Census in the 20th Century
The Census is the longest running, most detailed survey available 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. The Census is mandated to determine congressional representation, so it always includes the geographic detail about where people live. But luckily for historians, it asks many other questions as well -- with the new questions reflecting the major concerns of the decade. The core data includes age, race, 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 (see below.) Hispanics by the federal definition can be of any race. 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.
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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