mm ^''-'-SiYi ■:-n’-:iiU'r^rr.£ri: mm iliii mMm Library of the University of North Carolina Endowed bv the Dialectic and Pliilan- thropic Societies BY Albert R. Bond, D. D. Editorial Secretary i PUBLISHED BY EDUCATION BOARD, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA . - ^ ■ ► 1023 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill https://archive.org/details/surveyofsouthernOObond P 93if A SURVEY OF SOUTHERN ILLITERACY gVERY child has the right to be well born and educated. The duties and privileges of life attach to these two vital rights. Vast sums of money have been spent to make possible and permanent a state of civilization in which every child could be assured these rights. Individuals, corporate en¬ dowments, religious and benevolent organizations and the State have co¬ operated in the task of creating conditions that would make it possible for a child to have a fitting chance in the struggle. The problem of illiteracy well deserves the serious consideration now being given to it. Different sections of the United States have distinguishing prob¬ lems which arise from the character of its resident population. The types of the population vary with many factors which may not be discussed in this survey. Three elements enter into the problem of Southern illiteracy: (1) The native white population; (2) The negro population; (3) The foreign-born population. Since the South has only a small percentage of a foreign-born population, we omit this factor from this survey of Southern illiteracy. The term illiterate as used by the Census Bureau applies to any one ten years old and over who cannot write in any language. The English lan¬ guage is not made a test. In general the term is intended to include all those who have not had any education. The present survey is based upon the United States Census Report for 1920, which is the latest source of information. Certain comparisons are made with former census reports. We deal with the constituent States of the Southern Baptist Convention and then with a group of these States which are dictinctively Southern. I. CENSUS 1920. 1. Total Illiteracy The Southern Baptist Convention has 17 constituent States and the District of Columbia. Some of this list are not distinctively Southern States but we include all of them in the first part of this survey. The aver¬ age for the United States for the total population is 6.0 and for the Con¬ vention States is 10.7. We list the Convention States with percentages; the number in parenthesis before each State indicates its rank in the total list for the United States; for example, (1) Louisiana 21.9 means that Louisiana has the greatest percentage of illiteracy in the United States; (12) Arkansas 3 9.4 means that Arkansas is the 12th in order in the United States in per¬ centage of illiterates. (1.) La. 21.9 (12) Ark. 9.T (2) S. C. 18.1 (13) Ky. 8.4 (3) Miss. 17.2 (14) Tex. 8.3 (4) Ala. 16.1 (20) Md. 5.6 (5) N. M. 15.6 (26) Okla. 3.8 (6) Ga. 15.3 (27) Ill. 3.4 (8) N. C. 13.1 (31) Mo. 3.0 (9) Va. 11.2 (34) D. C. 2.8 (10) Tenn. 10.3 Convention States av. 10.7 (11) Fla. 9.6 U. S. Average 6.0 ; list 13 States have a percentage of illiteracy higher than the average for the United States; eight rank higher than the average per¬ centage for this group. The eighteen Convention States rank from one to thirty-four, inclusive, in the list for the entire United States; within this same number seventeen other states rank in percentage. If we omit from this list New Mexico, Maryland, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, and the Dis¬ trict of Columbia, we have twelve Southern