You're Wrong About – "The Great American Spelling Bee" with Gabe Henry

Host: Sarah Marshall
Guest: Gabe Henry (author of Enough is Enuf)
Date: April 14, 2026

Episode Overview

In this engaging deep-dive, Sarah Marshall is joined again by writer and self-declared "spelling correspondent" Gabe Henry to revisit the subject of American spelling—this time through the high-drama world of the spelling bee. Winding through tales of childhood trauma, American dictionaries, the rise (and demise) of simplified spelling campaigns, and the remarkable story of the U.S.'s first national spelling bee, this episode is equal parts history lesson, social analysis, and affectionate nerd-out over language. Along the way, Sarah faces down a few spelling challenges herself, and together, she and Gabe explore what makes spelling such a fraught and uniquely American phenomenon.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why Spelling Bees? Why in America?

• Spelling as universal experience: Spelling bees evoke strong childhood emotions and memories of triumph or failure for Americans of all ages; almost everyone remembers the word they won or lost on.
  • "No matter the city, no matter what age, the hands always shoot up and everyone has a story." (Gabe, 01:30)
• The trauma and pride of spelling: Both Sarah and Gabe share stories about spelling-related slights from childhood, highlighting the emotional residue spelling bees leave behind.
• Spelling bees are rare outside the U.S.; they aren’t even common in England.
• Spelling as a uniquely American, democratic, classless competition:
  • "Spelling is classless. It’s more egalitarian because in theory, anybody who owns an English dictionary can win a spelling bee…It’s more of a level playing field." (Gabe, 65:16)

2. Sarah’s Spelling Bee Challenge

• Gabe quizzes Sarah with the word “fuchsia”—his gotcha word that nearly everyone misspells. Sarah aces it:
  • "F U C H S I A. Fuchsia." (Sarah, 08:29)
• Notable moment: Sarah’s delight at nailing “fuchsia” is genuine and touching, a “gifted child” moment (09:34).

[Spelling Challenge Timestamps]

• Fuchsia: 07:25–09:21
• Cemetery, Pumpkin, Mischievous: 55:41–57:54

3. Spellings Wars: The Chaotic, Violent, Social Side of Early Bees

• Spelling contests date back to colonial America (1700s): Called “spelling trials,” “spelling matches,” “spelling wars,” and “spelling fights” (sometimes literally).
  • Example: 1877 NYT article describing two teenage girls brawling after a spelling contest; one sent to jail! (13:55–14:56)
• Spelling matches as social events: Evolved from classroom tools to popular forms of community entertainment.

4. Standardization Arrives: The Impact of Dictionaries

• Before Samuel Johnson’s 1755 Dictionary, spelling was wildly unstandardized (Shakespeare spelled his name umpteen ways).
  • "It was just improv. It was jazz spelling." (Gabe/Sarah, 17:10–17:23)
• Dictionaries begin to define “right” and “wrong,” making bees possible.

5. The Term “Bee” and American Social History

• “Bee” as in “spelling bee” is not about insects but communal work—like “quilting bee,” “barn raising bee,” etc. (29:06–29:53)
• The spelling bee motif leans increasingly into honeycomb and bee imagery over time, even though the word comes from a totally different sense.

6. Rise and Fall of the Simplified Spelling Movement

• Efforts by intellectuals (Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, Tennyson, Darwin, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain) to simplify English spelling: remove silent letters, phoneticize, “luv” for “love”, “enuf” for “enough,” “kould” for “could," etc.
  • "You’re basically asking a six-year-old to sound out the word 'tough,' and they’ll spell it T-U-F." (Gabe, 37:07)
• Benjamin Franklin’s imagined reforms summarily ignored/mocked (and rejected by his youthful lady friend).
  • "She is not excited to receive it … She picks it apart … he just shelves the project." (Gabe, 33:08)
• The 1906 founding of the Simplified Spelling Board by Andrew Carnegie; participation from luminaries like Mark Twain, Melvil Dewey, William James.
• President Theodore Roosevelt briefly mandates simplified spelling in all federal communications—sparking national ridicule and political cartoons. (45:02–46:11)
  • "He directs his stenographer to respell all documents and correspondences from the Oval Office in simplified spelling. Then he directs the Government Printing Office to do the same." (Gabe, 45:29)
• Spelling bees as counter-movement, celebrating the difficulty of “proper” English spelling even as reformers struggle to change it.

