NATIONAL ARCHIVES MAP ROOM

The National Archives of the United States, in regard to the 1950 census, has posted a number of videos that are basic mini classes to help you understand that census.  You can ask the archivists at the map room, they may be able to help you research using their historical maps to help you locate other places in time.

Excerpt:

A census enumeration district was an area that could be covered by a single enumerator, or census taker, in one census period. Enumeration districts varied in size from several city blocks in densely populated urban areas to an entire county in sparsely populated rural areas. This presentation will focus on locating and using census enumeration district maps, with an emphasis on maps from the 1950 census.

1940 CENSUS COUNTS ALASKA, HAWAII, AMERICAN SAMOA, GUAM, THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE, PUERTO RICO...

1940 CENSUS COUNTS ALASKA, HAWAII, AMERICAN SAMOA, GUAM, THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE, PUERTO RICO... NATIONAL ARCHIVES 1940 CENSUS PAGE LINK HERE! ...and the VIRGIN ISLANDS, CONSULATES AROUND THE WORLD (EMBASSIES).

When you get to this page, I encourage you to read the FULL INSTRUCTIONS TO THE ENUMERATORS (CENSUS TAKERS).

1940 CENSUS coming up - WE CAN BARELY STAND TO WAIT!

The 1940 U.S. census is going to be released in a few months and most of us can barely stand to wait! Actually you don't have to. You can use CITY DIRECTORIES to get an address for a family, and then be ready to find the ENUMERATION DISTRICT for that address as a first step, as it will be some time before any of the INDEXED DATABASES catch up with the volume of need for information.

Of course, if you're using the 1940 to find someone who is not showing up on CITY DIRECTORIES or the 1930 census, someone who has, perhaps, been the victim of terrible handwriting or inaccurate indexing or transcribing to databases, this can be frustrating.

My advice is NOT TO BE AFRAID OF DOING THINGS THE GOOD OLD FASHIONED WAY!

At least half of my personal genealogy has NOT been possible to replicate using Ancestry Databases, to give you an example. And believe me I tried.

When you pull something up instantly on a database it's a blessing, because it will save you time. However, don't get lazy looking for your family... Don't hesitate to call the closest archive, library, or museum to find out about any local publications such as newspapers, trade magazines, ethnic-oriented club literature, and historical books, to get a better position in your research!