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4-2244 FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY WORK PROJECTS ADt-!INI STRATI en For Release Sunday , r.:ay 1 8 , 1S41. "I AM AlJ AMERICAN DAY" HIGHLIGH'.!.1S ' wo:sx OF WPA EDUCATI OU PF.OGRAM • Thousands of the men and women who will teke :part today in the nati on-wide obs orv.::l.nce of 11 I Am an American Day 11 have gaine1_l their objective of citizenship through the ass i s t ance of WFA na turalization classes . Nore t.han 4 , 00C cl a::;ses , with averag e n.onthl;y enrol lmtmts aggregating over 75 , 000 , a re operating throughout the c ount ry solely f or the instructi on of al iens in the :i·. eq_uir0ments , c".ut i es and privileges of American citizen ship , a ccording to Acting WPA Commissioner Howa rd o. E:unter . It is e cti:r.iat ed that approxiraa t 0ly .20 percent of the million a liens who have been natut'.'a li zed since 1935 have prerJared for their examinations in those classes , he said . Today has been designated by Pr es i d.en tial pr '<;:lama ticn o.s 11 I Am an Ameri.can Day 11 1 Mr . Hunter pointed out . Under the auspices of the De~0artment of J ust ice anJ. othe1· int erested ai::;encie s , appr opriate ceremonie s will be observed in a ll parts of the country in recognition of those who havo be come citizen.s during the past year , whether oy naturalization or by coming of age . Local c el ebra tions will be aur:mcnt od by GE•vn,ral nation-wide broaci:ca£ta originating ia Washington and Holl~rwood. Throughou t the we ek W?A adult ecluc:-tt i on classes , and naturalization classes in :particular , will welcome visito rs as a part of the pro 6 ram for acquainting the :public with a ll phases of naturalization work, Mr ., Hunter sa:;.d . Classes will be found operati ng both day a nd night in almost every comrrm.ni ty in which there are foreign populations . Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2244 - 2 11 The WPA Adult Education Program has been one of the most im:Portant forces in the training of aliens in the responsibilities and obligations of American citizenship," according to Major Lemuel B. Schofield, Special Assistant to the Attorney Gene ral in charge of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 11 Its faciliti e s have been made available in every part of the country and its teache rs have shown a uniformly high degree of proficiency and sincerity. "Our naturalization examiners generally r egard the com~lletion of a WPA naturalization course as helpful in establishing that an applicant for citizenship is familiR-r with the requirements for citizenshi:9 and with the American form of governmer. t. 11 Instruction in nat .1ralization is one of the major phases 1 of the WPA Adult Education Progrnm, Mr. Hunter pointed out. The :progrgm as a whole conducts an average of nearly 50,000 se~arate classes monthly ; employa; 29,000 persons, the majority of whom are teachers, and furnishes instruction in a wide variety of subje cts to an avera€.e of over 900,000 persons each month. Courses provided vary all the way from basic instruction in reading and writing for illiterate adults, through many fields of general academic and vocAtional interest to specialized instruction in Spanish for the entire offtcer personnel . of the Army Air Corps. Classes A.re given free of chnrge, but on a regularly scheduled basis, as one of the many public services of the WPA Community Service Program. Literacy classes, which over the past five years have taught more than 1,500,000 adults to read and write, form an important part of the naturalization -...,ork done by WPA. A great many of the 4,700,000 Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4- 2244 - 3 - aliens now living in this country are unable to use the English l a nguage effectiv-ely. The rudiments of r eading and writing are first taught them in these classes, and by the time they have attained a reading proficiency equivalent to that of the fifth grade, they are ready to progress to a study of American history, civics and government. Literacy education has been much improved by WPA teachers through the development of a series of texts, using simDlified vocabularies, geared to adult interests. Previously, adults learning to use the language for the first time were obliged to make out with primers devised for children. This embarrassing factor alone, according to some educational authorities, was responsible for many grown ueople who fJ sincerely wanted to become literate refusing to attend adult education classes. There are no specific educational requirements which the applicant for naturalization has to meet other than the ability to write his name. is However, he must satisfy the naturalization examiner that he 11 attached to the principles of the Constitution," and an understanding of this document presupposes the ability to read it. WPA naturalization classes not only help the alien to read and understand the Constitution but they familiarize him with many other phases of the American form of government and the responsibilities of American citizenship. They provide., moreover, a sympathetic forum in which the foreign-born have an opportunity to discuss and ask questions about t the things that puzzle them in America. Many naturalization classes have developed in this way into social and cultural centers for foreign . language grou~s which materially speed the integrating process whereby they become Americans. Digitized by NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY ---oOo--- Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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