Dr Joel Weintraub: Unique Aspects of the United States Census

• 1.Unique Aspects of theUnited States CensusJoel Weintraub, PhDDana Point, CA

2. http://tinyurl.com/6upkocy 3. DemographersMarket ResearchersHistorians Social Workers PoliticiansHealth Providers Economists LibrariansGenealogists SociologistsPlanners 4. Census Bureau Report 1943 5. Topics1. Why a US census?2. History of questions3. Copies or originals?4. The census takers5. Undercounts and overcounts6. Controversial questions7. Truthfulness?8. Name and locational searches 6. United StatesConstitution 1787The actual enumeration shall bemade within three years after thefirst meeting of the Congress ofthe United States, and withinevery subsequent term of tenyears, in such manner as theyshall by law direct. 7. Census Use ReapportionHouse of Representativeshttp://www.psmag.com/politics/is-the-house-of-representatives-too-small-3465/ 8. 1911: House set at 435 members, previously, kept adding members after each census so no statelost representatives Vermont had 6 Representatives in1910, but after the 1930 census theywere down to 1 RepresentativeExhibit: Letter from Rep 9. 2010 Census UseDistribute Federal Funds (~$400 Billion/Year)$14,000 per person over 10 years 10. The Federal Census Reality: The US Census is a DISRUPTIVEprocessand it always has been 11. 1790 Family Based.Senators Recommended Marshall Appointments Exhibit: Assist. Marshall Appthttp://www.shieldzone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/jefferson.jpg 12. First Questions US Census James Madison wanted age (2 groupsadded) and occupation (denied) Too many questions raise suspicions Extra data useful only for idle people to make a bookMargo Anderson 2000. Encyclopedia of the U.S. Census http://www.earlyamerica.com/portraits/madison.html 13. 1790-1840Harpers Magazine: 1870 14. Edmonds: Taking the Census 1850 1830:1printed,st uniform forms1850:1uniform instructions stand all names in household http://www.flickr.com/photos/maulleigh/1285984329/ 15. 1850-1860Slave CensusXHarpers Magazine: 1870 16. 1870 Considered Worst Ever Fraud and Missed AreasRecounts in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, St. Louis and New York City Carpet Bagger CensusUndercounts South by 10%Harpers Magazine: 1870 17. 1850 & 1870 Population Schedules1870Exhibit: Original Forms MortalitySchedule 18. Census Copies vs Originals = originalsThorndale & Dollarhide: Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses 1790-1920 19. 1880 Major revision of census law New census bureaucracy 20. 1890 East Side, NYC, June 1890http://www.maggieblanck.com/NewYork/Life.html 21. 1899Exhibit: 1899 Application 22. 1910Competitive exams for enumerators http://www.census.gov/main/.in/php_module/lightbox/media.php?I_1d6272af5fe0ccf54ca2467acb7b8866 23. Exhibit: 1910 Test & Badges 24. 1940 Enumerators Examination Required Legible handwriting and followingwritten instructions considered Paid on a piece basis, usually 4 cents aname for urban areas and for otherforms Went through training classes 25. Enumerator HandbookExhibit: 1940 Handbook 26. Followup ConfidentialQuestionnaire115,433 sent 16,025 sent backRead entire instructions? Yes: 12,256No: 857 (7%)Left blank 2,912Narrations: 18 Nov 2011 27. IPUMS Website Integrated Public Use MicrodataSeries Enumerator Instructions Census Questions and Forms 28. IPUMS Website 29. http://www.thoughtviper.com/new/new74.html 30. Exhibit: 1940 Forms 31. 372: Procedure for Absent Households: .a. Try to obtain the desired informationfrom neighbors or from some otherperson who may be able to furnish it. 1940 Enumerator Instruction Book 32. An outside informant should have theirname in the left-hand margin as:Information from John Brown neighbor.http://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/photos/Histforms/1940/cenform/His40cenFQ.html 33. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97502086/ 34. The New York Times, June 1915 35. Census Undercount in 1940 the Census Bureaubegan to systematicallyestimate the undercount in thedecennial censushttp://govinfo.library.unt.edu/cmb/cmbp/downloads/99feb1.html 36. Census Undercount 6 1/2 months after the Census, a mandatorySelective Service Registration for males 21through 35 Penalties for non-registration: a fine of up to$10,000, a prison term of up to 5 years (Palo Alto males #18 among Stanfordsregistrants was young John FitzgeraldKennedy a student at the graduate schoolof business) [Palo Alto Wiki]A Check on Underenumeration in the 1940 Census by Daniel O. Price American Sociological Review, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Feb., 1947), pp. 44-4 37. 13% more Blacks, and 3% more Non-Blacks registered than predictedfrom the censusCalculated that 8.4% of Black Americans and 5% of Non-Blacks missed on the 1940 censusSocial Science History 19:4 (winter 1995) http://news.yahoo.com/1940-us-census-records-show-black-undercount-175820718--spt.html?_esi=1 38. Census Overcount Tacoma 1910 counted 116,268 people In 1900 they had 37,714 counted Massive fraud shown, and 33,296 namesthrown out 39. Census Overcount 40. Census Date = 1/1/1920Enumerated on 1/5/1920San Francisco, CA 41. Enumeration Date (1/5/1920) San Francisco, CA 42. Privacy 43. Are#!