Reading the literacy conflict rather than resolving it

Four census entries carry literacy observations for Laura Smith, and they do not agree. Three reportedly report that she could read but could not write; the 1900 entry reportedly reports that she could do neither.

I have not marked any of these entries wrong. Census literacy columns record what an enumerator wrote down, based on what someone in the household said on a particular day. The informant was not necessarily Laura. The question was not necessarily asked the same way, or understood the same way, in each decade. Literacy is also not a fixed condition: it can be gained, partially retained, or reported differently depending on who is speaking and what they think is being asked.

What this conflict does not settle is whether Laura attended school. Being unable to sign one's name in 1900 does not establish that no schooling occurred in the 1860s. The two questions have been kept separate in the archive for that reason.

The next step is not interpretation. It is to review all four original images inside BEFORE TILL and record exactly what each column states.