States, and these rank the highest percentage in illiteracy for the United States with the one exception of Arizona which has the same percentage as Georgia. Two factors help to make this high percentage for the Southern States: (1) A large negro population. The percentage of negro illiteracy is largest for these twelve States. States other than Southern have a large foreign- born population but the ratio of negro illiteracy is higher than that for foreign-born, the figures being for negro 22.9, for foreign-born whites 13.1. (2) Mountain population. In addition to the negro population five States —Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky—have also a very large population in the mountain sections, whose inaccessibility ren¬ ders it difficult to maintain an adequate school system. 2. Native White Illiteracy The percentage for native white illiteracy for the United States is 2.0. We list the Convention States with the percentage for each; the figure in parenthesis indicates the rank of each State in the list for the Unitd States for white illiteracy. (1) N. M. 11.6 (11) Ark. 4.5 (2) La. 10.5 (12) Miss. 3.6 (3) N. C. 8.2 (13) Tex. 3.0 (4) Tenn. 7.3 (14) Fla. 2.9 (5) Ky. 7.0 (15) Okla. 2.3 (6) S. C. 6.5 (17) Mo. 2.0 (7) Ala. 6.3 (18) Md. 1.8 (8) Va. 5.9 (25) Ill. 0.8 (9) Ga. 5.4 (44) D. C. 0.3 4 Of this list fourteen States have a percentage higher than for the United States. Five of the first nine have a large mountain population. New Mexico heads the list for native white illiteracy for the entire United States. With the exception of New Mexico and West Virginia, the twelve Southern States stand at the head of all the States for native white illiteracy. Florida has the lowest rate of the Southern States. 3. Negro Illiteracy Louisiana 38.5 Alabama 31.3 Mississippi 29.3 S. Carolina 29.3 Georgia 29.1 N. Carolina 24.5 Virginia 23.5 Tennessee 22.4 Arkansas 21.8 Florida 21.5 Kentucky 21.0 Maryland 18.2 Texas 17.8 Oklahoma 12.4 Missouri 12.1 Dist. of Col. 8.6 Illinois 6.7 New Mexico 4.3 The United States average for negro illiteracy is 22.9. Twelve Southern States show a higher percentage than this. This would naturally be expected since the Northern States have a better type of negro popu¬ lation than in the South. Then, too, the negro conditions in the South are more difficult to improve than in the North. Economic and racial elements enter the problem of elevating the educational status of the negro. II. TWENTY-YEAR COMPARISON A comparison of the Census Report will show a marked improvement in the reduction of Southern illiteracy during the last twenty years. The following tables will indicate this. 1. Native White Illiteracy New Mexico Louisiana North Carolina Tennessee Kentucky South Carolina Alabama Virginia Georgia Arkansas Mississippi Texas Florida Oklahoma Census 1920 11.6 10.5 8.2 7.3 7.0 6.5 6.3 5.9 5.4 4.5 3.6 3.0 2.9 2.3 1910 14.9 13.4 12.3 9.7 10.0 10.3 9.9 8.0 7.8 7.0 5.2 4.3 5.0 3.3 1900 29.4 17.3 19.5 14.2 12.8 13.6 14.8 11.1 11.9 11.6 8.0 6.1 8.6 7.7 5 Louisiana 2 Negro Illiteracy 38.5 48.4 61.1 Alabama 31.3 40.1 57.4 South Carolina 29.3 38.7 52.8 Mississippi 29.3 35.6 49.1 Georgia 29.1 36.5 52.4 North Carolina 24,5 31.9 47.6 Virginia 23.5 30.0 44.6 Here we list only the seven states that have a percentage higher than the average 22.9, for the Census negro illiteracy for the United States. 