7. The First National Spelling Bee (Cleveland, 1908): High Drama

• Participants are regional teams from New Orleans, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Erie, with only four places actually represented.
• Racial Controversy:
  • Marie Bolden, a Black 13-year-old star speller, is nearly forced out because the New Orleans (segregated) team threatens boycott. The organizers refuse; New Orleans eventually backs down (53:04–54:59).
    • "The organizers of the bee refuse to give in … The standoff drags on until the night before… finally, the superintendent gives up." (Gabe, 55:25)
• Marie Bolden and the Triumph of the Underdog:
  • The bee’s format: not single elimination—scores are tallied by team and individual.
  • Cleveland wins.
  • Marie ties for best individual score but, by rules, as member of the winning team is crowned the first national spelling bee champion.
    • "Marie Bolden becomes America's first national spelling bee champion." (B, 60:56)
  • Celebrated by Black and many national newspapers, evoked by Booker T. Washington in a speech:
    • "You will admit that we spell out of the same spelling book that you do. And I think you will also admit that we spell a little better." (Booker T. Washington via Gabe, 61:57)

8. Spelling, Language, and American Identity

• The spelling bee as a democratic institution—contrasted with the British focus on class through pronunciation.
• The impossibility of “top-down” language reform; language evolves “bottom-up” as people naturally adapt.
• Modern texting ("thru," "u," "lol," "omg") as organic simplified spelling, adopted on need and utility.
  • "Maybe the difference is that when [simplified spellings] were proposed by reformers, they’re coming from the top down ... But now ... it’s coming from the bottom up." (Gabe, 72:55)
• The melancholy but warm note of American hopefulness: celebrating underdogs, resisting authority, loving the idiosyncrasies of English.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On spelling trauma and identity:
  • "There is a quote unquote gifted child inside me who's still desperate for validation." (Sarah, 09:34)
• On violence at early bees:
  • "As far as we know, that's the only spelling bee that ever led directly to prison time." (Gabe, 14:57)
• On standardization:
  • "In the past, if you tried to have a spelling bee, someone would just kind of throw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall." (Sarah, 17:42)
• On Marie Bolden’s victory:
  • "Marie Bolden becomes America's first national spelling bee champion." (Gabe, 60:56)
  • "Maybe there is a statue of her but if there isn't, I would like to see one." (Sarah, 61:01)
• On the democracy of spelling bees:
  • "All the words come from that book…you could have Marie Bolden competing against a descendant of the Mayflower…It's more of a level playing field." (Gabe, 65:57)
• On the futility and beauty of spelling reform:
  • "You can't really pull [language] into the future, just like you can't really pull it back into the past. It's just gonna do what it does." (Gabe, 47:16)
• On modern language evolution:
  • "People routinely abbreviate words when they're texting…maybe the difference is…now it's coming from the bottom up." (Gabe, 72:55)
• Sarah’s closing note on hope and American resilience:
  • "I will never stop having a lot of hope and love for the American people…Sometimes I like to just sit quietly and think about how many people out there are just getting up and trying to find a way to take care of the people around them…and just trying to spell." (Sarah, 76:12)

Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |---------------|----------------------| | 00:00–03:13 | Opening; childhood spelling wounds; Sarah and Gabe as spelling nerds | | 03:13–09:21 | Gabe quizzes Sarah (Fuchsia spelling bee challenge); reflections on the pressure of spelling bees | | 13:36–15:30 | Spelling matches devolving into physical fights (1877 NYT article) | | 16:23–18:16 | Rise of dictionaries, creation of "correct" spelling | | 29:03–29:53 | Origin of the word "bee" in spelling bee | | 33:08–34:00 | Franklin’s simplified spelling, rejected by “hot lady” | | 45:02–46:11 | Theodore Roosevelt and the federal simplified spelling experiment | | 52:47–54:59 | Marie Bolden, racism, and the first national spelling bee’s standoff | | 60:56–61:57 | Marie Bolden wins and is celebrated | | 65:16–65:57 | What makes spelling bees democratic and uniquely American | | 72:55–74:22 | Texting, bottom-up simplification of spelling | | 76:08–77:33 | Sarah on her enduring hope for Americans |

Episode Takeaways

• Spelling bees are more than contests: They carry emotional, historical, and social weight—both as personal memory and American tradition.
• The urge to “fix” English spelling is old and, so far, eternally thwarted: Real language change comes from ordinary people, not edicts from geniuses or presidents.
• The first big spelling bee contained all of American life: aspiration, division, hard-won inclusion, and real, kid-driven triumph.
• At heart, a love letter to the chaotic, ungovernable, democratic mess of English and America itself.

For Further Exploration

• Gabe Henry’s Book: Enough is Enough (enuf)—all about the wild history of spelling reform.
• Modern Spelling Bees: National finals usually aired in late May—these events are pure, joyful spectacles of kid talent and weird words.

"At its core, language should be about communication. And if you're cutting out... 30% of the population, you're cutting them out of being part of this conversation—then I don't know if it's really doing its job."
— Gabe, 71:01

"Sometimes I like to just sit quietly and think about how many people out there are just getting up and trying to... make other people's lives a little bit easier, and just trying to spell."
— Sarah, 76:12

Listen for:

• Tangents on the emotional stakes of H-less “Sarahs” (04:12)
• Excerpts from 19th century spelling brawls (14:04)
• The origin of “spelling bee” and its transformation into public spectacle (29:03)
• Roller-coaster tales of reform, from Roosevelt’s decrees to Mark Twain’s jokes (43:38)
• The inspiring story of Marie Bolden, the first national champ (60:56)
• The slow-motion demise of the spelling reform movement (68:02)
• The democracy and dysfunction of the English language (71:00)
• Sarah’s joyful hope for spelling nerds and Americans everywhere (76:12)