Not only am I researching my ancestors, I'm putting the Census into context and learning more about how people thought about the Census back then.
Names and Faces in the News
First, I do a name search (creative spelling of surname, nicknames, maiden names, and so on). Maybe one of my ancestors or a FAN club person was mentioned as a Census taker?
Here's another angle to consider: Was an ancestor quoted in a story about the Census, perhaps talking about being enumerated or expressing an opinion about the process?
On March 26, 1950, The Brooklyn Eagle (New York City) interviewed eight local residents who were outraged at the personal questions about income. The article included photos, names, and addresses of those interviewed!
Other news items (including a January, 1950 story from the Los Angeles Times) also quoted people who were unhappy about the income question. None were my ancestors, but you might be luckier.
Fido in the News (in the Census?)
According to multiple newspaper articles (Brooklyn Eagle, L.A. Times, and others), enumerators were requested by some households to list dogs as family members.
In fact, household heads could be rather insistent on the matter! "Rather than argue, the census taker wrote down the dog's name, age and residence," one news item reported.
I don't know whether those names were left as is or deleted during later steps of review and coding. But be aware, as you browse the 1950 U.S. Census after its public release next April, you may just see Fido, Spot, Mittens, or other dogs listed as a member of a household.
That is so interesting about dogs on the census here and there! I’ll have to watch for that next year. And it’s funny that people protesting the income question have details about them included in the article.
ReplyDeleteAhh - the 50s — when we didn’t worry that some unscrupulous person would track down those quoted in the paper to rob them or worse.
ReplyDelete