December 10, 2007

A New Year's Conga Line for Adult Literacy Education

Tom Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education

Many readers may recall the "conga line" dance that has been in and out of
widespread popularity several times since the 1930s, and often shows up on
New Year's Eve.  It is probably less well known that there is a
relationship of the conga to adult literacy education.

One, Two, Three, la Conga! 
.One, Two, Three, la Conga!


During World War II many entertainers used their special talents and fame to
support the war effort through the selling of war bonds or in encouraging
men to enlist in the military services. One such entertainer was the great
Cuban musician and band leader, Xavier Cugat. According to one report,
Cugat recorded a song in 1941 about the need for Americans to support
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the war effort. Entitled, "Viva
Roosevelt!" Cugat, the primary popularizer of the conga line dance, wrote:

"Viva Roosevelt! Viva Roosevelt!
Oh what a señor!
Ladies and Gents, get in the conga line of defense
Come on and follow this leader, give him a vote of confidence."

One, Two, Three, la Conga!  One, Two, Three, la Conga!

One of those who got "in the conga line of defense" was another Cuban
musician, Desi Arnaz, who was to go on and become internationally famous in
movies and as the real life and TV husband, Ricky Ricardo,  of Lucile Ball
in the wildly successful TV series, I Love Lucy. While living in New York,
Arnaz was drafted in May of 1943. But he suffered a torn knee cartilage, so
he was assigned as a "limited service" soldier to a special camp where
illiterate enlisted men were sent upon entry into the Army. In this camp, 
Desi Arnaz joined with thousands of other teachers in the camps for
illiterates and worked as an adult educator teaching illiterate soldiers
how to read and write. As a literacy teacher, he was part of a long "conga
line of literacy educators" who worked to make soldiers literate in World
War II.

One, Two, Three, la Conga!  One, Two, Three, la Conga!

Right across from New York, in New Jersey, another soldier, Private Arthur
Neuman joined in the conga line of adult literacy teachers when he was also
assigned to teach illiterate soldiers and non-English speaking soldiers to
read and write in the Army's Special Training Unit in Atlantic City. In a
1998 MA thesis by Marston Mischlich, he tells about the work of Private
Neumann and said, "Not only did this educational training add value to the
soldiers for their units, it also built their self-esteem." He gives an
example of how important the Special Training Unit’s efforts were in a
short letter one of the soldier student's mother which showed how important
the schooling was to families of the soldiers:

"Dear Son George:
Mother was so proud to get your letter, to think you could write a letter
yourself. I will always keep it as a remembrance. God bless the man that
taught you. It means so much to me to hear directly from you.""

One, Two, Three, la Conga!  One, Two, Three, la Conga!

In Nebraska, the middle of the nation at the time, Otis Mattox, who had been
a high school teacher, got into the conga line of Army literacy teachers
during World War II. In a note on the internet he wrote about his work as
an adult literacy teacher and said, "What had happened in early 1942, with
all this rush to get men in a hurry and into training, along about June or
July 1942, they realized all of a sudden, that they [the army] had about a
quarter of a million people that they considered functionally illiterate.
They couldn't read a Military order or they couldn't read at all, or they
couldn't write. It looked like it would be a tremendous loss to throw a
quarter of a million people out. . . They needed some instructors or
teachers. So I was sent down along with some other people. We were trying
to lift them up to about the third, fourth, or fifth grade level
educationally, so that they could function with some simple math, [so that]
they could understand orders if they were written fairly simply." Later,
when it was discovered that Maddox and some others were not limited service
soldiers, they were reassigned to the infantry and sent off to the European
theatre.

One, Two, Three, la Conga!  One, Two, Three, la Conga!

Though statistics are difficult to come by, I estimate from reports that by
April 1944 the "conga line of defense" made-up of adult literacy
instructors included some 5, 291 personnel. Of these, around 641 were
officers, 4,557 were enlisted men, and there were some 87 civilians. More
than 1200 of these teachers in the conga line of adult literacy teachers
were African-Americans. The efforts of all these teachers helped raise the
literacy skills of over a quarter million soldiers and contributed to
victory for freedom and democracy during World War II.

Today, the conga line of literacy teachers includes hundreds of thousands of
men and women working around the world to light the lamp of literacy for
tens of millions of adult learners. The work goes on, and slowly but surely
the lamp of literacy is being illuminated in all the nations of the world.
And the beat of the conga drum goes on

This New Year's Eve, put on your hat, toot your horn, form a line, put your
hands on the hips of the person in front of you and do la conga for
literacy!

One, Two, Three for Literacy! One, Two, Three, for Literacy!


Happy New Year 2008 to All!!

[G'night, Ricky. 
G'night, Lucy. ]

Thomas G. Sticht.
International Consultant in Adult Education
2062 Valley View Blvd.
El Cajon, CA 92019-2059
Tel/fax: (619) 444-9133
Email: tsticht at aznet.net