Another great program tomorrow from our National Archives Noon Lectures! From 1933 to 1942, more than three million men found employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Ren Davis and Helen Davis, authors of “Our Mark on This Land: A Guide to the Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps in America’s Parks,” discuss this decade and the CCC projects that restored and enhanced America’s natural resources. A book signing will follow the program. Enter the National Archives building through the Special Events doors on Constitution Avenue. Original caption for this image reads: “Newberry County, South Carolina. Erosion control work by CCC Camp F-6 on large gully resulting from drainage from county road on Sumter National Forest. Sodding of original water courses would have obviated need for this work” (ARC 522752).
Pop-upView Separately

Another great program tomorrow from our National Archives Noon Lectures! From 1933 to 1942, more than three million men found employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Ren Davis and Helen Davis, authors of “Our Mark on This Land: A Guide to the Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps in America’s Parks,” discuss this decade and the CCC projects that restored and enhanced America’s natural resources.

A book signing will follow the program. Enter the National Archives building through the Special Events doors on Constitution Avenue.

Original caption for this image reads: “Newberry County, South Carolina. Erosion control work by CCC Camp F-6 on large gully resulting from drainage from county road on Sumter National Forest. Sodding of original water courses would have obviated need for this work” (ARC 522752).

Just 2 days until the release of the 1940 Census! The 1940 census also included special housing census that had 31 housing questions that asked if there was refrigeration, running water, a radio, flush toilets or outhouses, and whether the house was lit by electricity, gas, or kerosene. (The Census of Housing for 1940 did NOT survive and the only information available today are the statistical reports compiled by the Bureau of the Census. Those reports are available on the Census Bureau web site.) This house was photographed by Dorothea Lange in March of 1940 in Olivehurst, California. The original caption reads “The beginnings of a new home. The house-trailer has been raised on posts and has an extension built on it for enlarged sleeping quarters. Note electricity, the beginnings of a flower garden, rubber tires probably used for fuel, also rabbit in shadow of trailer. Typical Oliverhurst homes in background.” Do you know if your family used electricity, gas, or kerosene for indoor lighting in the 1930s?
Pop-upView Separately

Just 2 days until the release of the 1940 Census!
The 1940 census also included special housing census that had 31 housing questions that asked if there was refrigeration, running water, a radio, flush toilets or outhouses, and whether the house was lit by electricity, gas, or kerosene.

(The Census of Housing for 1940 did NOT survive and the only information available today are the statistical reports compiled by the Bureau of the Census. Those reports are available on the Census Bureau web site.)

This house was photographed by Dorothea Lange in March of 1940 in Olivehurst, California.

The original caption reads “The beginnings of a new home. The house-trailer has been raised on posts and has an extension built on it for enlarged sleeping quarters. Note electricity, the beginnings of a flower garden, rubber tires probably used for fuel, also rabbit in shadow of trailer. Typical Oliverhurst homes in background.”

Do you know if your family used electricity, gas, or kerosene for indoor lighting in the 1930s?

Source: research.archives.gov

Just 6 more days until the 1940 Census!

This was the first time that census takers asked a random sample of the population (about 1 in 20 people) additional detailed questions. These included new questions for women. For women who had been married, they were asked: whether they had been married more than once, age at first marriage, and number of children born.

The photos above were taken by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration:

“On Arizona Highway 87, south of Chandler, Arizona. Grandmother and sick baby of migratory family camped in a trailer in an open field. They came from Amarillo, Texas, to pick cotton in Arizona. 11/1940”

“Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children, ca. 02/1936”

“Kern County, California. A couple from Oklahoma, now resettled in California. They came four years ago. Photograph is in large-scale potato field where husband is crew foreman and oldest son operates the mechanical digger. They own their home in Shafter, 04/11/1940”

Just 8 more days until the 1940 Census will be released online! Dorothea Lange took this photograph just days after the 1940 Census. This woman’s story reflects the experience of many Americans who lived through the 1930s. The original caption reads: Edison Kern County, California. Age 70, she came from near Greely, Nebraska, with sister age 65 nephew age 30, and brother age 68. She says, “My father was a pioneer in Nebraska. He went there in ‘79. He was born in Ireland. I remember when we lived in a dugout in Nebraska, but he left us three good farms. He had a timber claim, a homestead, and he bought one farm. My father’s been dead for 20 years and we lost everything including our minds, nearly, trying to keep what he left us. We paid taxes for nearly 50 years there, but we only saved out enough to build us this trailer home. We came to California in June 1938. We just started out. We had good land back there - wheat, corn, orchard, chickens, cows, cream, eggs. Independent, we had everything ‘til the drought came. There’s not many of the old settlers left. It’s discouraging I tell you to go out once or twice a week and come home with a dollar. Yesterday we went 37 miles to pick peas and worked 5 hours. We’ve got relatives back East and they just can’t understand how these things are.”
View Separately

Just 8 more days until the 1940 Census will be released online!

