Oh, yes, I can! Remember the great finding aids that were available on the One-Step Website for the 1940 census before Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, and others created searchable indices? Well, Joel Weintraub has announced the opening of the "One-Step 1950 Census Locational Tool Project."
"Project 1950" will prepare searchable Enumeration Distriction (ED) definitions and street indices in preparation for the opening of the 1950 census in April 2022. It took about 125 volunteers to produce the tools for the 1940 census.
The work for the 1950 census will be in two phases. Phase I will be the transcription of the ED definitions, and Phase II will create urban area street indices. An explanation of the two phases and the work to be done is at http://www.stevemorse.org/cens
Joel said they don't need "too many" volunteers, just enough dedicated ones. If you are interested in helping, first read the information about the work to be done, then contact Joel at the e-mail address listed on the above page.
The 1950 census can't get here soon enough for me. My mother was born in November 1940 so missed showing up, and my father's family moved around too much that year and were missed.
Is it just me, or do other people start to feel old when they realize that the revealing of "their census" is not too far in the future? 6 of my 7 first cousins and one of my brothers were alive in 1960...none of "my generation" will be on the 1950 census, but DANG I'm feeling old now!
ReplyDeleteHey, once you hit 50, aren't you supposed to feel old? But take solace in the face that not only am I older than you, neither one of us will show up in a census until 1970. And unless the rules change, that census will not be made available to the public until 2042. Does that sound far enough away?
ReplyDeleteYes, yes it does...I'm not old yet then huh? :)
DeleteNope, not old yet. Old doesn't start until at least 80. :)
DeleteThat sounds like a fun project - something to do in our spare time!
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to see is a means of "recreating" the 1890 census - interpolating 1880 and 1900, using other records (state census, churches) etc. It would take some serious "nerd work", but could be done.
Feel free to contact Joel -- I'm sure he would be happy to hear from you!
DeleteDo you think the 1890 census really could be "recreated?" Researchers already routinely use the records you mentioned, and more -- for example, city directories and the 1890 veterans' census. The nerd work might be able to piece together a reasonable facsimile of who was living in the country in 1890, but I'm not sure it could answer all the questions that were on the census form (which I believe were the same as ifor the 1900 census).