 Welcome to the National Archives and Records Administration's 2022 Genealogy Series. We are pleased to present this educational series of lectures on how to conduct family research using the 1950 Census. My name is Andrea Matney, and as the program's coordinator, please allow me to do a quick introduction and provide instructions on how to participate. These lectures will demonstrate how to use records from the 1950 Census and other federal resources for genealogical research. Our presenters include experts from the National Archives and Records Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau. Sessions are intended for beginners to experienced family historians. All are welcome. We invite you to join the conversation. Please participate with the presenters and other family historians during each session's premiere. You can ask questions via chat by first logging into YouTube. Keep your eye on the chat during the broadcast because the speaker will answer your questions there in the chat. Type your questions in at any time, but please keep your questions on today's topic. In addition, find live captioning, handouts, and the events evaluation form under the video box by clicking on Show More. Note on our schedule that all sessions are broadcast on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. Eastern. And yes, all of the recorded videos will remain available for viewing later and at any time. Welcome to the next presentation of the Genealogy Series. Today we are offering History of Census Records in the National Archives. Our presenter today is Jessie Crutz. Jessie Crutz is the historian of the National Archives. She speaks regularly at academic and history conferences, gives lectures and writes articles on the history and importance of the National Archives. She is the editor of the National Archives Blog Teases of History and runs the agency's oral history program. Before becoming historian in 2013, Jessie worked for the 13 years at the Center for Legislative Archives and now turning the program over to Ms. Crutz. Thank you, Andrea. Today I will discuss the census population schedules before they came to the National Archives, their transfer upon the creation of the National Archives, and the history of their availability and use. So for the purposes of this presentation, when I talk about census records, I'm referring to the decennial population schedules. I'm also going to talk almost exclusively about open census schedules. That is 1790 to 1950. The history of the National Archives and census records after 1950 is a very interesting story, but it's a talk for another day. So before the creation of the National Archives, individual federal departments kept their own records. Some federal departments were better stewards of their records than others, with many records housed in unsafe environments. Records restored in areas that exposed them to theft, neglect, vermin, water, and fire damage. And in fact, fires were the biggest culprits of the destruction of federal records in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Shortly after the federal government moved the new capital in Washington, D.C., an 1800 fire destroyed a portion of the War Department records. And a year later, the Treasury Department records were destroyed by fire. These were the first in hundreds of fires that occurred in government buildings before the creation of the National Archives in 1934. Census records go back to 1790. The U.S. Constitution provides that an enumeration be taken every 10 years. And on March 1, 1790, Congress passed an act that provided for the taking of the first federal population census. It designated August 2, 1790 as the official Census Day. And under the direction of the Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, marshals of the U.S. Judicial Districts administered the first census in 1790. First census enumeration took about nine months to complete. The original census records were then maintained by the federal departments that had jurisdiction over censuses throughout history. Then the State Department, then the Department of Interior, and later the Census Bureau within the Department of Commerce. These records, too, succumbed to fire. On January 21, 1921, the Department of Commerce Building caught fire. Nearly the entire 1890 population census was destroyed. About 25% was consumed by fire and 50% of the remainder was damaged by fire, water, and smoke. After the fire, the Census Bureau took steps to increase the safety of its records. By the end of the 1930s, the Bureau had begun an extensive microfilming program to produce copies of the original records. Not only would a secure copy of the information be kept, microfilming saved storage space and made the records easier to transport. If you think about it, the census is a record of every household in the country. We're talking about a massive volume of material. In the late 19th century, J. Franklin Jameson, Waldo G. Leland, and the American Historical Association began a campaign for the creation of a National Archives where the federal government's records could be concentrated, properly cared for, and preserved. The Census Bureau fire, coupled with Jameson's campaign for a place to safely store federal records, put the need for National Archives on Congress's agenda. In 1926, Congress passed the Public Building Act, which authorized a massive public building construction project, part of which was to provide office space for the growing federal agencies in the nation's capital. One of these buildings was to be a National Archives. Ground was broken for the new archives building on September 5, 1931, and