%#!! you apauper?Exhibit: 1890 Harpers Magazine 44. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_W._Tobey 45. Catherine Curtis Senate Testimony 46. Commerce Sect. Hopkins Solution Two weeks before the census the Secretary of Commerce ruled thatthe income question could be answered in unsigned, sealed letters. 47. Your Signature Is Not RequiredExhibit: Confidential Form 48. Envelope 49. Truthfulness? 50. New York Times April 1930 51. The Last Laugh How the hell do you think I could answer if I couldntwrite?So-called EnglishIn 1897. In the Yes front room. No1930 Census SlipA bootlegger 52. I consider this questionnairea great joke. Congress is bad enough. Why make itworse? 53. Name Indexes Efficient way of finding people Dont have to know much aboutthe census format Can go directly to right pageimage Subscription services but someyears are free at websites 54. Census Taker Situations Unusual sounding names Incorrect and false names Abbreviated names or nicknames Confidentiality and penmanship Name entry mistakes 55. Be particularly care-ful when enumeratinga household that noperson is reading theentries you are makingor the entries you haveExhibit made for other house-holds.1940 Enumerator Handbook Sects 20 56. Stoltz: many people from theWest Coast wrote to Rockwellasking what the funny-lookingstick at the feet of the censustaker was and why he waswearing rubbers in a placewhere the sun always shines 57. Exhibit: 1950 Enumerator Toolshttp://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/photos/img/highres/Histo10h.jpg 58. Transcriber Problems Poor quality census images Faint writing, blurry, taped, inkblots, ripped, water marks,obscuring statistical marks Handwriting interpretation English not primary language 59. Transcriber Problems1910 CensusPennsylvania 60. WatchnatenedgetNot christened yet 61. Transcriber Problems FamilySearch led volunteer project of160,000 transcribers 2 people saw same page, and a 3rd ifconflicts in the transcription Housing Schedule 1940 EXHIBIT Housing Information from Blocks 62. Name Search Advice Use Wildcards * ?Smi* = Smith, Smithson, etc.Sm?th = Smith, Smyth, Smuth LESS IS MORE Search for Children Dont Use Last Name RELAX YOUR ASSUMPTIONS 63. Ray Lyman WilburBorn April 13, 1875 64. https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/6935831733/galleries/ 65. The Birth Year AssumptionMarch 1876Feb 1876Jan 1876Dec 1875Nov 1875 64yrOct 1875Sept 18759/12 (75%)olds Aug 1875July 1875of 1875 birthsJune 1875May 1875 are 64Apr 1875on the 1940CensusMar 187565 yr Feb 1875 olds Jan 1875 66. Why Location Searches?Sometimes name indexes failTo confirm a missed addressTo look up John SmithTo find the history of a house If there isnt a name index 67. Where to look: Address Books Birth/Death/Marriage Certificates City Directories and Telephone Directories NYC Digitized Phone Books 1940 Diaries Employment Records Letters, Envelopes, and other correspondence Local Newspapers Naturalization Records Photographs Relatives School and Church Records Scrapbooks Social Security Application 68. Enumeration District Abbreviated ED Area an enumerator counts Has a unique, two-part number Boundaries and ED number often change between censuses 69. Page Geography,Numbering 70. 100% were asked these questions Short Form40 Entry LinesLong FormSupplementary Questions 5% were asked these questions 71. Special Census Day8th April- temporary lodgings, tourist facilities, flophouses, hotels 72. RegularPage 26coverage 113 Page 27 Follow-ups & Missed61 Page 294/8 Transients 811940 Enumerator Handbook: Paragraph 401 73. - Started as partnership between Steveand Joel in Jan. 2002 for 1930 census- Has search aids for a Site- Known as One-Step number of- censusesAt stevemorse.org NOT .com- Over 200 utilities on it- Free site 74. 1940 Tutorial Quiz:How to Access the 1940 Census in One Step 75. In 2011, One-Step site:about 80,000 hits/day2,500,0002,000,0002,248,9871,500,000 One-Step Hits1,000,000 500,000 399,840135,8330 14-Mar 21-Mar 28-Mar 04-Apr 11-Apr 18-Apr2012 76. 1940census.archives.gov Designed for 10 million hits a day First 3 hours 22.5 million hitsLater in 1stweek- 100 million hits per dayhttp://www.archives.com/blog/us-census/ 77. http://www.archives.gov/research/census/presidents/images/hoover-1940-transcript.pdf 78. 3,343 daysuntil the 1950 census! 1950 79. 1950 Census Project Planning1. Phase 1: Whats Possible, Get Resources2. Phase 2: Protocols and Entry Software3. Phase 3: Transcriptions, VolunteersFewer unincorporated names4. Phase 4: Correlate with namesCensus Less institutional 1950 No block definitions large cities Images, Online ED Maps?, NARA EDNo 1940 to 1950 ED correlate data definitions, and Population Schedule No online 1950 ED maps Images Websites or ED definitionsNo 1950 films at NARA branches No budget (as usual!!) 80. 1950 Census Project Planning1. ~19 million more people than 19402. ~80,000 more EDs than 19403. 38 Reels of ED definitions (28 in 1940), cost $125 x 38 = $4,750!! 81. Scans taken = >30,000 82. STREET INDEXESNAME INDEXESSOCIOLOGISTSONE-STEP NARA ED MAPSARCHIVES.COM GENEALOGISTSED DEFINITIONS PROQUEST ANCESTRY.COMHISTORIANS1930 TO 1940 #S FAMILYSEARCHDEMOGRAPHERS LIBRARIANS MYHERITAGE.COMHEALTH PROVIDERS ECONOMISTS HERITAGEQUEST.COM