Saturday, January 7, 2012

1940 Census Goes Digital in April

Via Mashable.com:
Following a 72-year wait period, The National Archives and Records will release the 1940 U.S. Census in April and make the search for information about ancestors easier than ever with free online access from any computer.

Genealogists will have digital access to the 1940 Census when the report is released on April 2. This is a big step toward making the archives more accessible to the public through technology. The most recent census — which covers the 1930s — is available through the libraries via microfilm that usually has to be reserved and ordered.

However, as of now, the 1940 Census will not include a name index, so users will have to know the enumeration district in which the person they are searching for lived in 1940. The National Archives provides maps with the numbers on its website.

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

This post is so old that maybe nobody will ever read it, but my dad (George Hart) told me a joke about this census once. The story goes that there was a census taker around Caldwell Springs. He knocks on a door, introduces himself, and asks the resident what his family name was.
"Guess," the man replied.
"Well," said the census taker, "if I have to, I guess 'Travis' cause that's what everybody else around here is named."
No, its not that funny, but maybe I'm the only one left that knows it, so I thought I would share.
Rob Hart
Seoul, South Korea