ILLITERACY-1920 CENSUS REPRESENTING ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE HAD NO I NEW YORK 2 GEORGIA 3 PENNSYLVANIA 4 LOUISIANA 5 TEXAS 6 ALABAMA 7 NORTH CAROLINA 8 MISSISSIPPI 9 SOUTH CAROLINA 10 VIRGINIA II TENNESSEE 12 ILLINOIS 13 KENTUCKY 14 MASSACHUSETTS IS OHIO 16 NEW JERSEY 17 ARKANSAS 18 CALIFORNIA 19 MICHIGAN 20 MISSOURI 21 FLORIDA 22 WEST VIRGINIA 23 CONNECTICUT 24 MARYLAND 25 OKLAHOMA 26 INDIANA 27, WISCONSIN 28 NEW MEXICO 29 ARIZONA 30 MINNESOTA 31. RHODE ISLAND 32 COLORADO 33 KANSAS 34 IOWA 35 MAINE 36 WASHINGTON 37 NEW HAMPSHIRE 38 NEBRASKA 39 DIST. OF COL. 40 DELAWARE 41 NORTH DAKOTA 42 MONTANA 43 OREGON 44 VERMONT 45 SOUTH DAKOTA 46 UTAH 47 IDAHO 48 NEVADA 49 WYOMING 1425,002 328,838 31 2,699 299,092 295,844 278,082 241,603 229,734 220,667 195,159 182,629 173,987 155,014 146,607 131,006 127,66! 121,837 95,592 88,046 83,403 71,811 69,413 67,265 64,4 34 56,864 52034 50,397, 41,637, 39,131 34,487 31,312 24,208 22,821 20,680 20,240 18,526 15,788 13,784 10,509 10,508 9,937 9,544 9317 8,488 8,109 6,264 4924 38,02 3,149 The figures given for each State as to the total number of illiterates are from the 1920 census, as is the quotation at head of the chart. Mr. NORTON. Yes. Mr. HASTINGS. All ages above 10? Mr. NORTON. Yes; above 10 years of age. Mr. ROBSION. I want to compliment your table. The witnesses have been emphasizing too much the need of this legislation for people in the highlands of the South. I have always taken the position that this was needed all over the country. That does not confine it to one section or one State, does it? Mr. NORTON. No. The CHAIRMAN. Kentucky has a pretty good record there. Mr. HASTINGS. I always understood that Montana has less illiteracy than any other State, but it is the forty-second State according to that. The CHAIRMAN. Wyoming stands high. Mr. HASTINGS. Of course it is somewhat in relation to population, but, when you are considering the vote, the numbers are important. Montana could have the least percentage, could it not, and yet have a little larger number than these others? Mr. NORTON. Yes. This next chart deals only with native-born illiterates. Mr. DOUGHTON. This other chart includes both? Mr. NORTON. Yes; native and foreign born. Mr. HASTINGS. And this is still above 10 years of age? Mr. NORTON. Yes; native born, black and white; nearly 2,000,000 black and something over a million white, showing how the native born illiteracy problem is largely confined to the Southern States. But the whole problem as shown by the previous chart is not at all a southern problem exclusively; it is a national problem, because two of the first three States are Northern States. Mr. LOWREY. You might give some of those figures. Mr. NORTON. Georgia has 327,000 native-born illiterates; Louisiana, 288,000; Alabama, 276,000; North Carolina, 238,000; Mississippi, 228,000; South Carolina, 220,000; Virginia, 192,000; Texas, 182,000; Tennessee, 181,000; Kentucky, 152,000; Arkansas, 120,000; Florida, 68,000; Missouri, 65,000; West Virginia, 54,000; Pennsylvania, 53,000; Maryland, 50,000; Ohio, 46,000. Did you want all of them? Mr. LOWREY. That gives us an idea. Have you any statistics as to what proportion the Southern States are white? Take Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, what proportion of those are white? Mr. NORTON. Yes. I was going to present some tables on this problem of illiteracy. Will you please pass these around, each member retaining one? May I ask that these tables, as well as the charts, be put in the record? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. NORTON. Now, to answer the question you have just asked, if you will turn to Table 3, column 2 gives the number of native white illiterates and the percentage will be found in column 4. If you compare that with all native born, the chart preceding, you can quickly tell what are white and what are black. For example, take Alabama. There are a total of 276,000 illiterates, native born. Now, of that number 65,000 are white. The remainder, of course, are black. In Arkansas, for example, there is a total of 120,000 native-born illiterates. Of that number 41,000 are white. Is that clear? The CHAIRMAN. About a third are white, then? These figures as to the number of native-born illiterates in each State are from the Federal census. There are more native-born than foreign-born illiterates in the United States. Mr. NORTON. Yes. In these tables that I have given you will find detailed figures, both as to the number and percentage of illiteracy in all the States. All are based on the Federal census, and please keep in mind in studying the tables and charts that we refer to those that have had no schooling whatever. Double that if you want to consider those who have had perhaps too little schooling to be effective citizens in a democracy. THE ILLITERACY PROBLEM The subsequent five tables give the figures on illiteracy as taken from the Federal census: TABLE I.-The States and the illiteracy problem, 1920 Census, Volume III. |
