Page:Statistics of the colored people of Philadelphia.djvu/13

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11

III. ADULT EDUCATION.

1. Table showing the number who can read, write and cypher, &c.

  No. of adults over 20 years. Read, write and cypher in the simple rules. Read and write legibly. Read only. Cannot read. Free born in Slave States. Slave born but manu-
mitted.
First Ward, 223 25 23 47 128 136 37
Second Ward, 349 36 54 76 183 156 57
Third Ward, 275 60 48 68 99 118 48
Fourth Ward, 1427 262 199 273 693 561 186
Fifth Ward, 1818 350 285 310 873 747 212
Sixth Ward, 151 21 25 34 71 41 25
Seventh Ward, 1867 431 337 311 788 708 213
Eighth Ward, 969 204 192 199 374 356 147
Ninth Ward, 76 20 16 19 21 24 11
Tenth Ward, 208 40 39 42 87 64 44
Eleventh Ward, 37 2 11 5 19 14 3
Twelfth Ward, 234 53 35 42 104 78 28
Thirteenth Ward, 69 15 12 15 27 15 8
Fourteenth Ward, 233 34 46 66 87 61 28
Fifteenth Ward, 157 20 26 29 82 46 22
Sixteenth Ward, 82 17 12 13 40 25 7
Seventeenth Ward, 70 13 8 11 38 16 10
Eighteenth Ward, 4 1 1 0 2 1 0
Nineteenth Ward, 114 6 20 18 70 37 26
Twentieth Ward, 99 22 12 15 50 33 11
Twenty-first Ward, 2 0 0 1 1 0 2
Twenty-second Ward, 36 7 4 7 18 6 8
Twenty-third Ward, 249 30 43 48 128 75 33
Twenty-fourth Ward, 252 41 34 37 140 53 46
—–– —–– —–– —–– —–– —–– —––
9001 1710 1482 1686 4123 3371 1212


The Agent found it difficult, in some cases, to determine who could read. Where doubts existed upon the subject the question generally was, "Can he read tolerably free, and easily in the New Testament?" If an affirmative answer was given, he was classed as a reader.

To determine who could write was nearly as difficult. In doubtful cases the question was, "Can he write well enough to write letters to his friends?" An affirmative answer was deemed sufficient.

As the number of men who can cypher is considerably greater than that of women, and as the former were not generally at home to answer for themselves, no satisfactory information could be obtained in some cases. In other cases the information obtained, lacked clearness. Where doubts existed, and especially if the parties inquired of seemed not to comprehend the meaning of cyphering in the simple rules, the question was asked, "Can he work out sums on a slate through long division?"