Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 85.djvu/201

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DISTRIBUTION OF AMERICAN GENIUS
197

mother of American greatness, it apparently is not due to the presence of a large percentage of urban population. The facts showing urban and rural population point in no conclusive direction.

Table VI

Ratio between the Number of Eminent Persons born in Certain Cities and the Population of those Cities
Geographical Area Decade
1850-1859
Decade
1860-1869.
Decade
1870-1879.
United States 8.9 7.0 2.6
New England 19.6 15.0 6.2
Middle Atlantic 11.4 8.1 3.1
East North Central 9.1 7.8 2.7
 
Boston 39.5 23.9 8.3
Cleveland 41.2 23.9 8.3
Providence 35.6 17.4 9.5
Washington 31.2 21.9 13.6
Syracuse 28.6 11.6 7.7
Milwaukee 24.4 14.1 3.6
Detroit 24.1 20.2 6.1
San Francisco 21.1 11.4 5.6
Chicago 18.3 14.4 6.3
Baltimore 12.4 14.2 6.0
Cincinnati 15.5 10.6 5.9
Philadelphia 14.5 10.8 5.6
St. Louis 14.3 6.4 3.7
Brooklyn 13.2 10.7 4.2
Richmond 13.2 9.8 4.7
Portland 11.4 25.8 8.7
Troy 17.9 10.9 7.1

To guard against the objection that the supremacy of New England was due to the inclusion of an undue number of preachers and school teachers in the "Who's Who" figures, an analysis was prepared of the statistics by professions. The 10,000 persons are divided rather evenly over the different professions, with the two exceptions of educators and lawyers. Table VII. contains the figures for the professions at large.

Table VII

Number and Per Cent, of Eminent Persons who were in Certain Professions
Profession Number Per Cent.
of Total
Educators 1,932 19.3
Lawyers 1,354 13.6
Business men 998 9.9
Public office holders (except Army and Navy) 916 9.2
Authors 908 9.1
Clergymen 732 7.3
Doctors 619 6.2
Scientists 614 6.1
Journalists 595 6.0
Army and Navy 430 4.3
Miscellaneous 902 9.0
——— ———
Total 10,000 100.0