[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 365 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 365

      Honoring the life, legacy, and achievements of MacNolia Cox.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 15, 2021

    Mr. Brown (for himself and Mr. Portman) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
      Honoring the life, legacy, and achievements of MacNolia Cox.

Whereas MacNolia Cox (Montiere) was born on January 12, 1923, in Kenmore, Ohio, 
        to her parents John Thomas Cox and Alberta (Evans) Key, and raised in 
        Akron, Ohio;
Whereas MacNolia was a member of Livingston Baptist Church and, as a child, 
        enjoyed reading the dictionary from A to Z to learn the definitions and 
        spellings of words;
Whereas, in 1936, at the age of 13, MacNolia won the Akron Spelling Bee at the 
        Akron Armory over the course of 2.5 hours, besting 50 other participants 
        and becoming the first Black participant to win the competition;
Whereas MacNolia won the Akron Spelling Bee with the word ``voluble'' in front 
        of 3,000 people, taking home a $25 prize and a ticket to Washington, 
        D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee;
Whereas, upon arriving in Washington, D.C., MacNolia was forced to stay in a 
        segregated hotel and was not permitted sit with the other participants 
        during the competition;
Whereas, during the competition, MacNolia was asked to spell the word 
        ``nemesis'', which at the time was capitalized and therefore barred from 
        the competition;
Whereas the use of this word in the competition was immediately protested by a 
        Beacon Journal reporter, and despite learning 100,000 approved words, 
        MacNolia misspelled the word and finished the competition fifth overall, 
        taking home a $75 prize;
Whereas, upon her return to Akron, MacNolia was greeted by a parade of hundreds 
        of cars of community members, where local dignitaries made speeches on 
        behalf of her success;
Whereas MacNolia went on to work as a domestic employee for a local doctor; and
Whereas MacNolia Cox Montiere died of cancer on September 12, 1976, at the age 
        of 53, and was survived by her husband John, stepson Nelson Montiere, 
        stepdaughter Joan Montiere Tabler, brother Otis Cox, sisters Orabell 
        Finney, Rosa Lee Jackson, and Ollie Davis, and 1 granddaughter: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate honors the life, legacy, and achievements 
of MacNolia Cox, an inspiration for young students of color today.
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