History 10 : 20th-Century America
(Through the Decennial Census)
Professor Couvares
Fall 2007
Census in the 20th Century
The Census is the longest running, most detailed survey a of the U.S. population. And unlike many written records, it includes (or attempts to include) all those living in the United States on Census Day (legal citizens, as well as undocumented people). The Census is mandated in order to determine congressional representation, so it always includes where people live. But luckily for historians, it asks many other questions as well -- with changing questions reflecting the major concerns of the decade. The core data includes age, race, sex, literacy or school attainment, household composition, place of birth, immigration or citizenship status, occupation, and income. In the 1930 Census there was a special count of the unemployed, and in the 1960's with the Civil Rights Movement and the War on Poverty, the Census also provided data used for Civil Rights monitoring and enforcement, and for the allocation of federal funds to address poverty. Race has been consistantly asked, but the categories themselves have changed -- for example, Mexican-Americans were counted in 1930, and then not again until 1970. Mixed race people (only Black/White) were counted in 1910 and 1920, and then not again until 2000. For more detail, see the chart below. Information about individuals is not available until 70 years after the census was taken -- 1930 is the latest that is open with individual names attached.Helpful Tools
- Call numbers for the Census in the Frost Library -- How to find the paper volumes, all decades.
- Ancestry Library : Full image of U.S. Census up to the 1930 Census, other genealogical resources such as selected newspaper obituaries, immigration and military records.
- Demographic Trends in the 20th Century Outlines the major issues that each census identified... really useful overview of what you can learn from the census.
- Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition Online. Also in paper, Ref and Stacks at x HA202 .B87 1970 Great index to the subjects covered in each census, as well as many other historical statistics.
- Encyclopedia of the U.S. Census, REF HA37.U55 E52 2000
- Selected Historical Decennial Census Population and Housing Counts Useful reports from the Census Bureau, looking at particular aspects of the Census over time.
- Census Questionnaires, 1790-2000 and a table of all questions.
- The American Census : a Social History, by Margo Anderson
HA 37.U55 A53
- Historic Census Browser Selected data to the county level (no cities or towns, not all data).
- Images from the historic census (PPT)
Historical racial classification and the Census:
Year |
Category |
1900 |
White, Black, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian |
1910 |
White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Other (plus write-in) |
1920 |
White, Black, Mulatto, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu, Korean, and Other (plus write-in) |
1930 |
White, Negro, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu, Korean (Other races, spell out in full) |
1940 |
White, Negro, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu, Korean (Other races, spell out in full) |
1950 |
White, Negro, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino (Other races, spell out) |
1960 |
White, Negro, American Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Part Hawaiian, Aleut, Eskimo |
1970 |
White, Negro or Black, Indian (American), Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean, Other (print race) |
1980 |
White, Negro, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian (American), Asian Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Eskimo, Aleut, Other (specify); each person can also be Hispanic or Latino. |
1990 |
White, Black, Indian (American), Eskimo, Aleut, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Asian Indian, Samoan, Guamanian, Other Asian Pacific Islander, Other race; and Hispanic or Latino. |
2000 |
White; Black, African American, or Negro; American Indian or Alaska Native (specify tribe); Asian Indian; Chinese; Filipino; Other Asian (print race); Japanese; Korean; Vietnamese; Hawaiian; Guamanian or Chamorro; Samoan; Other Pacific Islander (print race); Some other race. Two or More Races -- any combination of up to six races (57 possibilities); each person can also be Hispanic or Latino (of any race). |
1790-1990 data adapted from Anderson and Fienberg (2000: Tables 3 and 4) and 2000 data from U.S. Census Bureau (2001a). From: Measuring Racial Discrimination, 2004. Also online at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091268/html/205.html.
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Questions? Comments : Susan Edwards (seedwards), 413-542-2676