Date May 1953 Age 13 | Winner Elizabeth Hess | |
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Location Department of Commerce auditorium, Washington, D.C. | ||
The 26th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in May 1953, by the E.W. Scripps Company.
The winner was 13-year-old Elizabeth Hess of Arizona, correctly spelling the word soubrette. 11-year-old Raymond A. Sokolov of Detroit, Michigan placed second, falling on "spermaceti," after finishing 22nd the prior year. Third place went to 13-year-old David Hudson of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, who had placed sixth the prior year.
There were 53 contestants this year, and 541 words were used. The contest started at 8:45 am and continued until 5:40pm except for a lunch break and brief recesses.
References
26th Scripps National Spelling Bee Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA