This is the first time in my family history adventures that I’m going to be witnessing the release of a census record. I wasn’t seriously researching at the time that the 1930 census was released, so I’m a little bit excited… Okay I’m a lot excited. I have a lot of family connections all over the country that started to lose touch around the 1940s and 1950s. So I think the 1940 census will help me bridge a gap that has been lingering for a long time in my research.
I signed up to be a blog ambassador as soon as I heard about it. One of the things that this program is meant to do is drum up some excitement about the census being released. I’m excited, so that’s a checkmark! The big idea though is to transform this excitement into participation! How many of you out there love to research genealogy but it’s going to cost hundreds of dollars and time that you just haven’t got? I’m one of those people. A lot of the time most of my research is done online. I send away for records when I have a general idea or exact idea of what I’m looking for. Mostly though, it’s very hard for me to find the resources and time to get away. Hopefully I’ll be able to start doing one research trip a year in the summer, but so far it’s not been able to happen.
That’s why I want to help get people involved. One of the things I love doing is going onto FamilySearch and seeing what kind of collections have been added. For a girl in Southern Maryland who has a hard time getting to Ohio, Kentucky, and New Jersey for research purposes, this site has been a godsend! Now FamilySearch, Archives.com, and findmypast.com are sponsoring a project, the 1940 US Census Community Project. The purpose is to round up volunteers to help index the 1940 US Census when it’s released in 36 days!
The goal is to have a free index for everyone as quickly as possible. Having an index helps everyone out, and it makes you feel good to volunteer. I’ve indexed thousands of records over the past few years and each time a new collection is added to the website, I feel like I’ve helped people like me, who can’t get as close to their roots as they’d like. If you’re afraid it might be too hard to start, trust me it’s not! You just install the indexing program and then download a batch from a group you are comfortable with! I definitely suggest starting with the Beginner levels, or at least a record you are familiar with.
- Visit FamilySearch and learn how to become a indexing volunteer!
- Visit the official 1940 US Census Community Project website and learn more about the project.
- See who I’ll be looking for in the 1940 Census in these entries: Part 1 and Part 2
I can’t wait to post some more 1940s inspired posts in the next month!
Disclaimer: I am volunteering as a Blog Ambassador for The 1940 US Census Community Project. I am not being compensated. I enjoy indexing and I love the results of indexers, so I want to get the word out!