1949

The 22nd Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee took place on May 27th, 1949. It was held at the National Press Club Auditorium in Washington, D.C., and 49 spellers participated.

For the first time in National Spelling Bee history, boy spellers took the top three spots in the competition: Kim Calvin of Canton, Ohio; James Shea of Brooklyn, New York; and Fred Shoup of Palo Alto, California.

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About the 22nd Bee

Champion

Kim Calvin

Canton, Ohio

Kim Calvin, age 13, sponsored by the Canton Repository, won the $500 prize by correctly spelling the word “dulcimer.”

Kim became a civil engineer with the Navy Department. He died in 2012.

Location

National Press Club Auditorium

Winning Word

dulcimer(n)

DUL-suh-mur

an American folk instrument that has three or four strings stretched over an elongate fretted soundbox and that is held on the lap and played by plucking or strumming.

This word went from Latin to Italian to French before becoming English.

OFFICIALS

Directors

Charles Schneider

Judges

  • William Harold Martin
  • Mrs. Wilford L. White
  • Dr. Belmont Farley

Pronouncers

  • Benson S. Alleman

SPELLER ROSTER

  • Jennie Adams
  • Ronald Barndt
  • Diane Rae Belden
  • Gail Brough
  • Kim Calvin
  • Janelle Carter
  • Islea Beth Endicott
  • Lawrence Friedman
  • Nancy Gale
  • Leo Garrett
  • Joan Gealt
  • Mary Morriss Gibbs
  • Emilie Gray
  • Roger C. Grooms
  • Donald Keith Guthrie
  • Joseph Leonard Hall
  • Shirley Hudson
  • Diana Hull
  • John A. Hurley
  • James Edward Hurt
  • Marie Hutchinson
  • Irwin Hyatt, Jr
  • Joyce Johannsen
  • Charlotte Kreul
  • Barbara Lautz
  • Margaret Ledford
  • Charles MacKay
  • Douglas Maurer
  • Michael Joel Milton
  • John Richard Moriarity
  • Barbara Morrison
  • Ouida Newsom
  • Joan O’Bryan
  • Lynne Owens
  • Patricia Ruth Pearsall
  • Frances Ray
  • Janet Sue Rebstein
  • Diana Reynard
  • Lorraine Rozaieski
  • Janet Saltus
  • Sue Saunders
  • James Shea
  • Fred Shoup
  • Rebecca Smith
  • Harriet Smith
  • Phyllis Stevens
  • Anita Strader
  • Donald Turner
  • Elizabeth Wenger

* Winner
** Runner-Up