Just 7 days until the 1940 Census is released. Come celebrate at the Grand Opening at the National Archives in Seattle! (These young men on the Chemawa Indian School Baseball Team in 1939 would have been counted in the 1940 census.) The ceremony will start at 8:30 a.m. EDT in Washington, DC, and will be streamed live online. Staff will be here at 5:30 a.m. PDT to allow anyone who wants to join in the fun in Seattle to view the ceremony in our upstairs conference room. The Archivist and Director of the Bureau of the Census will speak. The first 15 minutes will include videos followed by the speeches and the first searches at exactly 8 a.m. EDT (6 a.m. PDT). Genealogy Specialist Connie Potter and Bureau of the Census Historian Michael Snow will answer questions for the remaining time of the live stream. The 1940 census will be available to researchers in our genealogy research room starting at 6 a.m. PDT. Come join us for the fun! Staff and volunteers will be available to assist you with your 1940 census research. Then we are offering a pick-me-up refreshment at 10 a.m.! We will have a special 1940 Census Opening Day cake in our upstairs conference room. We’ll also provide coffee. Stop by for a treat on opening day! The 1940 census will be available online at 9 a.m. EDT at http://1940census.archives.gov/. See you 5:30 a.m. PDT in Seattle!
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Just 7 days until the 1940 Census is released. Come celebrate at the Grand Opening at the National Archives in Seattle!

(These young men on the Chemawa Indian School Baseball Team in 1939 would have been counted in the 1940 census.)

The ceremony will start at 8:30 a.m. EDT in Washington, DC, and will be streamed live online. Staff will be here at 5:30 a.m. PDT to allow anyone who wants to join in the fun in Seattle to view the ceremony in our upstairs conference room.

The Archivist and Director of the Bureau of the Census will speak. The first 15 minutes will include videos followed by the speeches and the first searches at exactly 8 a.m. EDT (6 a.m. PDT). Genealogy Specialist Connie Potter and Bureau of the Census Historian Michael Snow will answer questions for the remaining time of the live stream.

The 1940 census will be available to researchers in our genealogy research room starting at 6 a.m. PDT. Come join us for the fun! Staff and volunteers will be available to assist you with your 1940 census research.

Then we are offering a pick-me-up refreshment at 10 a.m.! We will have a special 1940 Census Opening Day cake in our upstairs conference room. We’ll also provide coffee. Stop by for a treat on opening day!

The 1940 census will be available online at 9 a.m. EDT at http://1940census.archives.gov/.

See you 5:30 a.m. PDT in Seattle!

Source: research.archives.gov

Just 9 days until the release of the 1940 Census! This Sunday at 2 pm, Ken Burns gives us a sneak peek of his upcoming PBS film, “The Dust Bowl,” about one of the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history. Writer and senior producer Dayton Duncan and senior producer Julie Dunfey will join Burns for a post-screening discussion. (Details here) Many people who were counted in the 1940 Census were affected by the disaster of the Dust Bowl. This photograph is from the Farm Security Administration and the original caption reads: “Farmers whose topsoil blew away joined the sod caravans of “Okies” on Route 66 to California, ca. 1935.”
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Just 9 days until the release of the 1940 Census!

This Sunday at 2 pm, Ken Burns gives us a sneak peek of his upcoming PBS film, “The Dust Bowl,” about one of the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history. Writer and senior producer Dayton Duncan and senior producer Julie Dunfey will join Burns for a post-screening discussion. (Details here)

Many people who were counted in the 1940 Census were affected by the disaster of the Dust Bowl. This photograph is from the Farm Security Administration and the original caption reads: “Farmers whose topsoil blew away joined the sod caravans of “Okies” on Route 66 to California, ca. 1935.”

Source: research.archives.gov

Just 10 more days until the release of the 1940 Census! This photograph shows where the census data was stored. The original caption reads: “Population Files Stored 154,071 Portfolios, Linear Feet of Filing Space is in Excess of Four Miles, 1940-1941” Why so many files? Enumerators counted 132.2 million U.S. residents in the 1940 Census. Alaska and Hawaii, which were territories at the time, were included in this count of 132.2 million. Puerto Rico was enumerated in the census, but its 1.9 million residents were not included in the total count. There are about 21.2 million people in the United States and Puerto Rico alive today who were eligible to be counted in the 1940 Census. Do you know one of them? Facts and figures via the U.S. Census Bureau.
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Just 10 more days until the release of the 1940 Census!

