Spring 2003 Volume 5, Number 2

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released the 1930 United States census to the public in 2002, opening up new genealogical territories for researchers to explore. The official census day was 1 April 1930, except for Alaska, which was 1 October 1929. Several new questions were asked, such as the age at first marriage, whether the household owned a radio set, and in which war a veteran served. Native Americans were enumerated on the 1930 census with the rest of the general population. American citizens born overseas and persons born at sea are indicated as such. The place of birth for the foreign born individuals on the 1930 census reflected the territorial changes following World War I. Sometimes, this meant that the enumerator was more specific about the individual's place of birth than in previous censuses.

In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) prepared Soundex indexes of names for only twelve southern states. These states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and select counties for Kentucky and West Virginia. These indexes are available on microfilm at the Library of Michigan.

To assist researchers in locating their ancestors, NARA created a geographic locator on their web site at http://1930census.archives.gov. This locator supports searching enumeration district (ED) descriptions by state, county, city, and place names to determine the ED and microfilm roll number. Places include names of towns, streets, post offices, rural townships, election precinct and ward numbers, and rivers and lakes. You may also search for institution names such as schools, prisons, and sanitariums. Textual descriptions of enumeration districts are also found in Census Descriptions of Geographic Subdivisions and Enumeration Districts, 1830-1950. Arranged by state, county, and city or township, these describe only the boundaries of a particular enumeration district, not all of the streets within that specific ED.

If you are unable to identify the enumeration district by using the Soundex or the ED description database, there are a number of other available resources that can assist you. Locating street addresses in city directories will help find the enumeration district for urban residents. Using the Index to Selected City Streets and Enumeration Districts, 1930 Census, you can locate the ED number for a specific address. This series cross references street addresses with the appropriate enumeration district for more than fifty U. S. cities, including Detroit and Grand Rapids.

The Bureau of the Census used contemporary maps upon which it overlaid, often with just grease pencil notations, the boundaries and numbers of enumeration districts. The quality and visual clarity of these maps vary considerably. The complete set of enumeration district maps can be found in Enumeration District Maps for the Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930.

Two genealogical database providers, AncestryPlus and HeritageQuest Online, began indexing the 1930 census records soon after their release. AncestryPlus, available on the Michigan eLibrary (MeL) in most Michigan libraries courtesy of a grant from the Abrams Foundation, has nearly completed an every-name index. Available at the Library of Michigan in the genealogy area, the index for HeritageQuest Online is scheduled to be completed in 2003. Both databases provide digitized images of 1930 census records. For further information regarding online access to federal census records, see Volume 4, Number 5 of the Abrams Collection Genealogy Highlights entitled "AncestryPlus and HeritageQuest Online: An Introduction to Online, Subscription Databases."

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Print Sources

200 Years of U. S. Census Taking: Population and Housing Questions, 1790-1990. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1989.
Documents Reference C 3.2:T 93

1930 Federal Population Census: Catalog of National Archives Microfilm.
Washington, D.C.: National Archives Trust Fund Board, 2001.
Genealogy HA 201 .U48 2001
Housed at the Genealogy Desk.

Census Descriptions of Geographic Subdivisions and Enumeration Districts, 1830-1950. 90 reels. National Archives and Records Administration, 1978.
Microfilm HA 218.5 1830-1950

Census of Population (1930): Michigan. 107 reels. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002.
Microfilm HA 441.5 1930
The Library also has a complete set of the United States and its territories.

City Directories of the United States, 1902-1935. Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications Inc., 1985-.
Microfilm E 154.5 .C582
Includes many Michigan communities as well as a number of cities from other states.

Dollarhide, William. Census Book: A Genealogist's Guide to Federal Census Facts, Figures, Schedules and Indexes. Bountiful, UT: Heritage Quest, 1999.
Genealogy CS 49 .D65 1999

Enumeration District Maps for the 15th Census of the United States, 1930. 36 reels. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2001.
Microfilm HA 201 1930 .U54 2001

Index (Soundex) to the Population Schedules of the 15th Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002.
Microfilm HA221.5 1930
The Library has a complete set of the available 1930 Soundexes. The reels are shelved with the state they index.

Index to Selected City Streets and Enumeration Districts, 1930 Census. 7 reels. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002.
Microfilm HA 201 1930 .C46 2001

Kemp, Thomas Jay. The American Census Handbook. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2001.
Genealogy CS 49 .K4 2001

Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses From 1790 to 2000. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of the Census, 2002.
Genealogy HA 37 .U62 M43 2002
Housed at the Genealogy Desk.

Szucs, Loretto Dennis. Finding Answers in U. S. Census Records. Orem, UT: Ancestry Publishing, 2002.
Genealogy CS49 .S984 2002

United States. Bureau of the Census. Classified Index of Occupations. Fifteenth Census of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1930.
US Documents C 3.27/2:OC 1/2-2
Housed at the Genealogy Desk.

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Internet Resouces

NARA 1930 Census Microfilm Locator
http://1930census.archives.gov/

Obtaining EDs for the 1930 Census in One Step (Large Cities)
http://stevemorse.org/census/reelframes.html

Ancestry Library Edition
www.ancestrylibrary.com/
Available at the Library of Michigan, it contains an every-name index, with links to a digitized image of the census page.

HeritageQuest Online
www.heritagequestonline.com/
Available at the Library of Michigan, this database contains digitized images of the 1930 census, with an index planned for 2003.

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