construction began. On February 20, 1933, President Herbert Hoover laid the building's cornerstone, dedicating the building in the name of the people of the United States. And although construction of the archives building was well underway by the mid-1930s, no federal agency existed to occupy it. This changed on June 19, 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the legislation creating the National Archives as an independent agency. Roosevelt chose R. G. W. Connor as the first archivist of the United States in 1934. He was confirmed by the Senate the following year. Connor was a historian and a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, and he was involved in the founding and development of the North Carolina State Archives. Connor's first task with hiring staff were with about 80 employees moving into the nearly completed building in the fall of 1935, but the building was empty. There were no records. The new agency's first task was locating the records stored all over the city and the country. The National Archives staff surveyed federal records located in Washington, D.C., and the Works Progress Administration workers took on the massive task of surveying federal records in the rest of the country. The staff conducted these preliminary surveys, which are basically forms they filled out to determine the conditions of the record storage, if records were permanently valuable, and if they should be sent to the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. This image here is one of the forms that the WPA staff used about surveying records. National Archives staff who conducted the surveys were known as deputy examiners, and for the Commerce Department, which included the Census Bureau, the National Archives deputy examiner Arthur Levitt started the preliminary survey of its records. Levitt surveyed a myriad of Census Bureau files, and on June 26 and 27, 1935, he surveyed the population schedules housed on the sixth floor of the recently constructed Department of Commerce building in Washington, D.C. This image here is of the preliminary survey. Levitt noted some hazards associated with how the records were kept. Under the category menaces to the archives, he noted radiators on the ceiling directly over some stacks. Spray sometimes comes in through the ventilation when it rains. Heavy volumes stacked upright topple over when a few are removed. Rough handling, broken covers, frayed edges, accumulation of dust. Danger of theft of small volumes of early originals, and then he noted that the 1790 volume was kept in a safe. This next document is Levitt's daily report from the days that he surveyed Census population schedules, and I'll read a little of it. I spent today beginning the survey of the population census schedules on the sixth floor of the main commerce building. Some of the conditions in which they are kept and hazards to which they are exposed would seem to make it imperative that the older schedules be transferred to the National Archives at an early date. The original schedules of the 1790, 1800, 1810, 18 census are wrapped in brown paper parcels and kept on the top shelves of the stacks. Photostatic copies of the 1800, 1810, and 1820 census are on the shelves in the regular files. Here goes on. Across the hall from 1619 where these files are kept is a large office and research room to which the volumes are taken for consultation. Many visitors come in every day to consult them for genealogical purposes, and the office also receives many inquiries by mail to trace both birth records, connection with pension claims, and other matters. I believe, however, that not many of this latter group of inquiries require the use of the census previous to that of 1880. Given some of the condition to which other records were found, the Census Bureau had done a fairly good job in storing and preserving their files, especially with the high amount of use that these schedules received. And this was a large part due to Census Bureau staff member Mary Orsler who had been overseeing the census population schedule since 1909. Now Leavitt advocated that the volumes be transferred to the National Archives as soon as possible. But before Leavitt could complete the Census Bureau survey, he was promoted to a new position as Chief of the Commerce Department Archives, and so Deputy Examiner Herman Kahn was tasked with completing the survey. Now Kahn discussed his experiences and his oral history, and he said that this most searing memory he had from conducting preliminary surveys related to an experience with the census records. And while he was finishing up the inventory, he was taken to see the Director of the Census Bureau. And he recalled a long and friendly conversation that the point of was that as with every other Bureau and the whole of Washington at that time, the archives was a great thing and everyone is in favor of it, but they could never possibly put the census records in the archives because the census records were a special case. And the Director went on to talk about the confidentiality of the records after 1880 census and that special facilities were needed, and no one besides the Census Bureau employees could possibly understand these records. Now Kahn didn't say anything, but when he reported the conversation to his superiors, he got in trouble for one, holding a discussion with a high ranking official, but two, his supervisor said by not saying anything that he had tacitly committed the archives to not accepting these records. Now Kahn came out of this conversation thinking that sometimes it's best not to report every conversation you have to your supervisor. Now the