This photograph shows where the census data was stored. The original caption reads: “Population Files Stored 154,071 Portfolios, Linear Feet of Filing Space is in Excess of Four Miles, 1940-1941”

Why so many files? Enumerators counted 132.2 million U.S. residents in the 1940 Census.

Alaska and Hawaii, which were territories at the time, were included in this count of 132.2 million. Puerto Rico was enumerated in the census, but its 1.9 million residents were not included in the total count.

There are about 21.2 million people in the United States and Puerto Rico alive today who were eligible to be counted in the 1940 Census. Do you know one of them?

Facts and figures via the U.S. Census Bureau.

Just 12 days until the release of the 1940 census!

It’s also Women’s History Month. Many women were employed by the Census Bureau, working in the office or in the field. These photographs from the National Archives document their work.

In processing the 1940 Census, operators transferred information appearing on the schedules filled out by enumerators to punch cards. This permitted processing of census returns by sorting machines.

Unit Wiring Boards for Tabulating Machines, Highly Trained Experts Prepared the Charts and Instructions for Wiring the Boards for Each Job, these Girls Did the Actual Wiring, No Small Job in Itself, 1940–1941

Alphabetic Accounting Machine Equipped with Gang Summary Punch, IBM, Census Used 12 Machines of this Type, 1940–1941

Enumeration, One Day was Devoted to the Enumeration of Trailer Camps and Other Places Inhabited by Transients, 1940-1941

Population and Housing Editors, Negro Section, 1940–1941

Geographers Division, a Planimeter, 1940–1941

Occupational Coding, Peak Employment on this Operation was 806, there are 25,000 Occupational Designations and 10,000 Industry Designations Classified in 541 Occupational Groups for Census Purposes, 1940–1941

Occupational Coder, Average Daily Production of a Trained Clerk was 1,886 Lines, and the Highest Record was 6,000 Lines, 1940–1941

Review Section in Machine Tabulation Division, All Work is Checked before Transfer to Subject Divisions, 1940–1941



Just 13 days until the online release of the 1940 Census! The original caption reads:”New York City’s Sixth Avenue elevated railway and the crowded street below, ca. 1940.” According the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of New York City was 7.5 million in 1940, making NYC the most populous city at that time. It remains at the top even today, with the 2010 census showing over 8 million inhabitants. On Saturday March 24 in New York City, you can get ready for the 1940 Census with expert guest speakers, including our own Connie Potter and Dr. Groves of the U.S. Census Bureau. The program is free but requires registration.
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Just 13 days until the online release of the 1940 Census!

The original caption reads:”New York City’s Sixth Avenue elevated railway and the crowded street below, ca. 1940.”

According the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of New York City was 7.5 million in 1940, making NYC the most populous city at that time. It remains at the top even today, with the 2010 census showing over 8 million inhabitants.

On Saturday March 24 in New York City, you can get ready for the 1940 Census with expert guest speakers, including our own Connie Potter and Dr. Groves of the U.S. Census Bureau. The program is free but requires registration.

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!
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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!

Just 15 more days more until the release of the 1940 census!

In the 1860 census, Pierce was enumerated in a hotel run by Ezekiel Sawyer, whose staff comprised an office clerk, a kitchen boy, a scrub girl, a table girl, a washer woman, and two chamber girls.

Franklin Pierce was President of the United States from 1853 to 1857.

Just 18 days left until the release of the 1940 Census.

Millard Fillmore has the wrong job on the 1850 census.

Fillmore was already President when the 1850 census was taken. President Taylor had died, and Vice President Fillmore had taken his place. But although the census was taken on August 31, the enumerator was asking for information that reflected June 1, 1850.

As of June 1, 1850, President Taylor was still President—and Fillmore had no idea that he would have a new job title in July.

Source: archives.gov