Al'umma sun yi muhawara kan batutuwa da yawa na kimiyya da zamantakewa, galibi suna keta dokokinta wanda ya hana batutuwan addini da siyasa. Kodayake membobinta ba su da yawa, ana yawan tattauna muhawara da ayyukan ta a duk yankin Potomac Highlands, kuma ƙungiyar ta yi tasiri sosai kan yanayin tunani a cikin yankin Romney da kewayenta. Laburaren al’umma ya fara ne a shekarar na 1819 tare da sayen littattafai guda biyu; ta shekara1861, ta girma ta ƙunshi kusan kundin dubu uku 3,000 akan batutuwa kamar adabi, kimiyya, tarihi, da fasaha. Kungiyar ta kuma nemi kafa wata cibiya don "babban ilimin matasan al'umma." A cikinshekara 1820, sakamakon wannan yunƙurin, an gabatar da koyar da litattafan a cikin tsarin karatun Romney Academy, don haka ya sanya makarantar ta zama makarantar farko ta babban ilimi a Gabashin Panhandle . A cikinshekara 1846, jama'a sun gina ginin wanda ke da Cibiyar Tarihi ta Romney da ɗakin karatu, duka biyun sun faɗi ƙarƙashin kulawar al'umma. An gudanar da cibiyar ta sanannen Reverend William Henry Foote .