In Dakota Territory, the outbreak of spelling bees in the late 1880s was commonly referred to as a “craze.” Since publication of The Hoosier Schoolmaster in 1871 the craze, epidemic, or infatuation with spelling bees, as it was variously called by cultural commentators, had constituted a conscious revival of old custom. When announcing a spelling bee on the prairies, organizers almost always referred to the event as “an old-fashioned” or “old-time spelling bee.”
These were adult affairs, not mere school exercises, although some of them attracted a younger crowd. A spelling bee at the Methodist church in Grand Forks in April 1889 reported “quite an attendance” and was called “the occasion of much merriment. The spelling was done with professional elegance and the prize, a handsome hand-painted egg, was awarded to Miss Laura Wright. The social entertainment enjoyed by the young folks was delightfully refreshing,” as were the candy and lemonade served.
Often a spelling bee was conducted in combination with some other common social function, such as a box social or a pie social, perhaps a debate, perhaps musical performances. Churches were common venues, as were lodge halls. Such included Good Templars lodges and Women’s Christian Temperance Union reading rooms, but the upright environment did not dampen spirits. The spelling bee at the Good Templars lodge of Cooperstown in 1887 was adjudged by the local press “a very spicy and interesting event,” with “Miss Angell”—the “Miss” likely indicating she was a teacher—outlasting competition in an extended contest.
There were occasional intermural competitions, as when in 1890 the young folks of Esler journeyed to Pingree, reportedly practicing how to spell “daguerreotype” on the way.
The craze hit Bismarck in a big way in 1893, when an “old-fashioned spelling bee” involving fifty spellers crowded into the WCTU reading room. The press reported “fun in abundance.” The spelling bee as an institution was not familiar to all, and so Mrs. Holley first explained the proposition, after which two captains chose sides and a designated conductor read off words for spelling. The words got longer and harder with each round. The first speller out was Mr. Wilson, who failed on the word "amethyst." He was awarded the booby prize: a 4th-grade spelling book. The champion speller, Mrs. Pettee, received a cake. Attendees lingered late and finally dispersed declaring they had had a “right good time.”
What sort of country was this, where for better than two decades, spelling bees were regarded as high entertainment? Somewhat later, in 1911, a correspondent of the Wahpeton Times observed, “The more one reflects on the good old spelling bee, the more enthusiastic one becomes.” Looking back from still more than a century later, at not only spelling bees but also the multitude of other community functions that characterized the first generation of settler life on the prairies, we of the twenty-first century are compelled to admit that those folk had cultural and intellectual game we cannot match today.
And there was another allurement, as expressed by a poet in Williston, who recalled the romantic possibilities of spelling: “But ah that braid of golden hair, / The snow, the moonlight pale— / The homeward ride—the yielding waist— / And love’s sweet oft-told tale! / God bless the hallowed memories of / The old-time spelling bee.”
