Background

There are two ways to search in the census – by name and by address.  Searching by name is the easier way to go, but it is not always possible.  For one thing, the name might have been so poorly written that it was transcribed incorrectly when the name index was created.  For another, there might not be a name index.  In the case of the 1940 census, there will be no name index available on opening day – April 1, 2012 (although commercial websites will undoubtedly begin producing such an index after the census opens).

An alternate way is to search by address.  But that has problems because the census is not organized by address but rather by something called an Enumeration District (ED).  So we have developed a 1940 One-Step ED Finder, which converts from address to ED..

Yet another way is to obtain the 1930 ED and then convert that to the corresponding 1940 ED.  That's what this project is all about.  We will be providing a web-based utility that allows people to go from a 1930 ED to a 1940 ED and vice versa.  That tool can be found at http://stevemorse.org/census/ed3040.php.   It can also be gotten to by going to the One-Step website and looking in the US Census section for the link titled 1930/1940 ED Converter.
 

Status of Project

As you can see, the 1930/1940 ED Converter is complete and functional.  All the information has been transcribed and the tables have been generated.  It now needs proofreading and fine tuning.  That's where you come in.

We need volunteers who have access to a NARA facility that has the 1940 T1224 microfilms.  Unfortunately not many NARA facilities have these yet, so you would need to check with your local NARA to see if they have them.  You would compare the data on the microfilms to the data in the tables that we will provide to you, and check for any discrepancies or typographical errors.

Another problem that we faced when transcribing the data was that some of the ED descriptions on the microfilm was not very clear and we couldn't read the numbers we needed.  Also some sheets appear to have been skipped on the microfilm.  The original sheets from which the microfilm was shot are located at the NARA facility in College Park, MD.  So we need some volunteers who live in the College Park area and can check our tables against the original sheets.

If you have access to the necessary NARA facility and would like to volunteer to help out, please send an email to Joel Weintraub.

-- Steve Morse