Get Ready for The 1940 Census Beth Bensman

Get Ready for The 1940 Census! Beth Bensman National Archives at Philadelphia

1940 CENSUS OPENING APRIL 2, 2012 9: 00 AM EDT http: //www. archives. gov/research/census/1940/ Bookmark these sites! http: //1940 census. archives. gov/

Then and Now 1940 2010 Population 132. 2 million 308. 7 million Occupations Frame spinner, salesman, laborer, rivet heater, music teacher Computer programmer, human resources manager, clinical laboratory technologist, special education teacher Industries Cotton mill, retail grocery, farm, shipyard, public school Broadcasting, Internet publishing, computer stores, electronic shopping Number of Farmers 5. 1 million 613, 000 Earnings: Men / Women $956 / $592 $33, 276 / $24, 157 Most Populous States New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois

What is on the 1940 Census?

Sex: M – Male; F – Female Marital Status: Single (S), Married (M), Widowed (Wd), Divorced (D)

Column 10: Color or Race: White (W), Mexicans not counted Negro/ Black (Neg), separately as they were Indian (In), in 1930 Chinese (Chi), Japanese (Jp), Native Americans—no Filipino (Fil), percentage of blood as they were in 1930 Hindu (Hin), Korean (Kor) Other Races – spell out in full Column 11: Age: 11/12 April 1939 10/12 May 1939 9/12 June 1939 8/12 July 1939 7/12 August 1939 6/12 September 1939 5/12 October 1939 4/12 November 1939 3/12 December 1939 2/12 January 1940 1/12 February 1940 0/12 March 1940 (Do not include children born on or after April 1, 1940. )

Education – Question 13: Yes/No

“For a person born in' any of those central European areas where there have been recent changes in boundaries…”

Column 14: Highest Grade of School Completed: 0 None 1– 8 Elementary School, 1 st – 8 th H-1 to H-4 High School, 1 st to 4 th Year C-1 to C-4 College, 1 st to 4 th Year C-5 College, 5 th year or more Column 16: Citizenship of Foreign Born Na Pa Al Am Cit Naturalized Having First Papers (Papers Applied For) [Declaration of Intention] Alien American Citizen Born Abroad or at sea

Why Ask?

Internal Migration – Due to: Stock Market Crash Dust Storms

Column 21: Enter “Yes” for persons at work for pay or profit in private or nonemergency Government work. Include unpaid family workers – that is, related members of the family working without money wages or salary on work (other then housework or incidental chores) which contributed to the family income. Column 22: During the week of March 24 -30, 1940, was the person at work on, or assigned to, a public work project conducted by the WPA, CCC, or NYA [National Youth Administration]?

Those not working, not assigned to public emergency work, not seeking work, and without a job, business, or professional enterprise. This group will be subdivided into (a) persons who devote most of their time to the care of the home and doing housework for their families ("H"); (b) persons in school (“S”); (c) persons physically unable to work because of permanent disability, old age, or chronic illness (" U”); (d) other persons, including retired persons, persons who choose not to work, etc. ("OT”).

Column 30 (and 47) Class of Worker PW Wage/Salary Worker in Private Work GW Wage/Salary Worker in Government Work E Employer OA Working on Own Account (Self-Employed) NP Unpaid Family Worker

Supplement Schedule: Lines 14 and 29

Column 41: War or Military Service W World War (I) S Spanish-American, Philippine Insurrection or Boxer Rebellion SW Spanish-American & World War R Regular Establishment: Peace-Time Service only (Army, Navy or Marine Corps) Ot Other War or Expedition

Tidbits from 1940 The Census Bureau received 6, 000 suggested questions, for example: Cosmetics makers wanted to know the number of blondes, brunettes, and redheads Cemetery operators wanted to know how many families owned burial plots Uncommon occupations included “ham sniffer” and “whistle tester”

Preparing to Access the 1940 Census Released only in digital format, not on microfilm Initially, no alphabetical or Soundex Index Need to know the street address and/or the enumeration district (ED)

What is an ED? (Hint: It’s Not Mr. Ed) ED stands for Enumeration District. An enumeration district is a "basic geographic area of a size that could be covered by a single census taker (enumerator) within one census period. " The ED consists of a two-part number separated by a hyphen where the first number represents the county number and the second number the number of the enumeration district within that county.

Locating On-Line City Directories United States Online Historical Directories http: //sites. google. com/site/onlinedirectorysite/Home/ usa Distant Cousin http: //distantcousin. com/directories/ Google specific states to locate directories

Locating Street Addresses To locate a street address try: WWII Draft cards 1930 Census Your Own Records WWII Draft Card

Determining EDs or Why we Like Steve Morse http: //www. stevemorse. org

1930 ED to 1940 ED If you have the ED from the 1930 Census Use Steve Morse’s Tool “Converting Between the 1930 and 1940 Census in One Step” http: //stevemorse. org/census/ed 2040. php? year=1940

Large Cities Use Steve Morse’s Tool “Obtaining EDs for the Census in One Step (Large Cities)” http: //stevemorse. org/census/index. html? year=1940 Good for cities having a population of at least 50, 000 or more in 1940 May also include some smaller cites Need to know the street address and cross streets

Address and Cross Streets Do you know the cross streets (those that border your address)? To find cross streets, go to http: //maps. google. com Type in the address including city and state. You’ll see the address marked on the map with a balloon. Note the streets that surround your address. These are the cross streets.

Rural Areas Do you know the county where the town was/is located? If you do not know the county, go to http: //stevemorse. org/census/counties. html When you know the town and county go to: Finding ED Definitions for the 1940 Census for “Small Communities And Rural Areas” http: //stevemorse. org/ed/ed. php? year=1940

Census Maps Use the 1940 Census Maps to Narrow EDs Go to NARA’s On-line Public Access http: //www. archives. gov/research/ Type in: 1940 Census maps + the county + the state i. e. : 1940 Census maps + Hancock + Indiana

Helpful Links Blank PDF of the 1940 Census Form http: //www. archives. gov/research/census/1940. pdf Instructions to Enumerators http: //www. archives. gov/research/census/1940/instructions-to-enumerators. pdf 1940 Publicity and Training Films http: //www. archives. gov/research/census/1940/videos. html#video 1 Census Resources and Links http: //www. archives. gov/research/census/resources. html