Genealogy Series From Parchments to PrintoutsHistory of the Census from 1790 to 1950

Genealogy Series, 5 of 7: From Parchments to Printouts: History of the Census from 1790 to 1950 by Sharon Tosi Lacey, Chief Historian for the U.S. Census Bureau

Every census is a snapshot of our country at a particular point in time. As America has grown and changed, the U.S. census has evolved with it. As the first census after World War II, the 1950 Census marked the beginning of pivotal changes in every aspect of our society: economically, demographically, and technologically. This presentation will trace the arc of progress from 1790 to 1940, then delve into the 1950 Census in order to provide the context in which the Census Bureau collected, processed, and analyzed this data.

⇒ Presentation Slides/Handout: https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-series/2022/2022-04-07-presentation-lacey.pdf
⇒ Live Captioning: https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=JobNo.18831-NARA.Parchments.to.Printouts
⇒Transcript (from captioning): Request from KYR@nara.gov
⇒ Event Evaluation Form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KYREventEval
⇒ 2022 Genealogy Series web page: https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series/2022
⇒ 2022 Genealogy Series playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLugwVCjzrJsXFn9KliguHFDLm8l-S5Vo9

00:00 - Welcome
01:45 - Introduction to History of the Census & Presenter Biography
02:35 - Presentation Overview and Disclaimer
03:13 - Why Take a Census?
03:56 - Census History: 1790-1840
06:52 - Redefining the Census: 1850-1900
13:05 - Transition: 1902-1930
16:26 - Modernization: 1940
19:23 - Context for the 1950 Census
24:55 - 1950 Census Questionnaire
27:41 - 1950 Census - Innovations and Changes
32:14 - After 1950
34:07 - Presenter contact information
34:21 - Closing, Survey, Other Resources
35:28 - Questions and Answers in the chat

Fair Use Disclaimer:

All content that uses public funds by any US government agency, state, or local government is available for worldwide use and reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license. Included within these resources may be copyrighted material(s), the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Any copyrighted content used is for educational, research, reporting, commentary, entertainment, informational, and criticism purposes.

In our efforts to provide the Rumble community with quality content that is “fair use” this content is covered under Section 107 of the Copyright Act ( https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/ ).

If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

If you believe that any copyrighted materials appear in this content and you disagree with our assessment that it constitutes “fair use,” please get in touch with us.