Posted on 03/19/2012 5:28:04 PM PDT by smokingfrog
The federal government plans to release intimate details about 132 million people in the United States who participated in the 1940 census when it makes the data available to the public on April 2 for the first time after 72 years of being kept confidential.
Access to the records will be free and open to anyone on the Internet — but they will not be immediately name searchable.
For genealogists and family historians, the 1940 census release is the most important disclosure of ancestral secrets in a decade and could shake the branches of many family trees. Scholars expect the records to help draw a more pointillistic portrait of a transformative decade in American life.
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
“pointillistic”? Someone has a new dictionary!
I agree. I can spend 3, 4, 5 hours a day on it for 3, 4 or 5 days, take a break for a week or 10 days and then do it all over again. :~) It may be taking me longer because I'm not paying for a membership, but I find it fun, with the various tricks I've discovered to find info I rarely get stuck for long and there are only a couple of mystery people still on my list.
Ancestry is just too high, and so much of their information is given to them for FREE from users, then sell it back to them.
I am a little irritated that the gov. would consign the Census records to Ancestry. That is public information and should not be sold. jmo
So much information is on www.findagrave.com, a great genealogy source. Especially when tryint to verify a birth and death date, many times you will see the headstones. Best genealogy site for me.
I’ve found lots of interesting facts about my family, but I think the one that amazed me the most was finding on the net a painting of my gggrandfather that fought in the Civil War and who was captured (luckily) the 1st day of battle at Gettysburg who bears a striking resemblance to my own son.
It’s those kinds of finds that makes the search both enjoyable and worthwhile!
Happy ancestor hunting!
This is somewhat puzzling. Went to live with a cousin when I was 3 and never knew my mom. Several years ago I was trying to track down our family history and one of the things I found was the census report they completed in January 1940. Listed my dad, older sister and my grandparents but not my mom. Since I was born later that year, never could quite figure it out. But apparently parts of the census report have always been available if you knew where to look.
pinging myself for later. . .
Thanks for the ping. I have been waiting for this.
I found a picture of my great-great grandfather and his wife outside their home in Sweden. That was exciting. :~) No one in the family had seen it. I gave copies to those who wanted it.
bkmk for later
Thank you. Looks fun.
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