Yesterday, Archives.com announced that it has entered into a partnership with the National Archives to host the 1940 census. These images will be free to the public beginning 2 April 2012. (You can read the full announcement here.)
When it comes to the 1940 census, I’ve seen every reaction from “Oh my gosh! I can’t wait!” to “Wake me when it’s over.” Yes, there are people who aren’t excited about the release of the most current census to be made available. (There is a 72-year waiting period before a Federal census becomes public; hence, the 1940 census will become the most current census to be available starting next April.) How can you not be excited about a set of records that likely contains your family if they lived in the United States in 1940?
Perhaps those who aren’t excited are suffering from Jaded Genealogist Syndrome. They’ve researched their recent family and “know all about it.” They think that the 1940 census won’t tell them anything they don’t already know.
Really? How about these wonderful tidbits of information:
- Residence in 1935 (yes, the 1940 census asked where the person lived 1 April 1935)
- Salary for 1939
- Employment status — including if he or she worked in “emergency work,” such as the WPA
- For married women: married more than once (yes or no), age at first marriage, and number of children ever born (not including stillbirths)
This is in addition to the regular questions we expect in a census: name, age, marital status, relationship to the head-of-household, and birthplace.
About 5% of the population was asked a series of supplemental questions. (Today, we’d call this the “long form.”) This included birthplace of mother and father, mother tongue, veteran status, and if the person had a Social Security Number.
Those questions are wonderful! They might not give “genealogical” information, but they do help to place the person and the family in context. It helps to flesh them out.
It’s true that if you’ve been researching your tree for awhile, you might not have any Big Genealogical Discoveries in the 1940 census. (Then again, you might! You never know who’s going to show up in a census!) But even if there aren’t any earth-shattering facts that takes the family back to Charlemagne, there are still plenty of reasons to be excited about the 1940 census.
References:
- National Archives, “1940 Federal Census: Questions Asked“
Ah, terrific – I didn’t know about the 1935 residence question. Thanks!
My parents did not marry until 1937. Thus, if they were asked and reported correctly, I’ll know where they were in 1935. My mother came from Kansas to Oregon about that time–this will help pin the time down as she was vague in her written story of coming west. My father was from Nebraska, but he was a semi-pro boxer at this time, and was in a newspaper article in the Oregonian (Portland newspaper) in 1934. The article lists his residence as Grand Island NE. Was this still his home in 1935, or did he live in Oregon by then?
I find it hard to believe that Archive.com is going to let you access anything for free. Almost anytime you do a search for family they come up search free. Ha You just have to pay to see the results.
Erice, Archive.com is, indeed, going to provide free access to the 1940 census images as well as the index. You might be interested in reading this press release (“Archives.com Partners with the National Archives to Unveil the 1940 Census: Archives.com Parent Company Inflection Awarded Project to Make 1940 Census Records Free to the Public“).
Also, Archives.com, FamilySearch, and brightsolid are partnering to create a free index to the 1940 census, which will be available at all 3 sites. For more information on the creation of the index, see “Three Genealogy Powerhouses Join Forces to Publish 1940 US Census as well as the1940census.org.