Answering Your Biggest Questions About the 1950 Census

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Check out this playlist for more on using the 1950 census for your family tree: kzbin.info/aero/PL7Y4oPKUvwciM-lMraUMueaEXpK2csok7

[@suzannemcclendon]

I don't have any questions at the moment, but the day is still young. 😁 One thing that I've noticed is that some pages have been included many times in some of the enumeration districts that I have been browsing. One had 89 pages to go through, but was probably, in reality, only about half that many pages. I was looking for my then-11 years old mother-in-law. After browsing about a zillion pages, I finally found her and her brother and parents. :) I have found all of my parents (3 of them!) all of my grandparents and all of my great-grands except for one couple. I have two more sets of great-grands to find on my husband's side. I'm finding others along the way, too. This has been very exciting! Thank you for your great videos. Have a blessed day!

[@williamfragaszy6016]

I wondered about the “not at home” comment. Thank you so much for clearing that up.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

You’re welcome!

[@gshenaut]

When I first tried to search for my family in the 1950 census, what I knew was that a younger brother was born in 1950 in Quincy, IL, and that I have very sparse memories myself of living there as a toddler. So, I started searching through all the Quincy records. I had even found a local newspaper article talking about some medal my dad got in Korea that gave the cross streets where we lived, so that allowed me to home in on the search. Nothing. But then I started pondering things: the war began in June of 1950, and my brother was born in October of 1950. Before the war, we were stationed in Camp Lejeune. Since the census was actually enumerated around April of 1950, I realized that I should have been looking in the Camp Lejeune records, which I did, and found us in just a few minutes. I actually hadn't realized that my mother was pregnant when my dad went back to war and we moved to Illinois. Both of my parents have been gone for many years now, and yet I have all these questions...

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

I’m glad you found it! Isn’t it amazing how we can still turn up new things even when we think we’ve discovered it all.

[@rjb6327]

0:50 That's what happened to my family. Finally found us 20+ pages away.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Yay! I'm glad you found them!

[@alycynde5237]

So that explains the goofy format for the 1950 census. I have relatives in one of those test counties and was shocked to see the change in format. They definitely make searching more complicated.

[@lauriehamilton9959]

You answered so many of my questions in this video. Thank you for all you do!

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

You are so welcome! Glad it was helpful!

[@genice7546]

Great video! So helpful.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Glad it was helpful!

[@KLFaber]

Great to know. Thank you.

[@deerhaven3350]

Thank you for this great information. I have been successful at locating several family members on the 1950 census already. When you say that this was the last time census enumerators went door-to-door I don't quite understand that statement for the following reasons: in the 2010 census I was living in Ventura county, California and I clearly recall a census taker knocking on my door. I invited her in and gave her all of the information she requested. I also gave her all of the information she requested on my neighbor who lived downstairs (I lived in a condo) because she stated she'd been unsuccessful trying to reach him on more than one occasion. Then, in the 2020 census a friend of mine who lives a couple of counties away from me here in Washington state became a census enumerator. She told me that she traveled to many rural areas and ended up gathering in-person information from more than 500 households.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

I said that it was the last time that enumerators went to every house. After 1950, more and more households were mailed a census form. In my adult life, I’ve never had an enumerator visit. (I don’t know about the first couple of censuses I appeared in 😂)

[@kathleenharris6124]

I know sometimes people didn’t answer their doors at all when they saw them passing through the neighborhood so a person might have to actually skip 10 years and hope for the best to be able to find their relatives

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Yes, there are always instances of people avoiding answering the census. What I've found interesting is that statistical studies done after the 1950 census estimates that the undercount was only 1.4%. (Small percentage, but, of course, that's still a large number of people -- and definitely important if you think your family is among them!)

[@peglenga2665]

Hello Amy - Can't thank you enough for all your invaluable information - LOVE your videos! I do have a couple of 1950 Census questions: What is the information (the numbers) imputed into the “Leave Blank” columns? Leave Blank A, Leave Blank B, and Leave Blank C, Who puts it in, and what does it mean/translate to? Thank you in advance!