3. Twenty-Year Reduction Native White Illiteracy 1920-1910 1910-1900 1920-1900 North Carolina 4.1 7.2 11.3 South Carolina 3.8 3.3 7.1 Alabama 3.6 4.9 8.5 New Mexico 3.3 15.5 17.8 Kentucky 3.0 2.8 5.8 Louisiana 2.9 3.9 6.8 Arkansas 2.5 4.6 7.1 Tennessee 2.4 4.5 4.9 Georgia 2.4 4.1 6.5 Florida 2.1 3.6 5.7 Virginia 2.1 3.1 5.2 Mississippi 1.6 2.8 4.4 Texas 1.3 1.8 3.1 Oklahoma 1.0 4.4 S.4 Louisiana Negro Illiteracy 9.9 12.7 22.6 South Carolina 9.4 14.1 23.5 Alabama 8.8 17.3 26.1 Georgia 7.4 15.9 23.3 North Carolina 7.4 15.7 23.1 Virginia 6.5 14.6 21.1 Mississippi 6.3 13.5 19.8 III. LARGEST PERCENTAGE IN REDUCTION IN ILLITERACY In the following lists we give the seven states that rank highest in the percentage by which illiteracy was reduced in the periods indicated. To illustrate: North Carolina reduced her native white illiteracy by 4.1 per cent in the census of 1920 over the census of 1910. 6 1. Native White Illiteracy Census 1920 over 1910 N. Carolina 4.1 Kentucky 3.0 S. Carolina 3.8 Louisiana 2.9 Alabama 3.6 Arkansas 2.5 New Mexico 3.3 Census 1910 over 1900 N. Mexico 15.5 Tennessee 4.5 N. Carolina 7.2 Oklahoma 4.4 Alabama 4.9 Georgia 4.1 Arkansas 4.6 Census 1920 over 1900 N. Mexico 17.8 Arkansas 7.1 N. Carolina 11.3 Louisiana 6.8 Alabama 8.5 Georgia 6.5 S. Carolina 7.1 2. Negro Illiteracy Census 1920 over 1910 Louisiana 9.9 N. Carolina 7.4 S. Carolina 9.4 Virginia 6.5 Alabama 8.8 Mississippi 6.3 Georgia 7.4 Census 1910 over 1900 Alabama 17.3 S. Carolina 14.1 Georgia 15.9 Mississippi 13.5 N. Carolina 15.7 Louisiana 12.7 Virginia 14.6 Census 1920 over 1900 Alabama 26.1 Louisiana 22.6 S. Carolina 23.5 Virginia 21.1 Georgia 23.3 Mississippi 19.8 N. Carolina 23.1 3. Total Illiteracy Census 1920 over 1910 S. Carolina 7.6 N. Carolina 5.4 Louisiana 7.1 Mississippi 5.2 Alabama 6.8 N. Mexico 4.6 Georgia 5.4 7 IV. PERCENTAGE PROPORTIONATE REDUCTION 1. Native White Illiteracy 1920 over 1910 1920 over 1900 1910 over 1900 Oklahoma 70.1 30.3 57.1 Florida 66.2 42.0 41.8 Arkansas 61.2 35.7 39.6 New Mexico 61.2 22.1 52.7 Alabama S7.5 36.3 33.1 North Carolina 57.5 33.3 37.0 Mississippi 55.0 30.7 35.0 Georgia 54.4 30.7 34.4 South Carolina 52.2 36.9 25.0 Texas 50.8 30.2 29.5 Virginia 46.8 26.2 27.9 Kentucky 45.3 30.0 21.9 Louisiana 39.3 21.6 22.5 Tennessee 34.5 24.7 31.7 In this table we give for each period the proportionate percentage of reduction in illiteracy. For example: In period 1 Oklahoma reduced its il- literacy by 57.1 per cent. This was over one-half. But in period 2 the reduction was only 30.3 per cent, which was less than one-half. Order of Proportionate Reduction 1910-1900 1920-1910 1920-1900 1. Oklahoma Florida Oklahoma 2. New Mexico South Carolina Florida 3. Florida Alabama Arkansas and N. M. 4. Arkansas Arkansas 5. North Carolina North Carolina Alabama and N. C. 6. Mississippi Georgia and Miss. 7. Georgia -- - Mississippi 8. Alabama Oklahoma Georgia 9. Tennessee Texas South Carolina 10. Texas Kentucky Texas 11. Virginia Virginia Virginia 12. South Carolina Tennessee Kentucky 13. Louisiana New Mexico Louisiana 14. Kentucky Louisiana Tennessee In this table the States are listed in the order of greatest proportion- ate percentage of reduction in illiteracy. Six States—South Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida and T exas—increased the per centage of reduction in period 2 over per- iod 1. The other eight States lost in the rate of reduction. 