records from 1790 to 1870 censuses were public records, and they were under any confidentiality restrictions. And in fact, the U.S. Marshals posted the records in a central place in communities for public viewing. It was the Census Act of 1879 that made census records confidential, including penalties for disclosing the data. So the 1880 census and all subsequent censuses had access restrictions. Now, despite its initial hesitancy, the Census Bureau ultimately agreed to send its records and transferred its first batch of records to the National Archives in 1942. It consisted of the original bound population schedules of the 1790 to 1870 censuses, none of which had access restrictions, and they also transferred several other types of Census Bureau records as well. That year, the National Archives displayed a selection of the population schedules in its exhibition hall in Washington, D.C. The exhibit not only provided examples of the kinds of paper imprinted forms that were used during those 80 years, but it also included highlights of U.S. history, including the 1790 census page for Thomas Jefferson and other officials in Philadelphia when it was the nation's capital. That first year, the National Archives received about 6,000 requests for census population schedules. The issue of public availability for future census records was on resolve when Congress passed the Federal Records Act in 1950. The legislation imposed a 50-year limit on restricting access to executive agency records, unless the Archivist of the United States determined the records could be closed for a longer period. When the Act was working its way through Congress, then Archivist of the United States, Wayne Grover, testified that census records were among the types of records that could be restricted for beyond 50 years. But the records would eventually be made available to researchers and would not be restricted in perpetuity. Because the Federal Records Act took precedence over earlier laws, the National Archives was authorized to open census records when they became 50 years old. In recognition that census records may require a longer restriction period, on October 10, 1952 Roy Peel, the director of the Bureau of the Census, and Archivist Wayne Grover made an agreement to put in place a 72-year period of closure for population census records transferred to the National Archives. Now there is much debate on exactly where the number 72 came from and there are theories abound. I haven't been able to find much in the records except for in the mid-1970s in the Congressional hearing, then acting Archivist James O'Neill testified, and I quote, Shortly after the National Archives was established and population census schedules transferred to the Archives, the director of the Bureau of the Census and Archivist of the United States agreed that early population census records, 1790 to 1870, would be open to all researchers immediately. The 1870 census records were made available when they were transferred to the Archives in 1942, 72 years after the census was taken. This established a 72-year precedent for restrictions on population census records. End quote. Heard that agreement, after 72 years passed, the National Archives can make census population schedules available to those with legitimate research interests. Now this was defined by the researcher's reputation as a professional researcher or genealogist, the researcher's connection with an established institution of learning or research, the researcher's connection with the person or family in the records, and the time elapsed since the appearance of possibly detrimental information, considered in conjunction with the legitimacy of public or scholarly interest. It is my understanding, however, that the National Archives rarely turned people away who came to look at census records, even if they lacked these credentials. Per the 72-year agreement, the National Archives made available to researchers the 1880 census records in 1952 and what had survived at the 1890 census records in 1962. The National Archives staff also produced a number of publications related to the available census population schedules to assist researchers. In the early 1970s, the National Archives would have seen an uptick in genealogy researchers who were very much interested in census records. With this increase, the National Archives opened a new microphone research room on the fourth floor of the National Archives building in Washington D.C. in 1971, just in time for the opening of the 1900 census release scheduled the following year. Then in 1972, just before the National Archives was set to release the 1900 census, the Census Bureau took the position that the 1952 agreement to open records after 72 years was invalid, because it conflicted with Title XIII, Section IX of the U.S. Code, which required the safeguarding of census records obtained under the promise of confidentiality. The Bureau of the Census took this to mean that census records should be restricted forever, or at least 100 years, when most participants would be no longer living. Now the National Archives was not in favor of amending the 1952 agreement. The National Archives agreed to delay the 1900 census records release until the Department of Justice could decide whether the Federal Records Act took precedence over Title XIII. And on June 14, 1973, the Attorney General decided that the records could be opened, and in late 1973, the National Archives opened the 1900 census records. In part due to the popularity of Alex Haley's novel Roots in the subsequent miniseries, the microphone reading rooms in the National Archives building in Washington