This bulletin provides a statement showing in some detail the amount of illiteracy in the United States among men, women, and children over 10 years of age according to the Federal Census of 1910; also a brief statement of an experiment which has been conducted for nearly two years in one of the mountain counties of eastern Kentucky having a large number of illiterates in its population, to ascertain if it were possible to teach these illiterate grown-up men and women and older children to read and write, and whether other men, women, and children with very meager education would respond to the opportunity to learn more of the arts of the school. The success of this experiment, made under very difficult circumstances, has been so great as to inspire the hope that, with the cooperation of schools, churches, philanthropic societies, cities, counties, States, and the Nation, the great majority of the five and one-half million illiterates over 10 years of age in the United States may, in a few years, be taught to read and write, and something more; while millions of those whose school days were very few and who are little above the line of total illiteracy may be helped and make good to some extent their deficiencies due to lack of opportunity in childhood. (Contains 8 diagrams, 14 plates, and 1 footnote.) [Best copy available has been provided.]