2. Negro Illiteracy 1920 over 1900 1920 over 1910 1910 over 1900 North Carolina 48.5 23.2 32.9 Virginia 47.3 21.6 32.7 Alabama 45.5 21.9 30.1 Georgia 44.5 20.3 30.3 South Carolina 42.9 24.3 26.3 Mississippi 40.3 17.7 27.5 Louisiana 36.9 20.4 20.8 8 For period 1 the order in which the States rank according to the highest percentage of proportionate reduction in illiteracy is this: 1—North Carolina; 2—Virginia; 3—Georgia; 4—Alabama;5—Mississippi; 6—South Carolina; 7—^Louisiana. For Period 2 the order is: 1—South Carolina; 2—North Carolina; 3—Alabama; 4—Virginia; 5—Louisiana; 6—Georgia; 7—Mississippi. V. SOME OBSERVATIONS IMPROVEMENT—The statistics presented in this survey show the marked improvement in the reduction of illiteracy and especially white illiteracy. In the table “Percentage Proportionate Reduction,” it will be observed that the 1920 Census shows that the Southern States had a pro¬ portionate percentage of reduction of illiteracy over the 1900 figures that ranges from 66.2 for Florida to 34.5 for Tennessee. Every Southern State reduced its percentage of illiteracy in each of the two census reports, 1910, 1920. This applies for total illiteracy, native white illiteracy and negro illiteracy. Special efforts have been made by a number of the states to reduce illiteracy by holding adult schools. While the adult school does not carry its pupils very far in the curriculum, it does render them able to read and write ordinary English. Further, the public school system in the South has made wonderful progress within this twenty-year period. A RURAL PROBLEM—The percentage for rural illiteracy is higher than that for urban illiteracy. The South has a larger rural than urban population. While great advances have been made in the rural life during this period, the rural conditions do not yet have the advantages of cities of the South or of the rural conditions in the North. Because of the inade¬ quate school facilities, the rural communities have been backward. This fact has a signal example in the mountain sections where the people retain a pure Anglo-Saxon lineage but who have continued backward in civilization because of the difficulty of travel. But even in these mountain sections great improvements have occurred, especially since the coming of the automobile and consequently of better roads. A BAPTIST PROBLEM—Baptists constitute a large percentage of the population of the South, and especially in the rural districts. Hence the problem becomes intensely a Baptist one. Baptists must cooperate with the various agencies, local and State, to secure a better school system and to provide economic conditions which make it possible for every child to have an adequate school opportunity. The negro illiteracy will be reduced to a larger degree during the next census period because it will be recalled that during the last twenty-year period there remained vast numbers of negroes who were born within the shadow of the Civil War and who did not have the privilege of school. Now that negroes have the advantage of the pubUc school, negro illiteracy will decrease rapidly, thus reducing the high average of illiteracy for the South. VI. GRAPHS AND TABLE We give several graphs and a table of statistics that set forth some of the results in this survey. 9 Illiteracy in tKe ConuentionStates -Census 19201910 STATES PerCx ALA. 16.1 22.9 AR.K.. 9.4 12.6 D.op C. 2.8 4.9 FLA. 9.6 13.8 GA. 15.3 20.7 ILL. 3.4 3.7 KY. 8.4 12.1 LA. 21.9 29.0 MD. 5.6 7.2 MISS. 17.2 224 MO. 3.0 4.3 N.M. 15.6 20.2 N.C lai 18.5 OKLA. 3.8 5.6 s.c. 16.1 25.7 TENN. 10.3 13.6 TEX. 6.3 9.9 VA. 11.2 15.2 CON.STS. 10.7 14.6 u.s. 6.0 7.7 30 1920 1910 10 11 o I oo oo OJ o. NT O. rO O DO n 'I o. c\2 0& OJ OJ ■4-^ O GO O- o- Od U-l o oo Ui I- >§ !^i2 lf)lO (\J lO cO>t oo lOrO rOrO Olo in oo vOfO Ooo OilO 0) < > d < 12 ON Q Z O Q iz; c/3 psP W o pp o w z o < w H l-H ffi 5 o Pi § O 25 pq I Z o I—I w pq o Pm pq w > o Q Z W H J-H W w > hH H <5 Z (/I w H <3 pq w H t—I hJ D o 1—1 0\ 0\ a Vh aj o bo 03 u V V :>U93 o\ VO Os CO tx 1 — 1 o CM CO CM to* NO tx NO os CM 4 -> o 3 U. 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