Tuesday's Tip - Inputting Data on the 1920 U.S. Federal Census

1920 U.S. Federal Census

Things have been crazy busy with the Easter holiday and de-cluttering the house so we can put it on the market, so I was debating whether or not to put up another census form today.  I hadn't created it yet, and it takes a little bit of time (I'm a perfectionist and like to be as close to exact as possible on these things), but as I woke up this morning thinking that I would simply turn out a quick Tombstone Tuesday with some research thrown in there, I saw a comment from Michelle Goodrum from "Turning of Generations" fame.  Her comment on my 1910 census letting me know that she's enjoying the forms was all it took to get me going.  Up to this point I was really wondering if they were useful to anyone (apart from me, that is)!

Thank you, Michelle, for getting me back on track!  Now on to the 1920 census!

I've been really enjoying the US Census Bureau's website recently.  I love the historical information they give for the decade the census was taken, and I love the fact that they usually have the instructions for the census takers (always a good thing to know!).

An interesting tid-bit I found from the Census Bureau was:

"The results of the 1920 census revealed a major and continuing shift of the population of the United States from rural to urban areas.  No apportionment was carried out following the 1920 census; representatives elected from rural districts worked to derail the process, fearful of losing political power to the cities.  Reapportionment legislation was repeatedly delayed as rural interests tried to come up with mechanisms that would blunt the impact of the population shift.  Congress finally passed a reapportionment bill in 1929.  The bill declared that the House of Representatives would be apportioned base on the results of the 1930 census."

Want to check out the report on Mines and Quarries from the 1920 census?  How about the Agriculture report?  Manufacturing?  Well, you can check out the reports on these and more on the Census Bureau's website here.

There's so much great information out there to help you understand the time period your ancestors lived in, and it's so important to remember not to think of their world as ours is today.  Sometimes we forget that...I know I do.

So now you've got another census form that you can download, input your ancestor's information into and save right to your computer.  Remember that you can access this census form that I created by clicking on any of the "1920 census" links in this blog, or by clicking here.  The form when it opens in Google Docs always appears to have more than one page, but rest assured that when you download the form, it will be in one piece.

The form is locked so that you can tab from one blank to another without accidentally erasing the form itself.  I did notice one quirk in the form.  I placed the "Notes" section at the top in this form.  Each time you tab across and hit the "Notes" section, it spits you back to the first row.  I have no idea why it does this (any suggestions to fix it are greatly appreciated!), but it's something to keep in mind when entering the information in that top set of cells.  The bottom set works fine though!

If you notice any other issues with the form or have trouble accessing it, please let me know and I'll do whatever I can to fix it.  The other input-able forms can be accesses by clicking on the "tag" labeled "FORMS" on the left-hand side of the blog.  Confused?  I think I am too at this point.  I need to stop writing this post while sitting in on my son's Boy Scout meeting!

Until next time, good luck finding your ancestors in the 1940 census and tending those roots!

UPDATE:  The links to the 1920 form were apparently bringing up the 1910 census form I created.  The link has been changed, so you'll get the right form now!  Thanks, Pam, for letting me know!