1940 Census Information Valued By Researchers

By Nancy K. Crevier

With the April 2 release by the National Archives of the 1940 United States Census, genealogy researchers have one more tool to assist in tying together the loose ends of family history, said Newtown Genealogy Club Tech Advisor Harlan Jessup.

“It’s an additional way to track family history,” said Mr Jessup, and to discover new bits of information about what happened between the 1930 and 1940 census.

The full census is released only after 72 years, according to law, Mr Jessup said, the original reason being that life expectancy once was considered to be only 72 years of age.

“It was assumed that no one in that census would still be living when it was released, and the point was, someone couldn’t prove another person in the family was illegitimate,” he said. Now, Mr Jessup said, the 72-year moratorium is more about protecting personal information.

There are still plenty of people living who were recorded in the 1940 US Census, he pointed out, including himself.

“For me, I’m seeing the names of neighbors and friends. I’m finding out things about my classmates,” Mr Jessup said. A member of the Swarthmore, Penn., kindergarten class of 1938, Mr Jessup recalls the names of many of his classmates, as well as the street names on which his playmates lived. That, he said, is fairly essential to anyone hoping to make use of the information in the 1940 census.

“If you know where your ancestors lived,” Mr Jessup said, “the enumeration district boundaries are described. It helps to know the geography within the district.”

The 1940 US Census provides information through images, maps, and descriptions of people living at a particular address on April 1, 1940. Each city is divided into “enumeration districts,” so in seeking details, a person must have an idea of the area or street address of the person they are researching. Once the enumeration district is determined, the researcher can browse the census page images to find a family

Currently, there is no index of names to assist in determining that enumeration district, Mr Jessup said, but volunteers are working to create one. Hopefully, he said, that index will be available to the public by the end of 2012.

The information in the 1940 census is very much the same as that found in previous censuses, he said. For each address, family groups living together and their relationships to each other, education, occupations of those people and salaries, age at the time of the census, and the state in which each person was born is recorded. The 1940 Census also collected information on participation in the New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and National Youth Administration (NYA) programs.

“What is new in the 1940 Census, is that the informant is named, who gave the information to the census taker, that is,” Mr Jessup said. The 1940 Census was actually recorded by enumerators going door to door. “That’s helpful, especially if it’s a mixed bag of family [living at one address], to tell how accurate the information is,” he said. For instance, the “woman of the house” would more likely have provided accurate information than a cousin who was living there at the time. Knowing who provided the information for the 1940 Census is a “helpful little bit of information,” Mr Jessup said.

His own mother, he laughed, is listed as the informant for the 1940 Census. But he discovered that his father’s name and his own name are inaccurate in the record.

“My mom gave the wrong information,” he said. His grandfather, J. Harlan Jessup, lived next door. His own father is Harlan R. Jessup and he is Harlan R. Jessup, Jr. But the 1940 US Census lists his father as J. Harlan Jessup, Jr, and he is J. Harlan Jessup III. Researchers know, though, he added, that there will always be variations in census information.

Every bit of information about ancestors is helpful, Mr Jessup said, and both serious researchers as well as hobbyists will find browsing the 1940 US Census information interesting. Census information, he said, paints a picture of the economy of the time and place and can show the placement of the family in the socioeconomic realm.

“A surprising number of people now don’t even know the names of their grandparents,” Mr Jessup said. The census is a good way for individuals to discover more about their ancestors.

While he has yet to hear any great stories of revelation through researching the 1940 US Census, “It’s fun just to explore,” Mr Jessup said. “People do find out things they didn’t know,” he said.

Mr Jessup is available most Monday afternoons in the Genealogy Room of C.H. Booth Library, to assist anyone wishing to research family history. He welcomes drop-in visitors, or he can be contacted at 203-270-7887.

To view the 1940 US Census, visit 1940census.archives.gov.