"Today is a big day for genealogists!"

'

Finally, it is here!

The 1940 Census

To the right is an image of a blank 1940 Census original form, you can see the brown discoloration. Click on image to enlarge it.

Bookmark this URL: http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/

This site lets you copy data onto a "fillable" form & print it out:

http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/1940-census-form-fillable.pdf

Visit Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter for his article on the 1940 Census release:

http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2012/04/1940-us-census-to-be-unveiled-on-monday-morning.html

Here is some stats that may be of interest:

3.8 million images will show the handwritten forms created by census takers who went door to door to record data for all 132.2 million Americans living in 1940. About 21 million Americans who are listed in the 1940 records may still be alive today!

Go here for a great video about the 1940 Census that includes some cool 1940's news video clips: http://1940census.archives.gov/

Questions Asked For the 1940 Census:

Many of the questions on the 1940 census are the standard ones: name, age, gender, and race, education, and place of birth. But the 1940 census also asks many new questions. The instructions ask the enumerator to enter an [a circled x] after the name of the person furnishing the information about the family; whether the person worked for the CCC, WPA, or NYA the week of March 24-30, 1940; and income for the 12 months ending December 31, 1939. The 1940 also has a supplemental schedule for two names on each page. The supplemental schedule asks the place of birth of the person's father and mother; the person's usual occupation, not just what they were doing the week of March 24-30, 1940; and for all women who are or have been married, has this woman been married more than once and age at first marriage.

Go here for a complete list of questions with further details:

http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/general-info.html#questions

Here is the first part of the National Archives' Press Release:

February 21, 2012

National Archives Announces Website for Free 1940 Census Release Online on April 2, 2012: 1940census.archives.gov

Tomorrow Starts the Countdown of ’40 Days to the ’40 Census’

Washington, DC…Today the National Archives, with its partner Archives.com, launched its new websitewww.1940census.archives.gov in preparation for its first-ever online U.S. census release, which will take place on April 2, 2012, at 9 a.m. (EST). The public is encouraged to bookmark the website now in order to more quickly access the 1940 census data when it goes live. No other website will host the 1940 census data on its April 2 release date.

- Compiled by JGWest