What's the deal with the 1940 census?

[ladywnch]

At the risk of sounding like a hermit; did I miss a memo? What is the deal about the 1940 census being released? I've seen a fair number of postings but don't know why it's news :

#1) Why is 1940 so important?
#2) If they just started releasing census data to the general public, why did they start with 1940?
#3) is there some kind of Obama/time travel/altering history conspiracy?

Inquiring minds must know!

[enlightenment]

1. The 1940 is the latest release

of the manuscript census - that's the one with names, ages, occupations, etc. The anonymous data has been available basically since it was done, but they wait 70 years to release the named data to protect people.

Nothing mysterious - an absolute boon to historians and other academics; genealogists; and the curious!

[ladywnch]

2. OOOOhhhhh. I did not know that. thank you so much......yeah, that is pretty cool! n/t

[Morning Dew]

4. My brother is very excited about this - he's the family genealogist.

I have a co-worker who's in seventh heaven over this too.

[enlightenment]

7. You're welcome.

Go take a gander at it - you can even see FDR and his family at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave!

And yes, his occupation is listed as "President of the United States".

[BumRushDaShow]

3. It was the first time

that a census was issued digitally and available online by the Census Bureau. None of the previous ones (i.e., those eligible for full release) are available via the web (they are on microfiche and you have to go to the National Archives to view them).

Some of the pay genealogical sites have digitized or are digitizing other census records, but this particular one is free via a public-private partnership between the government and a genealogical site who is hosting the data.

[enlightenment]

6. Be careful - I think the free access through Ancestry.com is limited.

They keep sending me email messages with 'free access ending' notes (haven't paid much attention to them because I gave in and got a subscription . . . *mutter* . . . they've annoyed me for years . . .)

[BumRushDaShow]

9. The free access can be had literally through the Census Bureau link

An article I read said that the Census bureau normally charges genealogical sites $200,000 for the data but in this case, the genealogical hosting site got it for free because they agreed to host it on behalf of the government for the public for free (with a certain high level of availabilty and accessibility for all the traffic that was expected).

So if you go to:

http://1940census.archives.gov/

This is the government's free portal.

[enlightenment]

10. Thanks!

Much appreciated.

[WolverineDG]

8. Any public library with a genealogical society will have them too nt

[Little Star]

5. Ancestry/Genealogy buffs like....

this group are probably why you are seeing so much mention about the 1940 census.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1156

The government takes the census every 10 years but they don't release the data to the public until 72 or more years later. For those of us who do genealogy the release is a really big deal. The rest of you maybe not so much.

[goclark]

11. The release is so exciting

I am having a wonderful time with it


Now information is feeding into Ancestry.com at a pretty good speed .Not sure but I believe Ancestry has a 7 day free trial period. Do a google of all the sites on the web that have the Census on line.

I have delighted several friends by finding their family for them in the 1940 Census.

Here is a easy thing to do, especially if you have a family member that is good with computer skills OR loves to know more about family history. The websites have very good directions.....

Follow the site directions by entering the name of someone that lived with your family in 1930 -- the HEAD of HOUSE is your best bet. HOPEFULLY, you can find out the 1930 STREETS and THE !($) STREETS

1. Find out the exact ADDRESS of your family in the 1930 census on line. Then find out the nearest cross street for that location.

2. In the top RIGHT HAND corner of the 1930 census you will find an
EM# ___, write that down because there is an option for you to fill in the city etc. and then the 1930 CENSUS EM number and the last step is to input the 1930 EM Number and the site will give you the most likely links for the family address location in 1940.

Now~The first DU person that has all of the information above,email me and I will try my best to find your family.

Happy Hunting!
As someone once told me:" When you know your family roots, you begin to know more about who YOU are."














New 1940 data is coming onto Ancestry.com as fast as they can get it there.