US Census

It's been one month since the release of the 1940 census. Whether you've found family members on the National Archives website at 1940census.archives.gov or found them here on Archives.com using the growing number of indexes we have available, you might wonder what some things in the census mean.

Here we'd like to answer some common questions to help you more easily find your family, and better understand these records.

The "X" In a Circle or In Parentheses:
The circled X or an X in parentheses shows who gave the enumerator the information for the household. This can help you judge the accuracy of the answers. Read More »

Today, Archives.com has made the entire 1940 census name index for Colorado available to search for free at Archives.com/1940census. There you can search all 1940 census records from Colorado, and view the images, at no cost.

This is the second state to be made available on Archives.com from the 1940 census, and more will be added continually!

Kudos to the tremendous effort of the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project volunteers who are helping to bring these records online in record time. If you're not involved already, this important national service project needs you! Read More »

Last week, Archives.com and the U.S. National Archives made the entire U.S. 1940 census available digitally at 1940census.archives.gov. While census images are hugely valuable, the lack of a name index can impede speedy searching. To help remedy this, Archives.com and other like-minded family history organizations have sponsored the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project, a national service effort that will index 3.8 million census images by name. Archives.com is proud to... Read More »

After 72 long years, the 1940 census was released on April 2, 2012. Take a peek at the records of some famous American icons who are included in the 1940 census. Read More »

The 1940 U.S. census launch has been enormous. Whether it's the scale of the census data or the huge amount of traffic to the census site (http://1940census.archives.gov/), everything about the past few days has been big! Archives.com thinks a closer look into this enormous undertaking is in order. Check it out! Read More »

The April 2nd release of the 1940 U.S. Census proved one thing: America hasn't gone this gaga over something since, well, Lady Gaga. While Archives.com engineers have been tirelessly working to accommodate the massive rush of traffic to the site, the Design team has been feeling a little left out. Here's their oh-so-helpful contribution. Oh, artists! Read More »

Our engineers have been working tirelessly throughout the night to improve the reliability of the 1940 census website and we've made some great progress.

Some highlights include... Read More »

First, we want to apologize to the millions of people who came to the 1940 census website this morning in search of information about their family history. While many users have been able to find and download records, many others have experienced problems when searching for enumeration districts and viewing census images.

As the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) official development partner on this project, Archives.com is responsible for the website performance and stability. We take full responsibility for the technical issues that have occurred and are very sorry for the inconvenience you may have experienced. Read More »

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 2, 2012 - Archives.com, an innovative family history website that makes family history research simple and affordable, has joined in partnership with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to provide the public with free digital access to the 1940 Federal Population Census on April 2, 2012.

The entire 1940 census is available online today exclusively at 1940census.archives.gov, the official U.S. government website for the 1940 census. Archives.com built the tools that allow researchers and amateur historians alike to browse, view, and download images from the 1940 census, the most important collection of newly released U.S. genealogy records in a decade. Archives.com has bolstered users' census research experience by integrating a robust set of finding-tools and resources.

Read More »

The 1940 Census is almost here! Are you ready? Archives.com has prepared this infographic to show some of the cool things you can discover about your family in the 1940 Census. It also shows the steps you'll take to find them when the Census is released on April 2.

Archives.com is proud to have been selected by the National Archives to host the 1940 Census. Starting April 2, go to 1940census.archives.gov and find your family.

So, who is that with great-grandpa?! Read More »

The genealogical world is all atwitter at the prospect of the release of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, which will materialize fully digitized at 1940census.archives.gov at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on April 2nd. The website, created for the National Archives and Records Administration by Archives.com, will give everyone free access to this tremendous record trove that captures the pivotal moment the Greatest Generation was exiting the Great Depression only to be pulled into the demands and sacrifices of World War II.

This remarkable record set will undoubtedly be pored over and analyzed by historians, economists, sociologists and countless others, but I was curious about the personal reasons that so many of us are counting down the minutes Read More »

The release of the 1940 Census is one of the most anticipated genealogical events ever. How can you have an event like this without a kickoff party? And what's a party without gifts?!

If you or your library, archives, or society is hosting a 1940 census kickoff event, Archives.com will provide up to 3 free memberships, which can be used as door prizes or raffle items. To receive these, simply email 1940census@archives.com with the name of your organization and details about your event.

Archives.com is proud to be partnering with the National Archives and Records Administration to bring you the 1940 Census at 1940census.archives.gov beginning April 2. Read More »

April 2, 2012 will be a red-letter day for family history enthusiasts. On that day, the 1940 U.S. Census will be released to the public. Archives.com is proud to have been chosen by the National Archives to build the website will allow visitors to browse, view, and download images of this valuable resource - for free.

When the 1940 Census becomes available, users will immediately be able to browse by location, but they will not be able to search by name. That's where the power of the community - the power of you - comes in. Read More »

Today Archives.com and the National Archives are revealing the website that will host the 1940 Census beginning April 2, 2012: 1940census.archives.gov. We encourage you to bookmark the website, and watch the video providing a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations made to publish the 1940 Census.

Please share this website and video with others!

There are only 40 days until April 2nd, a day eagerly anticipated by genealogists, historians, and academics alike. Archives.com and the National Archives are working diligently to bring you a website that makes it easy to explore the 1940 Census images. This will be the only website hosting all of the 1940 Census images on April 2nd. Read More »

You can learn a lot more from the census than names and addresses. We've highlighted some interesting occupations, and now we'd like to spotlight another way the census can help you learn more about your ancestors.

Censuses taken between 1850 and 1885 included "mortality schedules" to count the members of a town who died between June 1st of the year preceding the census and June 1st of the census year. These mortality schedules list the standard details--name, age, place of birth, occupation, et cetera--along with time and cause of death for each person. Read More »

You can learn a lot more from a census record than just someone's name. Since we added the 1790 to 1930 US Census records to Archives.com recently, we have been enjoying exploring these new collections. It's really interesting to see how even simple records can be a finger to the pulse of a social movement.

For instance, in the 1900 Census, we found Hull House. Founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr, Hull House was an early fixture in the settlement house movement. The settlement house movement sought to change social work by having social workers live within the community they served. Read More »

In every US Federal Population Census, one individual is guaranteed to have the following unique entry in the field, Occupation, Trade, or Profession: President of the United States. After we added the 1790 to 1930 US Census records to Archives.com last week, we looked through the collections for Commanders in Chief, sure to be counted just like the rest of us. In the case of Zachary Taylor, this singular vocation was abbreviated "Prest U.S."

Maybe the enumerator wouldn't have been in such a rush if "Old Rough and Ready" had still been president on August 31, 1850, when he was counted in the census for the last time. Read More »

Since we added the 1790 to 1930 US Census records to Archives.com, we have been having fun looking up our favorite celebrities from that time period. We found Transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. And, as often happens with this kind of research, what we found piqued our interest and inspired us to learn more.

Emerson first appears identifiably in the census in 1850 when he was 47. The censuses taken prior to 1850 only listed the heads of houses, so individuals who didn't own land or were living with friends do not have entries. Born in 1803, Emerson was only a child by the 1810 Census. Read More »