1950 US Census: 9V Income Code

Did you have an ancestor or friend/associate/neighbor (FAN club) of an ancestor who was chosen to answer the sample questions on the 1950 US Census? I've been paying attention to the income questions, in particular, as I put my ancestors into context.

Above $10k? 

According to the 1950 US Census Enumerator's Training Manual, if someone reported income above $10,000, the answer would be listed as $10,000+ on the population schedule--regardless of how much higher their actual income might have been.

Income answers from the 1950 US Census were coded for data entry and analysis, as were a few other questions (such as birthplaces and occupations).

Decoding the code

As you can see from the code circled in image at top, the income listed was $10,000+. and the code was 9V.

Huh? Turns out, 9V is the code for more than $10,000, as I read on the History Hub page about decoding 1950 US Census answers for Column 31.

In this case, I'm willing to bet that the actual income was far above $10k. Why? Because this is the 1950 US Census entry for Jack Cohn, VP of the film giant Columbia Pictures. One of Jack's nieces married a first cousin of my father. Of course I'm looking at the answers given by these and other in-laws in the 1950 US Census 😉

1950 US Census "Sample of Sample" Questions

Just days until the 1950 US Census is released and I'm more than ready to dive in and find my ancestors on April 1st. 

It would be a stroke of luck to have an ancestor selected as part of the "sample" to answer additional, detailed questions about 1949 residence, 1949 income, parents' birthplaces, school attendance, and military service.

Six out of 30 answered sample questions

This sample consisted of 6 people out of the 30 enumerated on every page of the Census. Truly a treasure trove of family history if one of my ancestors is included.

From those who answered the sample questions, one was asked a few "sample of sample" questions. As shown above in an excerpt from the US National Archives page listing all the Census questions for 1950, these questions were for people aged 14 and up.

More details about marriage and children

If one of my ancestors is listed on a line selected for the "sample of sample" questions, the answers will illuminate his or her marital history. Was the person married more than once? How many years since marital status changed? Wonderful genealogical clues for me to follow up and search for marriage or divorce documents!

If I'm really lucky, that person will be one of my women ancestors. Why? Because the final question asks how many children this woman has ever borne.** This will give me hints about whether I've missed an infant death, for instance, and improve my family tree's accuracy for the sake of future generations and future researchers.

1910 vs 1950 question about children

The last time this kind of question was asked was in the 1910 US Census (and before that, the 1900 Census). In 1910, the enumerator first asked how many children the woman ever had borne, and then asked how many were still alive. That's how I knew to look for children who died young or in between Census years. 

Did my paternal grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk (1881-1954) have any children who died young? In 1910, she told the Census she had 2 children and both were alive. Now when the 1950 Census is released, if this ancestor was asked the "sample of sample" questions, I hope to learn whether there were other children I never knew about. 

My great-grandma Tillie Jacobs Mahler (185?-1952), reported 9 children in all and 7 alive in 1900, then 10 children in all and 7 alive in 1910. What about in the 1950 Census? 

My maternal grandma Henrietta Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964) got married and had her children between 1910 and 1920 and never answered this question before the 1950 Census. I don't expect any surprises, but who knows--let's see if she was asked the "sample of sample" questions.

**Note the assumption built into this final "sample of sample" question: If a woman said she was never married when answering question #12 on the Population Schedule, she would not be asked question #38. On the other hand, if she answered that she was married, separated, divorced, or widowed, she would be asked this question if she was recorded on the line chosen for "sample of sample" questions. This assumption didn't apply to the 1910 or 1900 question, apparently.

To see all of my 1950 US Census posts, please go to my summary page here.

"Of the Time" 1950 US Census Ads and Training

While impatiently waiting for the release of the 1950 US Census on April 1, I've been learning a little more about what went on behind the scenes in the buildup to the actual count.

1950 ads for the Census

The U.S. government worked with Madison Avenue on a massive advertising campaign to get businesses to support and promote the 1950 US Census. 

The Ad Council made available a number of preformatted print ads for local businesses to run in local publications in advance of Census Day.

The ad shown here addresses concerns about confidentiality. "It's OK, boys: You can tell him everything...He's the Census Man!" [Note: Many enumerators were female, of course, but remember, these ads were very much of the time.]

The ad tells readers the Census has no connection with those dreaded "revenooors." It's fun to look back at those ads, which show the Census Bureau was well aware that people worried about answering personal questions asked by enumerators. 

