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We investigate levels and trends in literacy among American Indians in the United States. Using 1900-1930 decennial census data, we document literacy for the 1900 through 1930 period and for birth cohorts from 1830 through 1920. We thus provide for American Indians a large-scale picture of the history of literacy. We document the pace and extent of Indian literacy from very low for the birth cohorts of the early 1800s to fairly universal for the cohorts of the early 1900s. We also demonstrate that the increases in Indian literacy were closely related to birth cohort, with successive new birth cohorts having higher levels of literacy. We found little evidence that increases in literacy from 1900 to 1930 happened because adults increased their literacy after the school years and as they matured across the adult life course. We also document important gender differences in Native American literacy, with the proportion literate being lower for women than for men, but with the gender gap decreasing in later birth cohorts. There were also substantial literacy inequalities across geographical regions of the country-ranging from 19 to 74 percent literate across regions in 1900. The trajectories of literacy attainment also varied across regions in interesting ways. We also document that Indian literacy was higher among those living in urban areas, those more integrated into the Euro-American community, and those with Euro-American ancestry.

https://ssai.isr.umich.edu/

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BIO:
Arland Thornton is Professor of Sociology, Population Studies, and Survey Research at the University of Michigan, where he is also associated with the , Native American Studies Program and several Centers within the International Institute. He is a social demographer who has served as president of the Population Association of America and previously held a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health. He has received four awards for his books as well as distinguished career awards from the American Sociological Association and the Population Association of America. Thornton has focused much of his career on the study of family and demographic issues, with emphasis on marriage, cohabitation, childbearing, gender roles, education, and migration. Thornton has also pioneered the study of developmental idealism, including its conceptualization, measurement, and influence in many places. He has collaborated in the collection and analysis of data from Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Malawi, Nepal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey, the U.S., and Vietnam. Thornton is currently conducting research concerning American Indians, with a particular focus on levels and trends in schools, school enrollment, and literacy.


Linda Young-DeMarco is a Lead Research Area Specialist with extensive longitudinal research project management experience. Her expertise includes project conceptualization, construct and measurement development, design and preparation of open ended survey materials, survey questionnaire design, interviewer training, design, implementation, and supervision of data management activities, design and direction of archival activities, contributions to the conceptualization of data analyses, design and execution of data analyses, and collaboration in the authorship of substantive peer-reviewed research papers and book chapters. She has been project manager and collaborator with researchers at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research on numerous international research projects that focus on development and people's ideational beliefs concerning development around the world.

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