When I was studying to be a teacher, we learned that high schools really didn't come about for everyone until shortly after 1900. At least in my state (In America, each state has their own criteria for teacher licensing).
However interesting this topic may be to some, it's veering way off the topic of genealogy now. So for those who are still interested, just do a search on the Internet for literacy in _____ and it will turn up lots and lots of links. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 9:41 AM, Mary Bordi <[email protected]> wrote: > This comment is about literacy in the US but it concerns my grandmother, > whose parents were from the Azores. (I already commented that her father > could not read or write but her mother could). Grammy attended a one room > school here in California that taught 1st through 8th grade. Most children > did not go on to high school. Many didn't complete all eight grades. But at > the time Grammy was there they offered girls (specifically) an additional > year of education. She took advantage of this so I suppose her parents were > on board with it. > > This may also have been a help to the teacher who could have used a helper > with the younger children. > > Mary > > > On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 9:03 AM Cheri Mello <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Education and literacy can be a bit different. And I would think the >> definition of literacy would change over time. I've worked with some Civil >> War pension files that contained letters from various relatives. I guess >> they would be considered "literate" as they wrote a letter (albeit poorly), >> however, they could not comprehend the response that was being written back >> to them. They weren't educated enough. However, that's an anecdotal example >> and we can all come up with them from our own families. The original >> question asked about female literacy around 1900. It's hard to find stats >> on just females for that time period. >> >> I was reading up more on it last night (literacy in general, not males vs >> females) and pretty much literacy did not take off world wide until after >> 1900. Here's another article with lots of graphs, stats, and pictures: >> https://goo.gl/hjGlNQ >> >> >> >> Cheri Mello >> Listowner, Azores-Gen >> Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, >> Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada >> >> On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 6:34 AM, Richard Francis Pimentel < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> *The general thinking in American English speaking people is that we tend >> to think that any one that does not speak English is uneducated. In the >> Acores in the latter part of the 19th century there were an amount of >> people that could read and write. I was very surprised when I found the >> marriage record of my great grandparents and saw that my great grandmother >> had signed the record in the most beautiful handwriting. This was in 1884 >> and she was 18 years old at the time. While she signed the marriage record >> my great grandfather did not.* >> >> *Rick* >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On >> Behalf Of *linda >> *Sent:* Monday, December 12, 2016 12:19 AM >> *To:* Azores Genealogy >> *Subject:* [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Azores female literacy in 1900? >> >> >> >> >> I believe it depended on the freguesia, the family, and the individual as >> to how much schooling an individual received in the late 19th century. It >> may also be ture that for some individuals, signing their names was the >> major extent of their literacy. >> >> Anecdotal personal info: My maternal grandfather, born in 1904 in Santa >> Barbara, Terceira received some school as a child in the Azores, but though >> he was a very bright man, he didn't read easily. He did not write, but he >> could sign his name. My maternal grandmother was born (1909) in the US >> and received an 8th grade education as mandated by law (and presumably >> enforced by truant officers); I believe that she would have liked to have >> attended high school, but it wasn't considered acceptable by her parents >> for her to be in an unsupervised (in their cultural framework), mixed sex >> environment. Her father/my maternal GGF, was born in 1874, Cedros, Flores, >> and could read and write Portuguese as could his brothers. My maternal >> GGMother (born 1884 in Santa Cruz, Flores) could not read or write, >> because--according to the family story--she wasn't allowed to go to >> school. However, her oldest sister, because she was the oldest girl, was >> allowed, could read, and enjoyed reading her bible. >> >> On my father's side, I have less literacy information, but his family was >> better off, and I have a marriage from 1866--if I recall correctly-- in >> which my 2xGGM signed the record in a beautiful hand. I assume that she >> could read as well as sign her name. >> >> Documentary sources: somewhere in my files I have some mid to late 19th >> century accounts of the islands which mention literacy rates, and I think >> it may actually break it down by boys and girls. If I remember rightly, >> the overall rates were quite low, but were not as wide between boys and >> girls as I expected. I can dig the info up, if your interested in the >> stats and want me to check that. >> >> :) >> >> Linda >> >> >> On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 2:09:46 PM UTC-8, Samantha B wrote: >> >> Culturally how common was it for women to be literate/educated at the >> turn of last century. I'm intrigued as it was the bride who signed the >> marriage record and not the groom. >> >> >> >> TIA >> >> Samantha >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Azores Genealogy" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Azores Genealogy" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Azores Genealogy" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Azores Genealogy" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. 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