One of the questions asked on the 1940 Federal Census was the location of the person in April of 1935. A decade is a long time and people didn’t always stay put—and some moved more than once. The Census Bureau wanted to track the population movement.
If you’re not sure why this is exciting, ask an Iowa genealogist! The State of Iowa took its own Census between the Federal ones in 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, and 1925—which have been invaluable for pinpointing someone’s location between Census years (especially since the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed).
So when the 1940 Census is released this year, it will be like getting a two-for-one when it comes to location information! And it’s not restricted to Iowa, of course—everyone in the country was asked this question.
So why not come down and try it out? Our Special Collections Center will be have a special early morning Coffee & Census open house on April 2nd, starting at 8am so you can try it out the moment it becomes available.
We’ll provide coffee, computers and as much assistance in using the online schedules as we can. You provide the list of Davenport folks that you want to find.
Please register in advance so that we can contact you if the National Archives changes the time at which they are releasing the schedules and provide details about how to access the Special Collections Center before the library opens at Noon.
We hope to see you here!
