The Education of Adults 



It was hardly possible to include within the limits of a Survey such as 

 this any careful study of the question of the education of adults. It was 

 remarked in another connection that the number of illiterates in the 

 white population is exceedingly small, hardly 2% This is the only bit 

 of information we have which can be stated in anything approaching 

 statistical form. Many impressions, however, were formed as a result 

 of ten weeks spent interviewing hundreds of peo]:)le in all parts of the 

 county. These impressions are perhaps as reliable a source of informa- 

 tion on this point as figures would be. 



The general educational level of the county is high. Various reasons 

 may be assigned for this: the excellence of the public school system, 

 the proximity of the City of Washington, the ready and constant com- 

 munication which all parts of the county have with the outside world. 

 The fact that the population is to so great an extent an American stock 

 with very slight foreign element is important here; the recent tide of 

 Southern European and Slavonic immigration has hardly touched this 

 county. The conditions here are favorable to the development of an 

 highly intelligent people and this is in the main what we find. Judging 

 by the literature in the homes, by the general conversation, by the 

 acquaintance with the problems of the day and other similar, objective 

 tests, it is abundantly evident that a large proportion of the population 

 are well-informed, cultured beyond the average for an agricultural sec- 

 tion, and, for the most part, reasonably modern and progressive. 



The stability of the population and the tenacity with which they 

 naturally cling to their old ideas and traditions tend to make them a little 

 suspicious of innovation. A man who has been living here for less than 

 ten years is hardly thought of as a permanent resident yet; he is still a 

 "new comer." There is a deep-rooted feeling, not always expressed but 

 sufficiently understood, against any attempt on the part of such a "new 

 comer" to change the established order and custom. Many influences 

 are at work, however, to break down this prejudice. Economic pressure, 

 for one thing, is forcing the adoption of new methods in business and 

 agriculture. Social changes are erasing old lines. New ideas have 

 found expression in the schools. These are forces to which the entire 

 county most ultimately respond. 



PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 



There are a number of private and educational institutions in the 

 county but only two of them are of direct local importance, so our treat- 

 ment of them may be brief. The Rockville Academy has practically 

 the same course as the public schools, beginning with the sixth grade 

 and continuing through the High School. It has a faculty of two and an 



87 



