34th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 34th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia on May 31 and June 1, 1961, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

The winner was 12-year-old John Capehart of Tulsa, Oklahoma, correctly spelling the word smaragdine. Mary Lukes (also age 12) of Oxnard, California placed second, failing to correctly spell distichous. Karen Grimm (age 13) of Reistertown, Maryland finished third (after having finished 39th the prior year).^[1][2][3][4]

Capehart was the 13th boy to win the competition since 1925, and the first winner from Oklahoma. His other brother Mark had finished 12th in the 1958 bee. As of 2014, the only other Oklahoma winner was Michael Kerpan Jr. in 1965.^[5]

References

1. A tribute to John Capehart, MD, “Sooner proud” and 1961 National Spelling Bee champion, Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). Oct 2011; 24(4): 343–345
2. (3 June 1961). F-a-m-i-l-y takes bow with spelling champ, Tuscaloosa News
3. "Spellbinder". Time. June 9, 1961. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
4. (2 June 1961). Who Says Johnny Can't Spell? Try 'Distichous'!, St Petersburg Times (Associated Press story)
5. Sargent, Brian (May 27, 2007). "Two Eighth-Graders Spell Their Way to National Bee". The Oklahoman. Retrieved March 6, 2008. Oklahoma's last win was in 1965, when Michael Kerpan Jr. correctly spelled "eczema." Oklahoma's only other national champion was crowned in 1961, when John Capehart spelled "smaragdine."