Beth Bensman

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Get Ready for The 1940 Census!
Beth Bensman National Archives at
Philadelphia
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1940 CENSUSOpening April 2, 2012900 AM EDT

• http//www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/
• Bookmark these sites!
• http//1940census.archives.gov/

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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 California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois
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What is on the 1940 Census?
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Sex M Male F Female Marital
Status Single (S), Married (M), Widowed (Wd),
Divorced (D)
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Column 10 Color or Race White (W),
Negro/ Black (Neg), Indian (In),
Chinese (Chi), Japanese (Jp),
Filipino (Fil), Hindu (Hin),
Korean (Kor) Other Races spell out in full
Mexicans not counted separately as they were in
1930
Native Americansno percentage of blood as they
were in 1930
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.)
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Education Question 13 Yes/No
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For a person born in' any of those central
European areas where there have been recent
changes in boundaries
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Column 14 Highest Grade of School Completed
0 None 1
8 Elementary School, 1st 8th H-1 to
H-4 High School, 1st to 4th Year C-1 to
C-4 College, 1st to 4th Year C-5 College, 5th
year or more
Column 16 Citizenship of Foreign
Born Na Naturalized Pa Having First Papers
(Papers Applied For)
Declaration of Intention Al Alien Am
Cit American Citizen Born Abroad or at sea
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Why Ask?
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Internal Migration Due to
Stock Market Crash Dust Storms
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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?

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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).
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Column 30 (and 47) Class of Worker PW Wage/Sala
ry Worker in Private Work GW Wage/Salary Worker
in Government Work E Employer OA Working on
Own Account (Self-Employed) NP Unpaid Family
Worker
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Supplement ScheduleLines 14 and 29
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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
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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

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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)

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What is an ED? (Hint Its 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.

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Locating On-Line City Directories

• United States Online Historical Directories
• http//sites.google.com/site/onlinedirectorysite/H
  ome/usa
• Distant Cousin
• http//distantcousin.com/directories/
• Google specific states to locate directories

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Locating Street Addresses

• To locate a street address try
• WWII Draft cards
• 1930 Census
• Your Own Records

WWII Draft Card
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Determining EDs or Why we Like Steve Morse
http//www.stevemorse.org
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1930 ED to 1940 ED

• If you have the ED from the 1930 Census
• Use Steve Morses Tool Converting Between the
  1930 and 1940 Census in One Step
• http//stevemorse.org/census/ed2040.php?year1940

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Large Cities

• Use Steve Morses Tool Obtaining EDs for the
  Census in One Step (Large Cities)
• http//stevemorse.org/census/index.html?year1940
• 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

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Address and Cross Streets

• Do you know the cross streets (those that border
  your address)?
• To find cross streets, go to http//maps.google.co
  m
• Type in the address including city and state.
• Youll see the address marked on the map with a
  balloon.
• Note the streets that surround your address.
  These are the cross streets.

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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?year1940

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Census Maps

• Use the 1940 Census Maps to Narrow EDs
• Go to NARAs On-line Public Access
• http//www.archives.gov/research/search/
• Type in 1940 Census maps the county the
  state
• i.e. 1940 Census maps Hancock Indiana

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Helpful Links
Blank PDF of the 1940 Census Form http//www.archi
ves.gov/research/census/1940/1940.pdf Instructio
ns to Enumerators http//www.archives.gov/research
/census/1940/instructions-to-enumerators.pdf 194
0 Publicity and Training Films http//www.archives
.gov/research/census/1940/videos.htmlvideo1
Census Resources and Links http//www.archives.go
v/research/census/resources.html