D.C. and in regional archives facilities around the country were seeing the largest influx of researchers in our agency's history. And of particular interest were genealogy records, including census records, which were all on microphone. So by 1977, the National Archives was getting 7,000 inquiries a week, and requests for microfilm rose to 10,000 rolls a month, which was more than double their normal demand. The same was true at the regional archives around the country. Even though the National Archives was not that strict on researcher access, the research still had to be conducted at a National Archives facility and reproductions were prohibited with very few exceptions. Now the tipping point came in 1977 when a 90-year-old genealogist named George Roberts asked to be allowed to use the 1900 census microfilm at his local library rather than at a more distant regional archives branch. The archivist decided that restrictions were no longer necessary and moved on behalf of the National Archives to open the 1900 census records fully and made a public proposal to that effect in the Federal Register. The proposed rule said basically, in light of the passage of time and a substantial interest in access to the records of the 1900 census for historical and genealogical purposes, the National Archives has determined that the current restrictions on access to and copies of the records of the 1900 census could be lifted. When the 30-day comment period ended, the National Archives had received more than 700 letters and postcards in favor of the release with no mail in opposition to it. The proposal was adopted and the National Archives began distributing copies of census microfilm outside the National Archives system. In recognition of his role in the decision, the National Archives said Mr. Roberts, the first unrestricted microfilm copy of the census of this hometown of Glenville, New York, of which he was writing a history. He received the present on his 91st birthday and he wrote to the archivist, this is the finest birthday gift I could imagine. And while the National Archives was easing limitations on public access to some of its holdings, including census records, the Census Bureau supported increasing restrictions on access to archival census records. They were very unhappy with the archivist's decision to relax the restrictions on the census records and expressed it in this letter from the director of the Bureau of the Census to the Archivists of the United States. A Congress was also looking at the issue and in testimony before a committee, the Census Bureau indicated that before the National Archives made census records available to the public, conditions on access should be adopted that were consistent with the principle of informed consent. They argued that population census records were unique among the records permanently housed in the National Archives because they contain the names, addresses and detailed personal information for all residents of the United States enumerated in each population census. And they were obtained by the federal government under penalty of law for refusal to answer the questions. Now the National Archives in testimony argued that they believe 72 years was sufficient and it balance the correspondence right to privacy with the public's interest in access to the information contained in each population schedule. In 1978, Congress settled the disagreement between the two agencies when they codified the 1952 agreement between the archivist and the director of the Bureau of the Census. The legislation required that the release of any personally identifiable information from records of the Census Bureau should be governed by the October 10, 1952 agreement between the archivist and the director of the Bureau of the Census, except for the individual named in the record or their legal heir. Any changes to that rule must be agreed to by both the National Archives and the Census Bureau and published in the federal register. Since the agreement restricted access to census records for 72 years, it became known as the 72-year rule, which has been governing census records ever since. A subsequent census openings were a really big deal at the National Archives building in Washington D.C. and at the regional archives all over the country. On April 15, 1982, the National Archives opened the 1910 census to researchers at the National Archives building in Washington D.C. and for sale in the Archives Publications Sales Branch. In a ceremony, then archivist of the United States, Bob Warner, his wife Jane, and her mother Helen, opened the census in Washington D.C. in the fourth floor microfilm reading room. Warner's mother-in-law Helen was able to find her six-year-old self listed on the census. The 1910 census was reproduced on 1,784 rolls of microfilm that the National Archives made available at the regional archives branches later that year. The census estimated that the U.S. population had increased 21% since the 1900 census was conducted. Now, censuses were usually taken in the spring, but the 1920 census was moved to winter because the Department of Agriculture argued that the information about harvests would be fresh in farmers' minds and that more people would be home in January than in April. Because of that, the 1920 census was able to be made available earlier on March 2, 1992. The records were made available in the microfilm reading rooms in Washington D.C., the regional archives across the country, and through various microfilm sales and rental programs. For the opening, researchers lined up around the block at several facilities, and the number of microfilm researchers