U.S. 1950 Census - April 1, 2022 Release
ConversesGenealogy@LT
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1thornton37814
Just a few more months until the 1950 census will be released. Have you come up with your research plans yet?
I'll begin with the parents (and older siblings), grandparents, aunts, and uncles (and first cousins). After that, I'll probably tackle one line at a time, perhaps alternating between paternal and maternal branches for variety.
I'll begin with the parents (and older siblings), grandparents, aunts, and uncles (and first cousins). After that, I'll probably tackle one line at a time, perhaps alternating between paternal and maternal branches for variety.
2Taphophile13
I'm counting the days until 1950 is released. I'll be starting with grandparents, then parents, aunts, and uncles. I heard something about at first there may not be much indexing so you need to know the Enumeration District to know where to look. I have gone through my tree and used Steve Morse's site (https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html) to note the ED for all those relatives whose address I am reasonably sure of. Of course some people may have moved between 1940 and 1950 and will need further tracking down later.
3thornton37814
>2 Taphophile13: Most of my close relatives lived in one area, and I will be able to quickly tell where they lived. I suspect my paternal uncle was still in the services (Korean Conflict), so he might be interesting to track down. My aunt married a man she met when he was stationed in Columbus, Mississippi, but I think they'd moved to his home in Iowa by 1950, and even though they lived in several locations there, I think I know where. I know where my other uncle worked and approximately where he lived so I should be able to track that family. I remember the excitement of the 1920, 1930, and 1940 census releases. (I'd actually just begun researching when the 1920 one came out--and it was sometimes almost impossible to get a microfilm reader at one of the larger genealogical libraries in the country which was my "home" library back then.) Unindexed does not bother me. I actually enjoy "reading" the census and getting a feel for the area. Poor indexing often forces us to do that anyway.
4Keeline
In addition to my family, I use genealogical records (and newspaper archives) to research the authors and illustrators of the type of books I collect and research — juvenile series books. Once I know a real person's name (pseudonyms are common) then it is a question of learning what I can about that person with the breadcrumbs left behind in records like the census. Having an index at some level is rather important to me since it is impractical to skim-read dozens of pages for each person I want to research.
I started doing genealogy in the 1990s when you had to go to a local Family History Center and rely on what resources they had on hand or could request from another. I recall the printed indexes to censuses and finding that the one nearest me had an incomplete collection of these and that they were sometimes awkward to work with. If you found one or several candidate entries, then you had to find the film information to get down to the state, county, and ED. Then you had to scroll on the microfilm readers.
Things were much improved when you could see census page images on the computer screen and search for them. It is so different to research a person today vs. the earlier times.
I thought I recalled for the 1940 census (maybe it was 1930) that there were some indexing projects in advance of the public release of the census. Thus we could hit the ground running when it was available and find people with relative ease. It sounds as if this may not be true in this census. That will add to complications. I am pretty sure that even if the person stayed at the same address as they were found in 1940, the ED will change.
For my other research on series books, I bought rolls of 35mm microfilm from NYPL. After going to the local university to read them and take notes, we ended up buying a used microfiche reader that had roll attachments so I could manually browse through these films. It was a big improvement. Several years ago I sent these into a service bureau to have them scanned to computer images. The quality is not always ideal and I'd like to get some of them redone. But having my own reader at home would not help if the FHC would not let the roll of film outside of the building. :)
James
I started doing genealogy in the 1990s when you had to go to a local Family History Center and rely on what resources they had on hand or could request from another. I recall the printed indexes to censuses and finding that the one nearest me had an incomplete collection of these and that they were sometimes awkward to work with. If you found one or several candidate entries, then you had to find the film information to get down to the state, county, and ED. Then you had to scroll on the microfilm readers.
Things were much improved when you could see census page images on the computer screen and search for them. It is so different to research a person today vs. the earlier times.
I thought I recalled for the 1940 census (maybe it was 1930) that there were some indexing projects in advance of the public release of the census. Thus we could hit the ground running when it was available and find people with relative ease. It sounds as if this may not be true in this census. That will add to complications. I am pretty sure that even if the person stayed at the same address as they were found in 1940, the ED will change.
For my other research on series books, I bought rolls of 35mm microfilm from NYPL. After going to the local university to read them and take notes, we ended up buying a used microfiche reader that had roll attachments so I could manually browse through these films. It was a big improvement. Several years ago I sent these into a service bureau to have them scanned to computer images. The quality is not always ideal and I'd like to get some of them redone. But having my own reader at home would not help if the FHC would not let the roll of film outside of the building. :)
James
5thornton37814
There was an indexing project that began as soon as the digital images were released for the 1940 census. I'm sure we'll be able to do that on FamilySearch once again. I still index miscellaneous records for FamilySearch when I have time to do so. I hope to be able to do some indexing for the 1950 census.
6NinieB
>4 Keeline: Yes! Census research on microfilm was so slow! When I think of how many hours I spent doing that kind of research, I am so grateful for the (relatively) wonderful indexing and speedy retrieval we have today.
