At midnight, the National Archives launched the 1950 Census website.
Staff from across the agency have been working over the past decade to prepare the records and provide them to you. I am very proud of how their work has fulfilled our mission to make access happen.
This is the first census that I make an appearance in. Earlier this morning I I used the search tips on the homepage to locate my family:
Search for the first and last name of the head of household (plus state and county of residence if known) because the surname was written on the census form only on the line for the head of household and other persons in the household with a different surname.
Since my father Anthony was the head of our household, I searched using his first and last name, I also entered “Essex County” and “Massachusetts.” That includes the town I grew up in, Beverly.
And I found the population schedule that listed my family:
This Census shows my father Anthony, my mother Marie, and my siblings Anthony, Marie and Kathleen. The Census also indicates that I was four years old when it was taken and I still remember the Census Enumerator who came to our door. Her garter belt had broken and she asked my mother for a penny to repair it!
Follow #1950 Census on Twitter and you will see that many others have been finding their families in the Census as well!
My father was one of 13 children, all lived in or around Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1950. I will be looking through this Census for them today. I hope you will join me in celebrating this achievement and take a few moments to search the Census for your loved ones.
For more information, visit the homepage of the 1950 Census.
It is also good to know the enumeration district. I easily found my grandparents. My parents – not so much and there was less than a mile between their residences. The AI is a good idea, but my husband and I are calling it “Almost Intelligence” rather than “Artificial Intelligence”. There are lots of errors. The enumeration district maps helped me hone in on where my parents lived – that and Steve Morse’s One-Step page for the 1950 Census are big helps. After I found my parents, transcribing the corrections was easy.
How do I find the microfilm number for my citation?