New Deal Accomplishment: 1,000,000+ taught to read and write

Above: Articles featuring Walter Donaldson, of Orlando, West Virginia, started popping up all across the country in 1938 and 1939. Donaldson was the one-millionth person who learned how to read and write in WPA literacy classes. The excerpt above is part of a larger photo story in the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio), May 8, 1938. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.


Above: Walter Donaldson, learning how to read and write, March 31, 1938. Photo from the National Archives.


Above: Walter Donaldson's children watch him write a letter, while his wife prepares a meal, March 31, 1938. If you look closely, and compare this photo to the previous photo, it seems that Mrs. Donaldson was also a student in the WPA literacy course. Photo from the National Archives.


Above: This photograph and description card highlights the importance of the WPA to the entire country. Donaldson not only learned to read and write in the WPA, which helped him become a more informed citizen, but also received a job in the WPA supplying road material for nearby projects. In turn, the surrounding community received better roads. Now multiply this story tens, or even hundreds of thousands of time across the country and consider what the WPA did for America (also see the blog post, "New Deal Accomplishment: Over 1.5 million miles of roadwork"). Photo from the National Archives.


Above: Former slaves took advantage of the WPA's literacy courses. The description for this photograph, taken ca. 1936, reads: "Alfred Murphy, 105-year-old ex-slave, a pupil in a literacy class conducted at the Godman Guild Settlement House by the WPA in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Murphy lived 33 years in slavery, spent two years in the Confederate Army, throwing up breastwork. He was at Richmond when General Lee surrendered. He lives at 100 W Spruce Street, Columbus, Ohio." Photo from the National Archives.


Above: Another former slave assisted by the WPA. Photo from the National Archives.


Above: Women and men, white and black, some a little older, some a little younger, it made no difference, all were welcome in this WPA literacy class in Steubenville, Ohio, ca. 1938. Photo from the National Archives.


Above: Graduation day for WPA literacy course students in St. Joseph, Louisiana (Tensas Parish), ca. 1938. The description card for this photo explains that the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the WPA had taught 75,181 Louisianians to read and write, out of a statewide total of 219,000 who could not, thereby reducing the illiteracy rate by about 34 percent. Further, "A recent campaign to stamp out illiteracy in three La. parishes, Lafayette, Tensas and Terrebonne resulted in 3,918 negroes and 624 white persons attending classes in the parishes." Photo from the National Archives.


Above: Many young men learned how to read and write while enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Here is a literacy course at a CCC camp in North Carolina, ca. 1935. Photo from the National Archives.


Above: A WPA poster advertising free WPA classes for adults, including the Three R's: reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. Image from the Library of Congress.

The New Deal Helped in the Fight Against Illiteracy

The 1930 census indicated that about 4.3 percent of people in America, 14 years of age and older, were completely illiterate. There had been a decades-long and successful fight to reduce illiteracy, and the New Deal contributed by hiring unemployed teachers to conduct classes. For example, between 1935 and 1938, the WPA taught 1,000,000 adults to read and write (see the story of Walter Donaldson above). This WPA effort continued into the early war years.

Other New Deal programs conducted literacy classes too, for example, CWA, FERA, and the CCC. The latter taught 80,000 young men to read and write between 1933 and 1940 ("Illiteracy," Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), April 22, 1940, p. 8).

Comprehensive numbers are difficult to find, but just using the WPA information we can see that the New Deal taught over 1,000,000 Americans to read and write. 

Today, complete illiteracy is rare in the United States, thanks to the New Deal and many other efforts. However, "functional illiteracy"--where reading and writing skills are very poor and keep a person from reaching his or her full potential--is high (see, e.g., "Survey: Growing number of U.S. adults lack literacy skills," NBC News, December 10, 2024).

Perhaps we need another New Deal for reading and writing?

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