1950 enumerator training 

In the middle of the last century, schools and businesses often used film strips for training purposes. A trainer or teacher would watch the images projected on the screen and try to synchronize the separate recorded narration on a record or cassette.

Training for the 1950 US Census involved a number of film strips. Read more here, in the fascinating History Hub post by Claire Kluskens. 

See some of these "of the time" film strips on Dr. Joel Weintraub's YouTube Channel here.

To read the script for the training film strip titled "Income--What It Is and How to Report It!" click here. 

Despite the coffee stain on page 8, and tape fixing page 9, the typed script is quite readable. It offers insight into how the Census Bureau instructed enumerators about collecting income info from the public, again very "of the time."

Getting in the mood for the 1950 US Census? We have only 78 days to wait for the release!

For links to more information about the 1950 US Census release, see my summary page here. 

1950 US Census: "Separated" Added as Marital Status

To be ready when the 1950 Census is released on April 1, 2022 (woo hoo!), I'm reading background information and thinking about what ancestors' responses could reveal about family history. 

If you have ancestors enumerated in the 1950 Census, do check out the summary report(s) for the state(s) where they lived in 1950. The reports are digitized and available at HathiTrust. The excerpt above is from the introduction to the results summary for New York State, where so many of my ancestors lived at the time. 

Separated, divorced, widowed?

"Separated" was a new category for marital status in the 1950 US Census. That's a plus for genealogical researchers, if our ancestors answered truthfully. 

In earlier years, a few of my ancestors said they were "widowed" rather than admit to being separated or divorced. Maybe in 1950, they answered "separated" because it was a little less of a stigma than "divorced" was at the time? 

As shown in the excerpt at top, the Census Bureau noted that this new "separated" category may have lowered the number of people recorded as "divorced." 

But read further, and see how the Census Bureau dealt with situations in which no marital status was recorded by the enumerator.

"Estimated" marital status

The Census Bureau "estimated" marital status in situations where the enumerator, for whatever reason, didn't record an individual's marital status.

The "estimate" was made on the basis of age and presence of spouse or children in the household.

So some individuals who were recorded as "single" under 1940 US Census rules might be recorded in 1950 as "married, spouse absent" or "widowed." Interesting clues.

Who's telling the truth?

What about my great aunt Nellie Block, who previously told enumerators she was single? In the US and NY Census documents I've checked, Nellie lived alone or was a boarder in someone else's apartment. She never had any spouse or children in the household with her, so far as I could see. She consistently said she was single. 

Yet when Nellie died late in 1950, she was supposedly widowed, according to her brother, the informant for her death cert. Who was telling the truth, Nellie or her brother? Looking forward to seeing how her marital status was recorded in the 1950 Census.

Instructions for 1950 US Census Enumerators: The Fine Print

In previous posts, I've highlighted elements of the Enumerator's Reference Manual that was the training guide for how the 1950 U.S. Census was conducted. You can read or download the main manual here.

Supplemental Manual

Today, I'm looking at the supplement to the main manual. You can read and download it here.

This supplemental manual includes detailed instructions for how enumerators should list people in five specific areas, as shown in the excerpt here. 

If you suspect you have ancestors who might be enumerated in one of these five types of areas, it's worth checking the instructions in this brief, 16-page supplement.

Reading the Fine Print

The fine print explains who should be enumerated as living at one of these areas, versus who should be enumerated at their regular residence. For instance, staff members who have living quarters at a hospital, mental institution, or prison would be enumerated there. Staff members who don't regularly live on-site would be enumerated at their usual residence, according to the fine print.

Knowing that enumeration of large institutions might require many hours, enumerators were instructed to determine which inmates might be leaving on April 1, and count them before they depart. Also, when new inmates entered an institution on April 1, enumerators had to determine whether they were enumerated at a different residence--and if not, count them as living at the institution. My guess is that there will be some overlap or omissions or both.

Patient, orphan, prisoner?

The supplemental manual tells enumerators what to label each person who lives in an institution, as shown here. The idea is to show the relationship of each person to the institution.

"Inmate" is only to be used if the other descriptions aren't descriptive enough.

Glance at the supplement if you think an ancestor might be enumerated in one of the five special areas, because the instructions will help you interpret what you see in the 1950 Census.

PS: For more about preparing for the 1950 US Census release in 2022, please see my special page here.