By Barbara Hall

C-A-M-P-A-N-I-L-E.

What does a free-standing bell tower have to do with Tennessee? (That’s what campanile means.) Can you think of a time we had to memorize a vocabulary list? You might also remember participating in a spelling bee.

Before the 1600s, many people did not know how to spell or pronounce words. Robert Cawdrey created the first English dictionary in 1604. His dictionary had 3,000 words with short definitions. People began to learn to spell words correctly using this tool. Soon, being able to spell well became a sign of how smart a person was.

Spelling competitions have been around a long time, especially in the United States. One of the earliest known spelling competitions was in 1808. The first known printed use of “spelling bee” dates to 1850. Many spelling bees were sponsored by local newspapers. It became a serious pastime for many children. In 1925, the Kentucky Courier-Journal worked with other newspapers to create the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Public education was not available to everyone in the U.S. until the 1830s. Access to education was limited based on race and socio-economic status. People who made less money had to travel several miles to get to a schoolhouse. These schools were often segregated. Jim Crow laws made it harder for Black Americans to get an education. Many spelling bees were segregated because of these laws.

Spelling bees challenged some whites that believed African Americans were less intelligent. Black spelling bee champions proved them wrong. Historian Dr. Cynthia R. Greenlee wrote:

“Adolescent spelling bee champions… were pioneers of desegregation, even if they never attended truly integrated schools. They were descendants of enslaved people for whom literacy was forbidden, and whose educational institutions were built from the ground up with community support.”

The Scripps National Spelling Bee was not segregated, but local and regional bees often were. Many Black winners of segregated spelling bees were not allowed to compete in regional spelling bees. Because of this, African Americans had fewer chances of going to the Scripps bee.

JET, Vol. XXVIII, No. 2, April 22, 1965, A Johnson Publication

Spelling bees began to integrate during the Civil Rights Movement. Clorrine Jones, an African American, won the first integrated spelling bee in Shelby County near Memphis, Tennessee. Jones was mentioned in Jet magazine’s April 22, 1965, issue. They wrote that Jones won the “tense match by correctly spelling ‘campanile.’” She won savings bonds worth $200. She also won “a chance to compete in the Mid-South competition.” Jones would go on to win many county-wide spelling bees.

People like Jones paved the way for Black children to join in competitions. However, it was a long time before a Black person won the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica was the first Black person to win the Scripps Bee in 1998. She won by correctly spelling “chiaroscurist.”. Zaila Avant-garde became the first Black American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021. She won by correctly spelling “murraya.”

Campanile a free-standing bell tower, particularly of Italian style and origin

Bee: a gathering of people for a specific purpose

Pronounce: make the sound of (a word or part of a word) in the correct or a particular way

Segregate:  1) To keep separate. 2) To set apart or divide groups of people. In this example, segregating people based on the color of their skin.

Coveted: something wished for or sought after

Socio-economic: involving a combination of social and economic factors

Suppress: to put down by authority or force

Chiaroscurist (noun): an artist who specializes in chiaroscuro

Murraya (noun): a type of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees (family Rutaceae)

How many words were in the first English dictionary?

When was the term “spelling bee” first used in print?

Why do you think being able to spell was considered a way to tell how smart someone was?

Why do you think rules were created that stopped African Americans from participating in spelling bees?

Have a spelling bee with your friends – see who the best speller is!

Watch Zaila Avant-Garde win the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee here.

Barbara Hall is an educator at the Tennessee State Museum.

Standards:

8.72 Explain the restrictions placed on the rights and opportunities of freedmen, including: racial segregation, black codes, and the efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau to address the problems confronting newly freed slaves. C, H, P, T

AAH.21 Assess the economic and social impact of Jim Crow laws on African Americans. C, E, H, T

AAH.25 Describe the progress of African American institutions, such as religion, education, and benevolent organizations, during this era. C, H, T