When she won the first national spelling bee, Marie C. Bolden dealt a blow to racism

Marie C. Bolden made national headlines when she turned in a flawless performance at a spelling bee in Cleveland. Her competitors included white students from segregated school districts in the South. (Courtesy the Brown Family)

If you haven't heard about the Black girl who won the first national spelling bee in the U.S. 115 years ago, you're not alone: even many in her family didn't know about Marie C. Bolden's feat until after she died, decades later.

"It's astounding to me" that she never talked about winning a gold medal in front of thousands of people, Bolden's grandson, Mark Brown, told NPR.