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Thank you for the kind words 😊 To your question - those were spaces for the Census Bureau to write in the codes as they were preparing to compile statistics. Those codes were based on the answers on the census, so they don’t give us any additional information.

[@eujackmac]

I am so glad I learned about enumeration districts. I found my maternal grandparents and great-grandmother in the 1950s census. However, their names were not listed - their NICKNAMES were! Not a variation of their names, but actual, cutesy nicknames were listed on the census. I can only conclude that my grandparents were not available and an in-law relative who lived next door to them gave this information.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

That's adorable!

[@stephaniejames4940]

My grandmother's brother legal 1st name was Ivern. We have called him Ivy forever and a day. We knew the difference. What shocked me was in the 1940 and now 1950 census he was listed by his nickname as well. My great grands had called him that name since he was born in 1935. So yes I see the actual nicknames which made me laugh.

[@deloresmartin]

There is always something that we can't get with the census. I understand the infant cards but the agriculture cards? Yet they still have the letters that were sent to the commanders overseas about how to fill out the census. I will do a search when the 1950 census is indexed for my uncle that was serving in the military during the 1950 census. Hopefully he wasn't overseas.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

It’s a shame that they only saw the statistical value in those schedules and not the value on an individual level.

[@deloresmartin]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow It sure is. Since there is an agricultural schedule then maybe we could use the fact that there was an agricultural schedule to look for land records. You have to have land to put the cows, etc.

[@wannellalawson4001]

Great video as always. I have one question right now. More to come. When I checked the census my dad name was not on the list. I printed the information. His name was on the list. In your previously video you mentioned family member may not be at home. You have to check somewhere else.

[@kitsugrue1322]

My brother was born late April 1950. On his birth certificate (written by an official) and in his baby book (written by my mom), an address of 1508 Longfellow St in Hyattsville, MD was listed. I searched for that address and found no such address in Hyattsville. Longfellow street only goes from 3500 to about 4300 or so. I went through all the pages for that area anyway, and couldn't find my mom or her first husband. I checked the hospital in DC where my brother was born, and it was enumerated on April 1st, so before he was born. The Hyattsville pages were listed as starting April 26th, a few days after he was born. My grandmother was listed on the birth certificate as "attending" the birth, but I can't find her anywhere either (I had two different addresses in the DC area for her for April of 1950, listed on a later job application). Is there anything else I can do to find them?

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

It’s possible that the houses were renumbered sometime after 1950. (When we plug in an address in the Steve Morse or Ancestry district finder, they’re using modern maps, which might not match the numbering used in 1950.) If the street is as short as it sounds, though, you can probably narrow down the enumeration district using cross streets.

[@kitsugrue1322]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow I used the PG County enumeration map given for 1950 and the census pages themselves to try to hone in on the address. I'm at a loss. I thought this part of my search would be the easiest since I had addresses for that exact time! Thank you for responding, and thank you for all the tips you share. I so appreciate all your knowledge, and love your informative videos.

[@barbaraflint6640]

My family is in Lucas County in Ohio and here I am finding that three different forms were used in this county. I am finding family on form P1, P10, or on P12A (which is the self enumeration form you showed at the end of your video). I wish form P12A had the street name and house number like the other two forms do.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Good eye! Yes, Lucas County, Ohio was one of the counties where selected enumeration districts took part in the self-enumeration test. According to the National Archives, form P10 was used when no one was home the first time the enumerator visited.

[@shelleymonson8750]

Very interesting!

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Thank you!

[@davidshaw8515]

Just curious about census taken at hospitals. My aunt was a RN at a Hospital in Boston and was in the 1940 census there along with all the other nurses and doctor as there was residence facilities. I have not been able to find any similar information for the 1950 census. Also a grand uncle was in an institution in Augusta Maine. Same story there, can't find the information in the 1950 census but it was available in the 1940 census.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

If there was still a residence facility, the nurses who normally lived there would be enumerated there. Some institutions, if they were large enough, could have their own enumeration district. If you're using the National Archives' website to search, you might want to try again when the Ancestry/FamilySearch index is ready. (The National Archives' search is not very accurate.)

