi

* Winner
** Runner-Up