140 Days to 1940 Release!

When I first created this blog, even I was counting the time until the release of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census in months. The number in days seemed too far away, but now we're just 140 days and counting so my postings will increase with frequency and specific detail as the entire genealogy industry seems poised to share in the excitement of this historic release. In May 1999, we saw the release of www.familysearch.org and the entire Internet, it seemed, was slowed to a crawl. Then in April 2001, the launch of www.ellisisland.org and nearly 25 million passenger arrivals through the Port of New York at Ellis Island from 1892 to 1924 was another test of the Internet and website scalability. There were more than 132 million Americans enumerated in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census and their many descendants are eager to view family details which have been kept hidden from view for the last 72 years. I fully expect this to be one of the — if not THE biggest — Internet events ever! Anywhere! I'm sure every major traditional media outlet (television, newspapers, and magazine) will also give prominent coverage come April 2012.

294 Days - Joel Weintraub presents at SoCal Jamboree!

It's great to know there are others who are just as excited as I have been about the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. Joel Weintraub, Steve Morse, and dozens of volunteers have created a tremendous set of tools which you'll want to know about. See stevemorse.org/census for more details.

751 Days and Counting!

The Countdown has Begun!
If you're one of the many dedicated (some say obsessive) family historians carefully inspecting every known paper trail left by your ancestors . . . then you're probably aware of the importance and excitement of census records. In the United States, it's a once a decade happening (1790, 1800, 1810, etc.) and then things are kept under wraps for 72 years.

Genealogists celebrate the 72 year anniversary because that is when the information and clues about their families becomes available for public inspection. In 1940, the United States conducted the sixteenth census of the population living within the then forty-eight states.

This blog will be dedicated to sharing information about the 1940 Census and will serve as an interactive platform for others to share their thoughts about this major genealogical event.