The National Archives and Records Administration released millions of records online from the 1950 census at 12:01 a.m. Friday, revealing for the first time secretly kept data on people’s lives – from income to descent to education and more. Federal law for 72 years.
The publication of such historical census data, which occurs every decade (the 1940 census was made public in 2012) is a major event for historians and geneticists, but even non-professionals may wish to view records for details of relatives’ lives. Others. The National Archives makes this easy: For a free database of census information that can be searched by names and addresses.
Since the handwritten forms from that census were read using artificial intelligence, the misspellings may have been incorrect. On Friday afternoon, the National Archives announced that visitors to the census site had already registered 150,000 suggested corrections to misspelled or distorted information using the transcription tool already on the Web site.
Nevertheless, the general reaction to the new website has been “very positive,” Pamela Wright, the agency’s chief innovation officer, said in a written statement. “Most people report how happy they are to find the information they are looking for easily,” he said.
There are ways to make the search more streamlined. Provided by the Census Bureau On this webpage.
For generic family names like Johnson, having an unusual first name can help you focus on it. Also, a search generates variations of the surname – Smiths instead of Smiths – throwing a wide web to calculate the probability of misspellings. The archives suggest that searchers should check every record they are looking for, even if the name is slightly disabled. As web users submit edits, logs must be more accurate.
If that doesn’t work, you can browse separate survey districts, small geographical areas where the census is organized. A list of survey districts is available But finding the right one requires at least a general idea of where one lived.
It is also worth noting that some are in their primary home – inmates in prisons, or college and university students in dormitories, for example – and some are not counted. For example, the Census Bureau worked with the Pentagon to obtain information on veterans and their families abroad, but most of that data was not retained.
If all else fails, the National Archives says it is time to look for clues elsewhere. Libraries and other archives may contain old phone directories and city directories. Archives An adaptation of the Search Notes for the 1940 Census, published in 2011 in the journal Genetics.
Historians and other researchers can download the full data Maintained by Amazon Web Services.
Such as other major genetic companies And It is expected that the same data will be provided soon, and that both of them plan to do their own transcription and error checking of names and addresses, which in the end will be a more accurate list. Although Family Search is a free service, users must subscribe or register for a free trial before gaining access to census records and other data.
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