[@davidshaw8515]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow I guess it may be that in the 1950 census they have their own ED. They were included in the ED of the 1940 census. I searched the ED of their location in the 1950 census and they were not there. Thanks for replying!

[@s.barryholland177]

Perhaps you could touch on the rare case where there is a No one at home with no notation of being on another page. It looks like my mother-in-law and her family were not at home and weren't when the revisit happened. She would have been 6. She has passed, but her older brother is still with us, and I was able to ask him. He remembers where they lived and some of the neighbors. There are 2 not at homes on that sheet, but only 1 had a revisit. So they really weren't at home and were missed.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Did you look at all of the sheets after sheet 71 for that enumeration district? The revisits aren't necessarily in house number order. But even if they aren't there, I would still do a search for them when Ancestry and FamilySearch's index comes out. (The National Archives index is rather hit-or-miss.)

[@s.barryholland177]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow I went sheet by sheet in the entire ED.

[@cjs0752]

On the self enumeration census records I can’t find where the address for that family is located. Did they put their address on it?

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

From the blank forms that I've seen on the National Archives website, it was on the back of the form -- which wasn't microfilmed :-(

[@Plowboy1952]

Hi Amy - Great videos ! Can you clarify exactly where we need to go to find our " Not At Home " folks ? Do we search the last pages of individual ED's - the Ward or the last pages of the city ? I have folks in 1950 in Pittsburgh ,PA - ED 77- 456 in Ward 14 F - Sheet # 19 of 30 - line 28 . Remember me yet ?

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

The "revisits" are the last pages of that Enumeration District, beginning on Sheet 71. In your example, you would look at the last sheets in Pennsylvania ED 77-456.

[@Plowboy1952]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow Thanks for the clarification - My day of searching starts now ...again !! 🤓

[@Plowboy1952]

I FOUND THEM !!! 🥰😍🤩😘

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Wonderful! Congratulations!

[@gailgarfield1944]

NONE of my family are in the census. No grandparents, no parents, no aunts or uncles. My friend, who lived a few streets over, has none of her relatives on it either. What a disappointment.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

That is disappointing. If you're relying on the National Archives' index to search, that might be the issue. That index is spotty. If you know the address, you can use either the Steve Morse enumeration district finder or Ancestry's district finder (both are free). Then you can go right into those pages and browse them. You can also wait a few weeks for the Ancestry/FamilySearch index to be done. (It isn't the same as the National Archives' index and will be much more accurate.)

[@brianlair1580]

I found my parents, but I’m bummed they were “not at home”, because they were on a Sample line! I found their info on the follow-up page, but it wasn’t a Sample line, so I missed out on the chance to see their income & other extra info. :-( Maybe in the 1960 Census!

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

So close!

[@katrinahande8616]

I have one of those weird test pages on the 1950 census in Toledo OH. Unless I am missing something there is no indication of the address anywhere on those sheets. Luckily, this family lived in this same house for decades so I know the address but if I run across anymore it will be from scrolling page to page and finding out the address would be valuable.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

I haven't been able to find that, either. I have to wonder if it was on the back side of the form, which wasn't microfilmed.

[@alycynde5237]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow that's a shame about the back side side it mentions on the sheet that a good number of questions are on the other side

[@sweetee109]

I can't locate the house number. It skips the house number I know my grandmother lived in the 1950's. Any help is appreciated.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Some things to try: read the entire enumeration district in case it was picked up on a different page. Look at adjoining districts; sometimes different sides of the street are in different districts. There will be a much better index in a few weeks when Ancestry and FamilySearch get done with theirs; try to run your search when that’s ready.

[@laverneclark8191]

How do you find NO ONE AT HOME sheet (example 73) when the sheet number you are looking has a different number (example 16) and the document does not have 73 sheets? Thanks

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Regardless of how many sheets are in an enumeration district, they always began the "revisits" on Sheet 71. So even if the regular visits ended on Sheet 10, the first sheet of revisits would be Sheet 71. (No pages are missing; it's just the standard number that the began the revisits on.)

[@jacobkaplan-davis5150]

How are census does nowadays? Are they still as accurate even without the door to door?

