Evening star., 1930-12-13
DISTRICT RECORDS
|LL|TERACY DROP
6,611 Here Unable to Read
and Write-Number Was
1O,509 Ten Years Ago.

Among the 41s,S41 persons 10 wears
Of age and over in the District of Co.
lumbia, only 6,6ll are unable to read
and write.
Ten years ago there were 1925 per-
sons 10 years Of age and over and of
that number 10,509 were rated illiterate.
The constant pressure of education
among all elements of the population
has reduced the percentage of ff1iteracy
IN the last 10 years from 2.S per cent to
l.6 per cent.
This development was revealed today
In the Census Bureaus announcement
OF the tabulation of the 1880 census re-
turns for the District relative to IL
literacy and school attendance. Tabu-
lation OF the Districts population by
age, sex, color and nativity, also an
nounced today, disclosed that the Ma
tional Capitals adult population con-
ta1ns $50 per cent between the ages of
rs and "A years.
Women Outnumber Men.
The women still outnumber the men.
but not so largely as 10 years ago, when
many males were still in uniform The
number Of males Of all ages is 231, 1888,
while the number of females Is asa. .es6.
the women being in the majority by 49,
103.
The decrease of illiteracy among the
colored population overShadowed all
other details in the tabulation. The
number OF 1lltterateS was reduced dur
ing the 10 years to 1881 from 8,053 in
1920. This gain was made while the
population was growing from 93,7 1872 to
,224.
Expressed in percentage, the illiteracy
among the colored is Al today, COM
pared with 8.6 10 years ago. Comment
ing on this development, officials at the
Census Bureau said informally that It
was "A remarkable accomplishment"
All Glasses Make Showing.
The decrease among the colored popu-
lation accounts in large measure for
the fact that iliteracy among all ele-
ments has been reduced from S.6 uer
cent in 1900 to the 1.6 per cent today.
All classes Of the population, including
foreign born, showed considerable lower
percentages Of illiteracy than in 1920.
only 533 native whites in q total
population Of 1924 are unable to read
and write. Among the foreign born
white, OF which the District has 29. $50.
~ q
per cent. Even here gains have been
made, the percentages in 1920 having
been 61.
Persons attending school represented
"a per cent of the total population
within the ages specified, 5 to 40 years.
as compared with 63.3 per cent in 1920.
There are Al ,809 boys and girls in the
District between the ages of and l3.
and o7.6 per cent attend school regu-
luarly, compared with 935 per cent of
Al ,665 ten years ago.
On the other hand, only TAI young
men and women between i8 and 20
years attend school out Of a total num-
Der Of 1896. The percentage of %. 8
compares favorably, however, with the
percentage Of l6.2 in this group 10 years
ago.
S3,701 Attending School.
The total number Of persons from
5 to 20 years Of age attending school
in 1880 was 83,701, as compared with
4,475 in 1920.
In the classification, according to
age, 1t is shown that the total popula-
ton on April last. which was 4s6, $50,
comprised the following: 32,304 persons
under years OF age, q marked increase
over 10 years ago; 35,624 from to 9,
32,7l2 from 10 to IL, 35,0S6 from is to
10, 48, ,387 from 20 to "a, 1920 from
Is TO 20, 45,095 from 80 to 81, 79,9l3
from 35 to a. 6l,306 from IS to 81,
38,567 from SIS to "a, 19, ,406 from IS to
"a, 7,S47 rs years and older and 1892
Tor whom age was not reported.
In percentages these groups related
to the population as 207 under is years
OF age, 17.3 per cent from is to "a. IS. s
per cent from "a to A years of age.
2O.5 per cent from IS to 81 years of age
and Sc per cent IS years of age and
over.
Babies are fewer than in 1920: The
number Of children under / year OF age
was 6,l36, as compared with 6,5s6 In
There are 3,136 males under year
OF age, compared with 5000 females,
and 1877 males between the ages of
and 8, compared with 1892 females.
In all other groups the women outnum-
Der the men, especially in the group
from IS to a years, in which there
are 30,038 males and Al ,875 females.
Women who have rounded out three
score and ten years far outnumber the
men, fact which confirms the greater
longevity of women. There are 4,067
women over rs years of age, compared
with 1880 men.