Dorothea Lange took this photograph just days after the 1940 Census. This woman’s story reflects the experience of many Americans who lived through the 1930s.

The original caption reads:

Edison Kern County, California. Age 70, she came from near Greely, Nebraska, with sister age 65 nephew age 30, and brother age 68. She says, “My father was a pioneer in Nebraska. He went there in ‘79. He was born in Ireland. I remember when we lived in a dugout in Nebraska, but he left us three good farms. He had a timber claim, a homestead, and he bought one farm. My father’s been dead for 20 years and we lost everything including our minds, nearly, trying to keep what he left us. We paid taxes for nearly 50 years there, but we only saved out enough to build us this trailer home. We came to California in June 1938. We just started out. We had good land back there - wheat, corn, orchard, chickens, cows, cream, eggs. Independent, we had everything ‘til the drought came. There’s not many of the old settlers left. It’s discouraging I tell you to go out once or twice a week and come home with a dollar. Yesterday we went 37 miles to pick peas and worked 5 hours. We’ve got relatives back East and they just can’t understand how these things are.”

Just 11 days until the release of the 1940 census! Enumerators (census takers) attempted to count as many people as possible. About 120,000 enumerators went out into the city and the countryside with instructions to count every house, building, tent, cabin, hut or other place where people might be living. This photograph’s original caption reads: “Roseville, Placer County, California. On the Freights. Five o’clock in the morning in Roseville switch yards for freight going over the Sierra, 04/19/1940” Looking at this image, you wonder if the enumerators manage to count this family on this move? And where was this family going?
Pop-upView Separately

Just 11 days until the release of the 1940 census!

Enumerators (census takers) attempted to count as many people as possible. About 120,000 enumerators went out into the city and the countryside with instructions to count every house, building, tent, cabin, hut or other place where people might be living.

This photograph’s original caption reads: “Roseville, Placer County, California. On the Freights. Five o’clock in the morning in Roseville switch yards for freight going over the Sierra, 04/19/1940”

Looking at this image, you wonder if the enumerators manage to count this family on this move? And where was this family going?

Source: media.nara.gov

Just 14 more days until the release of the 1940 Census! The citizens counted in this census lived through the Great Depression. Many were part of programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, including Ephraim Counser, who was at Mt. Morris Camp, N.Y, on 11/16/1933. The 1940 census had new questions on it that reflected the government’s efforts to find out how the Great Depression was affecting citizens: residence five years earlier, income, highest level of school completed and detailed questions on unemployment history. Are you ready to start your research on April 2? Get ready with one of our programs across the United States!
View Separately

Just 14 more days until the release of the 1940 Census!

The citizens counted in this census lived through the Great Depression. Many were part of programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, including Ephraim Counser, who was at Mt. Morris Camp, N.Y, on 11/16/1933.

The 1940 census had new questions on it that reflected the government’s efforts to find out how the Great Depression was affecting citizens: residence five years earlier, income, highest level of school completed and detailed questions on unemployment history.

Are you ready to start your research on April 2? Get ready with one of our programs across the United States!

Forty days to go until we release the 1940 Census! Watch this space for more images and information on the 1940 Census every day until April 2! We’re kicking off our “40 Days to the ‘40 Census” with this image of an enumerator taking information from a family living in a boxcar. The 1940 Census covers the decade of the 1930s, when the United States was in the grip of the Great Depression. The instructions on the form reflect the concerns of the time. The enumerator (census taker) recorded whether the person worked for the Federal work programs like the CCC, WPA, or NYA the week of March 24–30, 1940, as well as the income for the 12 months ending December 31, 1939. The original caption for this image reads: “Enumeration, No Kind of Habitation was Missed, Included among the Places are Railroad Section Hands, 1940 - 1941” (ARC 6200776. We are releasing the 1940 Census at 9 a.m. on April 2! You will be able to search it for free on our new website. Let the 40 day countdown begin!
Pop-upView Separately

Forty days to go until we release the 1940 Census! Watch this space for more images and information on the 1940 Census every day until April 2!

We’re kicking off our “40 Days to the ‘40 Census” with this image of an enumerator taking information from a family living in a boxcar.

The 1940 Census covers the decade of the 1930s, when the United States was in the grip of the Great Depression. The instructions on the form reflect the concerns of the time.

The enumerator (census taker) recorded whether the person worked for the Federal work programs like the CCC, WPA, or NYA the week of March 24–30, 1940, as well as the income for the 12 months ending December 31, 1939.

The original caption for this image reads: “Enumeration, No Kind of Habitation was Missed, Included among the Places are Railroad Section Hands, 1940 - 1941” (ARC 6200776.

We are releasing the 1940 Census at 9 a.m. on April 2! You will be able to search it for free on our new website. Let the 40 day countdown begin!