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

There are two issues: errors and omissions. I wonder if the information might be more accurate now, since people don't have to give their information to a stranger knocking on their door. But with the omissions (missing whole household or individuals), there have always been issues finding everyone, especially the homeless and those who speak a language other than English.

[@tumpytumpy]

Wow, such good info. I saw an infants info lined out and noted that it would appear on the infant records. I will go back and add that person . QUESTION. Why am I only entering names not age, place of birth, etc.?

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Are you indexing on FamilySearch or on the National Archives website? FamilySearch has volunteers review all of the other fields (and I mean *all* of the other fields!) when it's in the "family review" stage. As for the National Archives, it appears that they are doing only the names and no other data.

[@tumpytumpy]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow I am on the National Archives site. Thanks for all the info you gave. It really helped. Also..thanks for the reply to my Q.

[@caroljcatlin4725]

When will the Alaska census be realeased?

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

The images are available now. Ancestry says that their index for it is "Coming Soon." Based on what they did with the 1940 census, I suspect they're processing the smaller states and territories first. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Alaska schedules up early next week.

[@cvtremaglio]

I just went on family search and don’t see the 1950 census

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

The index isn't available on FamilySearch yet. However, the images are available there for browsing: www.familysearch.org/records/images/search-results?projectId=M9HW-2YP&page=1&fullMap=true&place=1 They're also on Ancestry and MyHeritage. (Free on both sites; you'll just need a free guest account to use them.)

[@cvtremaglio]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow when I put that into my computer this is what I get. Well, this is unexpected. We can help you search literally billions of records, but we can't seem to find the page you're looking for.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Try this: Go to www.familysearch.org/1950census/ Scroll down on the page to the section "Who can I find in the 1950 census?" (There will be photos of famous people.) In that section, you should see a button that says "Explore Images." Click that, and it should take you to the 1950 census images.

[@cvtremaglio]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow that seems to work. Thank you

[@KentPetersonmoney]

I was wondering about the 1990 census for any future desendents I have. I'm wondering if I'll even show since we lived in Germany back in 1990. 2000 census will be the first census I was living in America since I wasn't even born yet in 1980.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

As far as I know, if you were living in Germany when the 1990 census was taken, you shouldn't be in it.

[@beckysmith5822]

My ex mother-in-law Gwendolyn Housel, deceased, lived in Francis, Summit, Utah in 1950. When I found her the enumerator wrote "this occupant was enumerated in another ED at the hospital in Heber, Utah". There are 5 or 6 districts in Heber City, Wasatch, Utah. I looked through them all. Didn't find Gwen. Can't find her husband Cliff enumerated either. Of course I will keep on looking. They may be there somewhere's.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

If she normally lived in the hospital, she should have been enumerated there. But if she was in the hospital temporarily, she should have been enumerated where she normally. lived.

[@beckysmith5822]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow I also thought she should be in Francis, but I haven't found her yet. But it's still early. Only been looking for 5 days.

[@janetmcgrath3704]

My problem was that when they went house to house they did not go to or list my parents house. I was a single family home on was skipped over from the house on the left to the house on the right. I am so disappointed. I know ther is nothing I can do about it, just thought I would share.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Don't give up hope. Be sure to search when the index being put together by Ancestry and FamilySearch is done. It's possible that there were entries out of order and aren't appearing where we think they should be.

[@alicias4557]

I thought this census was supposed to list if they owned a TV/radio?

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

They asked about radio ownership in the 1930 census. After that, questions about radio and tv ownership were asked in the housing schedules; those schedules were not retained after the Census Bureau compiled the statistics from them.

[@pamelabostwick4391]

What county’s in ohio Participated in that besides Franklin?

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

According to the National Archives: "With an eye toward the future, the Census Bureau in 1950 tested self-enumeration with household forms in Ingham and Livingston Counties, Michigan, and Franklin County, Ohio. Household forms were also tested in selected Enumeration Districts (EDs) in Genesee County, Michigan, and in Coshocton, Defiance, Delaware, Fulton, Henry, Knox, Licking, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Van Wert, and Williams Counties, Ohio, but the enumerators completed the forms for households in those areas."

[@michaelmyers7806]

*was not home in 1950*