California volunteers rock! In just
about a month (California was not one of the first states available for indexing) we have indexed 50% of the1940 census for our state.
Since according to my World Almanac California had a population of
6.9 million people in 1940 that means that each of 3.45 million names have been
indexed by two people for quality control.
We are approaching the end of San
Francisco today. So, if you haven't started indexing, and you want
to help with San Joaquin County, you have to jump in now. I would be
willing to bet that it will become available tonight or tomorrow and
be done well before next Monday rolls around. It might not even last more than a day or two.
The following states are already
indexed and searchable by name at Familysearch.org:
Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, New
Hampshire, Oregon, and Virginia
Another twelve states are fully indexed
and just have to complete arbitration and the computer work to put
the index online.
For all other states, browsing is
fairly easy. Census takers had modern handwriting that are usually
easy to read. You can scan a page very quickly looking for the names
you want.
At FamilySearch.org or Archives.gov or
Ancestry.com you can choose a state, county, and location and browse
the enumeration district images from there.
Familysearch and Ancestry describe each
enumeration district to help you choose.
Archives.gov has county maps from 1940
with enumeration districts (poorly) outlined as another way to find
the ED you need. You will find a link to the maps after you choose
state and county from the drop-down menus. You can look at the maps
or download them. It is fun to see a 1940 map in itself, whether or
not you are using it for the census information.
An alternate route is Steve Morse's
1940 Census In-One-Step that helps you find the right enumeration
district using street addresses or 1930 enumeration districts as a
guide: http://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html
From Steve's site you can link right
into the viewers for any of the sites that have the 1940 census
available for free.
Find out who talked to the census taker, who completed high school or college, and how much money they made in 1939. (A 1940 dollar is worth about $16.50 today. http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ or http://www.minneapolisfed.org/ )
