The National Spelling Bee After Wartime Hiatus

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

A tradition that began in 1925 ...

The Scripps National Spelling Bee took a hiatus during World War II as energy and resources were directed toward the war effort. Read on ...

Walter B. Lane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

A contestant at the National Spelling Bee in 1946 ponders a word.