in Washington D.C. jumped from 1,338 in the last week of February to almost 2,000 in the first week of March in 1992. At the ceremony opening the census, archivist of the United States, Don Wilson, presented the director of the Census Bureau, Barbara Bryant, copies of census schedules documenting her family. You can see behind them that the National Archives couldn't resist using the pun reeling through history and their promotional materials. In the regional archives, researcher visits rose by 250%. Some of the regional archives took reservation, which were booked months in advance, and many even opened at midnight the day of the release. The regional archives in Seattle, one of the facilities that took reservations, was booked through June. In here, in this photo, you can see Midnight Madness at the National Archives south of West Region in Fort Worth. On April 1, 2002, the National Archives opened the 1930 census, and again, researchers were standing in long lines waiting to access the records. Like in 1992, several facilities, including Kansas City, Fort Worth, Watham, and Seattle, all opened at midnight. Duplication process was years in the making. Each of the 2,667 rolls of microfilm, about 100 feet long, was duplicated and proved by National Archives staff. Staff made copies for researchers of the National Archives building in Washington, D.C., the regional archives across the country, for the microfilm loan program, and for many other purposes. Unlocked the 1900 and 1920 censuses, which were all indexed on the Soundex system, the 1930 census was indexed for only 12 southern states. To aid with research, the National Archives staff created a number of finding aids and related publications. Also, for the first time ever, the National Archives created a special census website with information on how to view, rent, or buy the microfilm, and included the numerous background materials that the National Archives staff had compiled. On April 2, 2012, in a ceremony in the William G. McGowan Theater in Washington, D.C., Archivists of the United States, David S. Ferriero, declared the 1940 census officially open. This was the first ever online census release. The release comprised the digitized version of the entire census, including more than 3.8 million images of schedules, maps, and enumeration district descriptions, and it was completely free. The website was so popular that it crashed, and the National Archives had to get additional servers to bring it back up and running. In celebration of the 1940 census release, the National Archives held events all over the country and produced a series of short documentary videos on its YouTube channel. Most recently, the National Archives launched the 1950 census on April 1, 2022. It was the 17th decennial census of the United States. For the online release, the National Archives digitized more than 6.4 million pages of census schedules for the U.S. states and territories, enumeration district maps, and enumeration district descriptions. Again, the National Archives made the census records available for free on our website, archives.gov, forward slash 1950 census. In addition to being able to view the census for free, members of the public can engage in a number of crowdsourcing activities, and I have to admit that I was caught up in the excitement. And while I don't normally do my own genealogy research, I looked at my grandparents, my aunt, and my uncle in the 1950 census. My own father was born in a summer of 1950 and just missed making his first census appearance. We all have the 1960 census to look forward to in 2032. I wanted to end with some information about the format of census records. The 1790 to 1870 and the 1890 exist in bound volumes. In 1880, the National Archives has them on microfilm only. In 1956, to save space in the nearly full National Archives building in Washington, D.C., the agency gave away the original volumes to various state archives, libraries, historical societies, and other institutions. The 1900 to 1970 exist only on microfilm. The originals were destroyed. From the 1980 census and on the records are electronic. The Census Bureau transferred the 1980 and 1990 census data files to the National Archives on magnetic tape cartridges. For the 2000 census, the records are TIFFs, and for 2010 census, they are JPEGs. The National Archives is currently in the process of working with the Census Bureau to transfer the 2020 census in the cloud. To view the 1950 census, visit archives.gov forward slash 1950 census. You can read more about the National Archives history on our website and our pieces of history blog. Thank you for turning into this presentation today, and good luck with your research. Thank you for joining us for today's presentation. We are wrapping up the lecture portion of the broadcast, but we'll continue to take your questions about today's topic in the chat section. Please take a minute to complete our short evaluation form so we can plan future programs based on your feedback. Find the link to it under Show More. If we did not get to your question today, please send us an email. Note that the presentation's video recording and handout will remain available on this YouTube page and our website. If you enjoyed this video, check out our Know Your Records program. We have many more educational videos on how to do research with us. Thank you to the Genealogy Series team who contributed to the success of this program. We are grateful for your work. Again, please stay if you have questions, although we are concluding the video portion of the broadcast. We will continue to take your questions in chat for another 10 minutes.