[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 365--HONORING THE LIFE, LEGACY, AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF 
                              MacNOLIA COX

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

       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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