Churches.— Washington has some of the finest church buildings in the country. Its places of worship number 358, representing.17 sects, 4 lion-sectarian bodies and an unclassified group of 20 miscellaneous congregations. Like the government holdings the vast church properties of the city are exempt from taxation.
Education.— For the direct purpose of .co ordinating the educational forces of the capital, the Congress, by specific act, has opened its vast sources of information to the use of the higher institutions of learning situated in Washington. More than this, the leading universities of the country have completed a plan for creating a common university centre at Washington in order to take advantage of its unexcelled facil ities for advanced studies of history, political science . and economics. . Certain institutions, special m purpose and unique in character, are located in Washington. The Carnegie Institu tion of Washington is one of these.
A considerable part of the adult population of Washington is engaged in study of one sort or another. Hundreds of men and women, clerks in the government bureaus, seek by this means to increase their efficiency and further their prospects of advancement. Not only have new institutions risen to meet this condition, but those already established have recast curric ula and adjusted school hours to suit the situa tion. Washington is the seat of five univer sities. The oldest of these, as well as the oldest institution of learning in the District., is Georgetown University, situated on the heights of the west of Georgetown. Founded in 1789 by Archbishop Carroll of Baltimore, it was de veloped under the direction of the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church. George Washington University goes back for its beginnings to 1821. In that year, through the activity of the Bap tist Church, it was organized as Columbian Col lege. Reorganized upon a non-sectarian basis, ref ortified. by a.more hopeful financial outlook, projected in strict accord with the aims of the modern university and planned to meet the peculiar need of the capital's large body of adult students, this university, with its student force of 3,436 and a faculty of 280, is forging rapidly to the front as an important institution. Howard University was established in 1867 by act of Congress to furnish oppor tunities for the education of the negro. It pos sesses both preparatory and collegiate depart ments. .The.latter, in addition to its academic foundation, includes schools of theology, law, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. The Catholic University of America was organized in 1885 under the direction of the Catholic hierarchy of America, though its actual establishment was deferred until the autumn of 1889. It occupies
a spacious tract in a northeast suburb of the capital. Here beautiful and dignified buildings are rising with a rapidity that points to the substantial growth of this university. It is one of the leading institutions for the higher study of letters and metaphysics. The American Uni versity was organized under the inspiration and, in the main, under the support of the Methodist Church for post-graduate research. In a north west suburb of the capital, upon the 90 acres owned by the university, two of the two score buildings, projected in its plan, are already serving the purposes of post-graduate work. Near the Catholic University of America is Trinity College, a Roman Catholic institution established in 1900 for the higher education of women, under the direction of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Beautifully situated in the northeast section of the city is The Columbian Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, or Gallaudet C,ollege, incorporated in 1857 by Congress, this body malcing annual appropria tions for its maintenance.
Below these higher and special institutions are the primary and secondary schools of the District. These are private and public, sec tarian and non-sectarian. The mild winter climate of Washington; the beauty? the cleanli ness and the healthfulness of the city; the bril liant drama of its political and social life; its public facilities for reference and research; all these combine to make the capital fruitful soil for the development of private schools. There are literally hundred of these, many of tliem conspicuous in excellence, ranging from Idnder garten to seminary on the one hand and prepara tory school on the other. Washington has a finely progressive public school system. The public school population for goo was 62,239. Of this number about two-thirds were white pupils and one-third negroes. This racial fact separates the school population into two parallel systems united at the top by the superintendent of public schools. These two parts are practically identical in aim and opportunity. Each consists of kindergarten, primary and grammar grades, each is supplied with both academic and vocational high schools and each supports a normal school for the training of teachers. The teaching force of the system for 1919 was, officers and teachers, 1,965. A new high school, modern in design and equip ment, erected at a cost of $1,600,000, was dedi cated in February 1917. Another, built at a cost of $700,000 for the use of negroes, was opened at about the same time. A $400,000 norrnal school for white pupils and one costing $250,000 for the training of colored teachers indicate further the scale to which the new school build ings are being constructed.