| 44th Scripps National Spelling Bee | |
|---|---|
 The Mayflower Hotel, site of the 44th National Spelling Bee | |
| Date | June 9–10, 1971 |
| Location | The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. |
| Winner | Jonathan Knisely |
| Age | 12 |
| Residence | Mullica Hill, New Jersey |
| Sponsor | Philadelphia Bulletin |
| Sponsor location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Winning word | shalloon |
| No. of contestants | 77 [1] |
| Pronouncer | Richard R. Baker |
| Preceded by | 43rd Scripps National Spelling Bee |
| Followed by | 45th Scripps National Spelling Bee |
The 44th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. at the Mayflower Hotel on June 9–10, 1971, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company. [2]
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Scripps Company and is held at a hotel or convention center in Washington, D.C. during the week following Memorial Day weekend. Since 2011, it has been held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center hotel in National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside Washington D.C. It was previously held at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington D.C. from 1996 to 2010.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington or D.C., is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, first President of the United States and Founding Father. As the seat of the United States federal government and several international organizations, Washington is an important world political capital. The city is also one of the most visited cities in the world, with more than 20 million tourists annually.
The Mayflower Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., located on Connecticut Avenue NW. It is two blocks north of Farragut Square. The hotel is managed by the Autograph Collection Hotels division of Marriott International. The Mayflower is the largest luxury hotel in the District of Columbia, the longest continuously operating hotel in the Washington D.C. area, and a rival of the nearby Willard InterContinental and Hay-Adams Hotels. The Mayflower is known as the "Grande Dame of Washington", the "Hotel of Presidents", and as the city's "Second Best Address" —the latter sobriquet attributed to President Harry S. Truman .However, today it is only a four-star hotel.
Jonathan Knisely of Mullica Hill, New Jersey won the competition, sponsored by the Philadelphia Bulletin . He was followed by Susan O'Malley, 13, of Arizona in second place (misspelling "gigot" as starting with a "j"), and Carolyn Cross of Stow, Ohio in third. [3] [4]
Mullica Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community located within Harrison Township, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 3,982.
The Philadelphia Bulletin was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the United States. Its widely known slogan was: "In Philadelphia, nearly everybody reads The Bulletin."
Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western and the Mountain states. It is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona shares the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico; its other neighboring states are Nevada and California to the west and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest.
There were 77 contestants this year, 53 girls and 24 boys. The competition lasted 17 rounds, with O'Malley missing the first word she received once the field was narrowed down to two. [1] A total of 633 words were used. [5]
Knisely was the first resident of New Jersey to win the national bee, which would not claim another winner until the 2006 bee. [6] Knisely's brother Alexander finished 17th in the 1967 bee. [4]
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Northeastern United States. It is a peninsula, bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, particularly along the extent of the length of New York City on its western edge; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware River and Pennsylvania; and on the southwest by the Delaware Bay and Delaware. New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state by area but the 11th-most populous, with 9 million residents as of 2017, and the most densely populated of the 50 U.S. states; its biggest city is Newark. New Jersey lies completely within the combined statistical areas of New York City and Philadelphia and was the second-wealthiest U.S. state by median household income as of 2017.
The 79th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C., on May 31 and June 1, 2006. For the first time in the Bee's history, ABC broadcast the Championship Rounds on primetime television.
The 40th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. at the Mayflower Hotel on June 7–8, 1967, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.
Knisely appears in the 2002 documentary Spellbound , where he says "I don't think [winning] really helped me in my love life — my nascent love life. I mean, something like that could be considered something of a liability." [7]
Spellbound is a 2002 documentary that was directed by Jeffrey Blitz. The film follows eight competitors in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. The film received positive reviews and won several awards.
